282 



CAM 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL j 



CAM 



Onions, to cut up the weeds, and thin the plants to the dis- 

 tance of three or four inches ; and when the weeds come up 

 again they must be hoed over to destroy them ; this, if well 

 performed in dry weather, will make the ground clean for a 

 considerable time, so that if thrice repeated it will keep the 

 plants clean till winter, which is the season for eating the 

 roots, when they may be taken up for use as they are 

 wanted. These will continue good till April, at which time 

 they will send out their stalks, when they will become hard 

 and unfit for use, as do also those roots which have flowered; 

 the young roots only are fit for the table : when the seeds are 

 sown too early, the plants frequently run up to flower the 

 same year, and the roots are spoiled. 



7. Campanula Persicifolia ; Peach-leaved Bell-flower. Ra- 

 dical leaves obovate ; stem-leaves lanceolate-linear, subser- 

 rate, sessile, remote. Root like that of Navew, and eatable ; 

 stem very straight, eighteen inches high and more, (ingardens 

 two feet and a half) unbranched, angular, smooth, as is the 

 whole plant (except the germen and capsule ;) flowers in a 

 thin spike, one or two together, on very long peduncles, 

 which have two stipules at the base ; corolla large, broad, 

 bell-form, deep blue, the segments short, and moderately 

 acuminate. This is a perennial plant, native of most parts of 

 the continent of Europe, from Sweden to Spain, but not of 

 Britain. The varieties are, the single blue, and white ; and 

 double flowers of both colours : the latter have not been 

 more than fifty years in England, but have been propagated 

 in such plenty, as to have almost banished those with single 

 flowers from the gardens. This species,as well as all the other 

 hardy perennial sorts, which are very numerous in this genus, 

 are easily propagated by parting their roots in autumn, at 

 which time every head that is slipped off will grow ; they 

 will thrive in any soil and situation, and are proper furniture 

 for the common borders of the flower-garden and shrubbery. 



S. Campanula Pyramidalis ; Pyramidal Bell-flower. Leaves 

 smooth and even, serrate, cordate ; stem-leaves lanceolate ; 

 stems rushy, simple ; umbels sessile, lateral. Scopoli thus 

 describes this plant in its wild state : the root and stem are 

 milky ; the latter is four feet high, panicled, with short 

 branches from top to bottom ; all the leaves are ovate, 

 petioled, and shortly toothed ; the teeth paler, and termi- 

 nated by a gland ; the corolla spreading, five-cleft beyond 

 the middle ; the calycine teeth even, whilst the corolla is 

 closed, spreading out horizontally, and twice as long as the 

 germen, which is three-cornered. It is found about Idria, 

 in Struk; and, according to Allioni, in Savoy. It is thus de- 

 scribed by Mr. Miller, as it appears in gardens. It has thick 

 tuberous roots which are milky ; these send out three or four 

 strong, smooth, upright stalks, which are nearly four feet 

 high, and are garnished with smooth oblong leaves, whose 

 edges are a little indented ; the lower leaves are much 

 broader than those on the stalks. The flowers are produced 

 from the side of the stalks, and are regularly set on for 

 more than half their length, forming a sort of pyramid ; 

 these are large, open, and shaped like a bell ; the most com- 

 mon colour of the flower is a light blue ; but there have been 

 some with white flowers, which make a variety when inter- 

 mixed with the blue, but the latter is most esteemed. This 

 plant is cultivated to adorn halls, and to place before the 

 ^himnies in summer, when it is in flower, for which purpose 

 there is no plant more proper ; for when the roots are strong 

 they will send out four or five stalks, which will rise as many 

 feet high, and are garnished with flowers great part of their 

 length; these upright stalks send out some short side- 

 branches, which are also adorned with flowers, so that by 

 jpieariingthe upright stalks to a flat frame composed of 



slender laths, as is usually practised, the whole plant is 

 formed into the shape of a fan, and will spread nearly to 

 the width of a common fire-place. When the flowers begin 

 to open, the pots are removed into the rooms, where being 

 shaded from the sun, and kept from the rain, the flowers 

 will continue long in beauty ; and if the pots are every night 

 removed into a more airy situation, but not exposed to heavy 

 rains, the flowers will be fairer, and continue much longer in 

 beauty. Those plants which are trained for adorning halls and 

 chimneys, are seldom fit for the purpose the following season ; 

 a supply of young plants therefore should be annually raised : 

 the common method of doing this, is by dividing the roots ; 

 and the best time for doing it is in September, that the 

 offsets may have time to get strong roots before winter. 

 This method of propagating by the offsets is the quickest, 

 therefore generally practised, but the plants which are raised 

 from seeds are always stronger; the stalks will rise higher, and 

 produce a greater number of flowers ; and is therefore recom- 

 mended to the practice of the curious. In order to obtain 

 good seeds, there should be some strong plants, placed 

 in a warm situation, near a pale or wall, in autumn ; and if 

 the following winter should prove severe, they should be 

 covered with either hand-glasses or mats, to prevent their 

 being injured by the frost ; and in the summer, when the 

 flowers are fully open, if the season should prove very wet, 

 the flowers must be screened from great rains, otherwise 

 there will be no good seed produced : the not observing 

 this had led many to conclude that the plants do not bear 

 seed in England, which is a great mistake, though it has 

 certainly been found that the plants which have been raised 

 by offsets, seldom produce seeds ; and this is the case with 

 many other plants which are propagated by slips or cuttings, 

 which in a few years become barren. When the seeds are 

 obtained, they must be sown in autumn, in pots or boxes 

 filled with light undunged earth, and placed in the open air 

 till the frost or hard rains come on, when they should be 

 placed under a hot-bed frame, where they may be sheltered 

 from both ; but in mild weather, the glasses should be 

 drawn off every day, that they may enjoy the free air ; with 

 this management the plants will come up early in the 

 spring, and then they must be removed out of the frame, 

 placing them first in a warm situation ; but when the season 

 becomes warm, they should be removed where they may havu 

 the morning sun only : during the following summer, they 

 must be kept clean from weeds, and in very dry weather now 

 and then refreshed with water, which must be given with 

 great caution, for the roots are very subject to rot with too 

 much moisture. In September, the leaves of the plants will 

 begin to decay, at which time they should be transplanted ; 

 therefore there must be one or two beds prepared, in propor- 

 tion to the number of plants. These beds must be in a warm 

 situation, and the earth light, sandy, and without any mixture 

 of dung, which last is an enemy to this plant. If the situa- 

 tion of the place be low, or the soil moist, the beds must be 

 raised five or six inches above the surface of the ground, and 

 the natural soil removed a foot and a half deep, putting lime- 

 rubbish, eight or nine inches thick, in the bottom of the 

 trench, to drain off the moisture. When the beds are pre- 

 pared, the plants must be taken out of the pots or cases very 

 carefully, so as not to break or bruise their roots, for they 

 are very tender, and on being broken, the milky juice will 

 flow out plentifully, which will greatly weaken them. Tlu^e 

 should be planted at four inches' distance each way, with the 

 head or crown of the root half an inch below the surface; if 

 there happen a gentle shower of rain soon after they are 

 planted, it will be of great service to them; but as the season 



