48 A HISTORY OF GARDENING IN ENGLAND. 



Fenel in potage and in mete 

 Is good to done whane y" schalt ete, 

 All grene loke it be corwyn * small 

 In what mete y" vsyn schall." 



Mint was often used with fennel in sauces. Chaucer mentions 



them growing together : — • 



" Then went I forth on my right hond 

 Downe by a litel path I fond 

 Of Mintes full and Fennell greene." — Romatint of tlie Rose. 



Parsley was, perhaps, still more common than either of these. 



In the earliest English gardening treatise, t a section of the short 



poem is devoted to parsley, and the instructions for its culture 



are quite correct : — 



" Percell kynde ys for to be 

 To be sow }'n tJie monthe of mars so mote y the 

 He will grow long and thykke 

 And euer as he growyth tJin schalt hym kytte 

 Tlin may hym kytte by reson' 

 Thryes yn one seson ' 

 Wurtys to make and sewes | also. 

 Let hym neuer to hye go 

 To lete hym grow to hye hit is grete foly. 



* * * 



Thay that the sede schal bere the 

 Kytte hym nou5t but lete hym be." 



The same practical poet, John Gardener, also gives directions 

 for the planting of onions, garlick, and leeks. They were to 

 be sown on St. Valentine's day, as they are " herbys vn-meke," 

 or what we call " hardy." The onion plants which were required 

 for seed, were to be sown in April or March, and when the heads 

 began to grow tall, they were supported by ash-sticks : — 

 " Forkys y made of asche-tre 

 That none of hem downe nou^t fall 



* * * 



When they rj'pe they wyl schow 



And by the bollys thu schalt hem know 



The sede wt[ith]yn wul schewe blake 



Then thu schalt hem vp take 



They wul be rype at the full 



At lammasse of Peter Apostull." 



* = carved =^ cut-up. 



+ MS. Trinity College, Cambridge. Printed in Archceologia, 1894. 



t Sauce?. 



