CHAP. XXVII VILLA GAEDE>TN'G 497 



suffice ; sometimes more space is given, but when picking begins 

 it will be kept within bounds at the distance apart I have named 

 Some people sow Parsley spciringly, and never thin or disturb it 

 at all ; but it is best to thin moderately. It is very important to 

 have a good supply in winter and early spring. I think it 

 often puzzles gardeners more to produce a good supply of Parsley 

 in Februan,-, March, and April than at any other season, especi- 

 ally if there has been a long period of dry frosty weather. Unless 

 we already possess a good supply on some warm sheltered spot for 

 winter, a bed might be planted by taking up some of the early- 

 sown plants in August, cutting off the strongest leaves, and planting 

 in a warm sheltered comer, where protection can easily be applied. 

 A row at the foot of a south wall or fence wUl be sure to prove 

 useful If a frame can be spared some roots may be planted where 

 it can be put over them, the lights to be placed over just before 

 frost sets in. Another way of growing winter Parsley is to take 

 up some of the strong roots in August, remove the largest leaves, 

 and plant them all over one or more wire baskets, working the 

 roots in at the bottom and sides of the basket, as well as at the 

 top, stuffing all the interstices full of Moss and filling up the centre 

 with good soil. A fine-curled kind, such as Carter's Fem-leaved, 

 will have a nice effect when in good foliage, hung up in the green- 

 house or anywhere. In hot, dry, porous soUs the spaces between the 

 rows should be mulched with a mixture of charred refuse and short 

 maniure ; this will be a great help, for, though Parsley likes a 

 weU-drained site, drought in summer is injurious to it. 



Varieties. — Almost every good seed-firm has an excellent 

 strain of Parsley of its own selection and growth, so that it is not 

 easy to go wrong, and the plant seeds so freely that any one who 

 has once got hold of a good strain may easily save his own seeds. 

 Carter's Perpetual and Carter's Fem-leaved are good varieties, so 

 also is Sutton's Matchless ; but, as I have already said, every 

 good firm makes a specialty of Parsley. The Hamburg Parsley, 

 a plain-leaved kind of rather large growth, is sometimes grown for 

 its roots, but they are not in great demand, and consequently are 

 not much grown. 



CHAPTER XXYII 



Herbs. — Without herbs our dinners would be flavourless. The 

 best and most sldlfid chef could not do much without the little 

 finishing touches which herbs supply in the way of flavouring. 

 Herbs are of sufficient importance in the kitchen to have a small 



2 K 



