COSTMARY, OR ALECOST. 401 



fourteen or sixteen inches asunder, and about three fourths 

 of an inch in depth, and thin to nine inches in the rows. It 

 soon runs to flower and seed, and will be ready for harvest- 

 ing in July or August. 



In the south of England, Coriander is generally cultivated 

 in connection with Caraway ; eighteen pounds of Caraway 

 seed being mixed with fifteen pounds of Coriander for an 

 acre. As the Coriander is an annual, it yields its crop the 

 first season. After being cut, it is left on the field to dry, 

 and the seeds are afterwards beaten out on cloths, the facility 

 with which these are detached not admitting of the usual 

 method of harvesting. 



An unquestionably preferable mode of cultivation would 

 be to sow them both in drills alternately, by which means 

 the Caraway would be more easily hoed and cleaned after the 

 removal of the Coriander. 



Use. It is generally cultivated for its seeds, which are 

 used to a considerable extent by druggists, confectioners, and 

 distillers. In the garden, it is sometimes sown for its leaves, 

 which are used as Chervil in soups and salads ; but, when so 

 required, a sowing should be made at intervals of three or 

 four weeks. 



There are no varieties. 



COSTMARY, OR ALECOST. 



Balsamita vulgaris. 



Costmary is a hardy, perennial plant, with a hard, creeping 

 root, and an erect, branching stem two or three feet high. 

 The radical leaves, which are produced on long footstalks, 

 are oval, serrated, and of a grayish color, those of the 

 stalk are sessile, smaller than the radical ones, but similar in 

 form ; the flowers are deep yellow, in erect, terminal, spread- 

 34* 



