PARSLEY. 415 



*7 and Cultivation. It is always raised from seed, and 

 thrives best in light, warm soil. The seed may be sown from 

 the middle of April to the middle of May. Pulverize, the 

 soil well, make the surface smooth and even, and sow in 

 drills twelve or fourteen inches apart, and about half an inch 

 deep. When the plants are two inches high, thin them to 

 five or six inches apart in the rows. During the summer, 

 cultivate in the usual manner, keeping the soil loose, and 

 watering occasionally if the weather be dry ; and in August 

 or September, or when the seed ripens, cut off the plants at 

 the roots, spread them in an airy situation, and, when suffi- 

 ciently dried, thresh out ; after which spread the seed a 

 short time, to evaporate any remaining moisture, and they 

 will be ready for use. 



Use. The seeds have a warm, aromatic taste, and are 

 employed in French cookery, under the name of quatre epices, 

 or " four spices." 



PARSLEY. 



Apium petroselinum. 



Parsley is a hardy, biennial plant from Sardinia. The 

 leaves of the first year are all radical, compound, rich, deep 

 green, smooth, and shining. When fully developed, the 

 plant measures three or four feet in height ; the flowers are 

 small, white, in terminal umbels ; the seeds are ovoid, some- 

 what three-sided, slightly curved, of a grayish-brown color 

 and aromatic taste. Seven thousand are contained in an 

 ounce, and they retain their vitality three years. 



Soil and Propagation. Parsley succeeds best in rich, 

 mellow soil, and is propagated from seeds sown annually ; 

 an ounce of seed being allowed to a hundred and fifty feet 

 of drill. 



Sowing. As the seed vegetates slowly, sometimes re- 



