34 FLORA DOMESTICA. 



They are tolerably hardy, the white least so ; but they 

 will all bear the open air, except in severe frosts, from 

 which they require some protection. In dry summer- 

 weather they should be watered every evening ; in winter, 

 once a week will suffice. The last-mentioned kind is an 

 annual, and decays toward the end of October. It should 

 be sown in the autumn : one seed in a pot. The first two 

 species, as they do not flower the first year, will be better 

 raised in a nursery : the first, when once obtained, may 

 be increased by parting the roots, which should be done 

 after the flower decays. They should be planted about 

 two inches deep in the earth. 



Rapin, in his poem on gardens, speaks of the Asphodel 

 as an article of food : 



" And rising Asphodel forsakes her bed. 

 On whose sweet root our rustic fathers fed." 



Gardiner's Translation. 



It is mentioned by Milton as forming part of the nuptial 

 couch of Adam and Eve in Paradise : 



" flowers were the couch, 



Pansies, and violets, and asphodel. 



And hyacinth, earth's freshest, softest lap." 



It was formerly the custom to plant Asphodel and 

 mallow around the tombs of the deceased. St. Pierre, 

 after dwelling with some earnestness on the propriety of 

 such customs, quotes the following inscription, engraven 

 on an ancient tomb : 



*' Au-dehors je suis entour^ de mauve et d'asphodele, et au-dedan» 

 je ne suis qu'un cadavre." 



The fine flowers of the Asphodel produce grains, which, 

 according to the belief of the ancients, afforded nourish- 

 ment to the dead. Homer tells us, that having crossed 



