SWEET HERBS — THYME — SAGE — ETC. 221 



THYME, SAGE, SUMMER SAVORY, AND MAR- 

 JORAM. 



I believe the cultivation of Sweet Herbs, for market 

 purposes, is but little known in this country, except in the 

 vegetable gardens in the vicinity of New York ; there it 

 is practised to an extent of perhaps GO or 70 acres, a fair 

 average product of which would be about $500 per acre. 

 Like the crops of Celery, Spinach, or Horseradish, they 

 are grown only as a second crop, that is, they are planted 

 in July, after an early crop of Peas, Cabbages, Beets, or 

 Onions has been sold off. The varieties are Thyme, Sage, 

 Summer Savory, and Sweet Marjoram, the former two 

 being grown in the ratio of ten acres to one of the others. 



The seed is sown in April in rich mellow soil, carefully 

 kept clean from weeds until the plants are fit to set out, 

 which may be done any time that the ground is ready 

 from middle of June until end of July. As the plants are 

 usually small and delicate, it is necessary that the ground 

 be well fined down by harrowing and raking before plant- 

 ing. The distance apart, for all the varieties, is about the 

 same, namely, 12 inches between the rows, and 8 or 10 

 inches between the plants ; the lines are marked out by 

 the "marker." (This is the "marker" used for many 

 other purposes ; in lining out the rows for Early Cab- 

 bages, for instance, every alternate line is planted, thus 

 caving them 2 feet apart, their proper distance.) In 

 eight or ten days after the herb crop has been planted, the 

 ground is " hoed " lightly over by a steel rake, which di^ 

 turbs the surface sufficiently to destroy the crop of weeds 

 that are just beginning to germinate ; it is done in one- 

 thiid of the time that it could be done by a hoe, and an- 



