The Culture of Vegetables 



satisfactory mode of cultivation is that of a half-hardy annual. Sow 

 in March or April and allow each plant a square foot of ground. 



Mint (Mentha viridis}. Known also as Spearmint. It must be 

 grown from divisions. Between the delicacy of fresh young green 

 leaves and those which have been dried with the utmost care there is 

 so wide a difference that the practice of forcing from November to 

 May is fully justified. This is easily accomplished by packing roots 

 in a box and keeping them moist in a temperature of 60. Where 

 this is impossible, stems must be cut, bunched, and hung in a cool 

 store for use during winter and spring. Mint grows luxuriantly in damp 

 soil, and the bed should have occasional attention, to prevent plants 

 from extending beyond their proper boundary. To secure young 

 and luxuriant growth a fresh plantation should be made annually. If 

 allowed to occupy the same plot of land year after year the leaves 

 become small and the stems wiry. 



Parsley (Carum Petroselinum} will teach those who have eyes 

 exactly how it should be grown. There will appear here and there 

 in a garden stray or rogue Parsley plants. No matter how regularly 

 the hoeing and weeding may be done, a stray Parsley plant will 

 appear alone, perhaps in the midst of Lettuces, or Cauliflowers, 

 or Onions. When these rogues escape destruction they become 

 superb plants, and the gardener sometimes leaves them to enjoy 

 the conditions they have selected, and in which they evidently 

 prosper. It scarcely matters what kind of ground these rogue 

 Parsleys are found in, they are always richly curled and sumptuous 

 specimens, proving that isolation suits the plant. When such an 

 opportunity occurs, it will show what a Parsley can be, and should 

 be, whether wanted for use or ornament, or to remain in its own 

 chosen nook as a magnificent vagabond. The lesson for the culti- 

 vator is, that Parsley should have plenty of room from the very first ; 

 and this lesson, we feel bound to say, cannot be too often enforced 

 upon young gardeners, for they are apt to sow Parsley far more 

 thickly than is wise, and to be injuriously slow and timid in thinning 

 the crop when the plants are crowding one another. 



Parsley, like many other good things, will grow almost anywhere 

 and anyhow, but to make a handsome crop a deep, rich, moist soil 

 is required. It attains to fine quality on a well-tilled clay, but the 

 kindly loam that suits almost every vegetable is adapted to produce 

 perfect Parsley, and every good garden should show a handsome 

 sample, for beauty is the first required qualification. To keep the 

 house fairly well supplied sowings should be made in February 



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