684 5 OXICA CEOUS HERBS. 



eaten with bread-and-butter, and frequently given to poultry for the 

 croup. They also make a beautiful garnish. 



The Horehound (Marrubium vulgare, L.), is a labiaceous perennial, 

 a native of Britain on dry chalky or gravelly soil, and was formerly 

 in demand as a cure for coughs and asthmas, for which candied hore- 

 hound is still a popular remedy. 



The Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis, L.), is a labiaceous evergreen 

 tmder-shrub, a native of the south of Europe, the leafy tops and 

 flowers of which are gathered and dried for making hyssop tea and 

 other purposes. 



The Balm (Melissa officinalis, L.) is a labiaceous perennial, a 

 native of Switzerland, of which balm tea and balm wine used to be 

 made. 



The Blessed Thistle (Centaurea benedicta, L.) is a carduaceous 

 annual, a native of the south of Europe, an infusion of the leaves of 

 which is considered as stomachic. 



The Liquorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra, L.) is a leguminous deep-root- 

 ing perennial, cultivated in fields more frequently than in gardens 

 for its saccharine juice, which is used as an emollient in colds, 

 fevers, &c. 



The Jtslue Melilot (Melilotus cserulea, L.) is a leguminous annual, a 

 native of Switzerland, Boheiria, &c., remarkable for its powerful 

 fragrance, which is used in S\\ itzerland to aromatize the Schabziguer 

 cheese, and there and in otl er countries to perfume clothes, and 

 afford, by distillation, a fragrai t water. In a dried state, the perfume 

 is more powerful, and it is retained for upwards of half a century. 



Toxicaceous Herbs. 



The poisonous plants cultivated in gardens for the purpose of 

 destroying insects or vermin are few, and indeed the tobacco is almost 

 the only one. 



The Tobacco (Nicotiana Tabacum, L.) is a solanaceous annual, a 

 native of South America, and cultivated to a limited extent in gardens 

 for horticultural purposes. " It is used to fumigate hothouses ; large 

 infusions of it are put into most washes that are prepared for extirpa- 

 ting insects ; and by drying and grinding it into the form of snuff, it 

 is found very efficacious in destroying the green-fly on peach and 

 rose trees out of doors." The best variety is the large-leaved Vir- 

 ginian. 



Propagation and Culture. Sow the seed, which is small, in shallow 

 seed-pans in light rich soil, in March or April, on a nice hotbed with 

 a top and bottom heat of 70. Prick off into other seed-pans as 

 soon as the plants can be fairly handled, and return them to the seed- 

 pot, frame, or house. When they have grown about three inches, put 

 them singly into thiee or four-inch pots, and place them again in a 

 warm house until the pots are full of roots and the plants have reached 

 six or eight inches in height ; then gradually inure them to exposure. 



