AEOMACEOUS ESCULENTS. 679 



autumn, which will be observed by the decaying of its foliage and 

 stalks, should be stored away in dry earth or sand in a warm, dry 

 situation, and kept without any water all the winter, to be taken up 

 and shaken out in February, placed in shallow boxes or pans, flat and 

 thickly placed over the surface, covered with an inch of fine sandy 

 soil, and placed in heat, such as an early vinery or plant-stove. As 

 soon as the buds have started, take the roots or tubers, cut or break them 

 into small pieces, allowing one bud only to each piece ; pot singly into 

 sixty-sized pots, place in strong heat again, where they will grow freely ; 

 by April they will become sufficiently strong to turn out on a moderate 

 hotbed, such as would suit the growth of melons. Good heavy-hold- 

 ing loam should be used a foot in depth. Some growers save the old 

 pine soil with its charcoal and soot in it, and thus grow such heavy 

 crops of this useful root as would astonish many to see ; in fact, the 

 soil by the autumn becomes entirely full of the most luxuriant large 

 young roots or tubers, splendid for preserving or any other use. 



Aromaceous Esculents. 



The esculent aromatic plants, or sweet herbs, in common use, are 

 about a dozen in number, and each should have a tiny bed to itself in 

 the herb-garden. The soil for all of them may be dry and calcareous, 

 with the single exception of the mint family. They are used to give 

 flavour to soups, stews, and other dishes, and in sauces and various 

 stuffings. The leaves and stalks of all these plants may be gathered 

 when they are coming into flower, dried, and compressed in a shallow 

 box by a screw-press, so as to form packets about the size of a small 

 octavo volume, which, being put up in paper, will retain their fra- 

 grance for two or three years. Nothing can be worse than the former 

 mode of keeping herbs, by hanging them up loose, in the back sheds, 

 or in the seed-room, where they soon become covered with dust, and 

 deprived of their aroma. 



The Common Thyme (Thymus vulgaris, L.) is a labiaceous evergreen 

 under-shrub, a native of Spain and Italy. The young leaves and tops 

 are used either green or dried in soups, stuffings, stews, and sauces. 

 It is readily increased by seeds, cuttings, or by division, and the 

 plants should be renewed by one or other of these modes every year in 

 spring. 



The Lemon Thyme is the T. citriodorus, Pers., a trailing evergreen, 

 used for the same purposes as the preceding species ; but being less 

 pungent it is more grateful, and therefore used as a seasoning for veal, 

 instead -of lemon peel. 



The Sage (Salvia officinalis, L.) is a labiaceous evergreen under- 

 shrub, a native of the south of Europe. The leaves and tender tops 

 are used in stuffings and sauces, for many kinds of luscious and strong 

 meais, as well as to improve the flavour of various articles of cookery. 

 There are several varieties : the common, red, or purple-leaved ; the 

 narrow-leaved green ; and the broad-leaved green all of equal merit. 

 They are propagated by seeds or cuttings, and like the thyme, the 



