158 THE KITCHEN-GARDEN. [CHAP. VI. 



a perennial, and a native of Britain. The first 

 three kinds require a light dry soil, and the last 

 a calcareous soil, and a sheltered situation. 



Savory and Basil. — Winter savory is a hardy 

 under-shrub, and summer savory an annual; 

 both are natives of the South of Europe, and 

 both have been cultivated in England since 

 about 1650. Basil is an annual, a native of 

 the East Indies, introduced about 1548. All 

 these aromatic herbs may be purchased, admi- 

 rably dried, in small cakes, at Mrs. Johnson's 

 in Covent Garden Market, and at other places ; 

 and, as they are wanted all the year, they are 

 most convenient in this form. The usual mode 

 of drying the aromatic herbs is by cutting off 

 the long stalks when fully grown, and tying 

 them up in bundles, which are hung up to dry ; 

 but the disadvantage of this plan is, that a 

 great quantity of dust becomes attached to the 

 plants while they remain hung up, whereas 

 when they are pressed into the form of cakes, 

 and dried, they may be kept perfectly clean. 

 When it is wished to dry herbs in cakes, the 

 plants should be gathered just as they are 

 coming into flower; and the leaves, being 

 stripped off the stalks, which are thrown away, 

 should be put into square or oblong moulds, 

 and pressed with a common napkin press. 



Cucumbers require a hotbed to grow them to 

 perfection ; but the smaller kinds for pickling 

 are sometimes planted in the open ground. 

 The seed should be from two to four years old, 

 and it should be sown in pots plunged in a 

 hotbed, not below 58° at night, nor above 65° 

 in the day. When the plants come up, they 



