48 A HISTORY OF GARDENING IN ENGLAND. 



Fenel in potage and in mete 

 Is good to done whane y u schalt ete, 

 All grene loke it be corvvyn * small 

 In what mete y u vsyn schall." 



Mint was often used with fennel in sauces. Chaucer mentions 

 them growing together : ? 



" Then went I forth on my right hond 

 Downe by a litel path I fond 

 Of Mintes full and Fennell greene." Romaunt of the Rose. 



Parsley was, perhaps, still more common than either of these. 

 In the earliest English gardening treatise, t a section of the short 

 poem is devoted to parsley, and the instructions for its culture 

 are quite correct : 



" Percell kynde ys for to be 



To be sow yn the monthe of mars so mote y the 



He will grow long and thykke 



And euer as he growyth thu schalt hym kytte 



77m may hym kytte by reson' 



TTzryes yn one seson '. 



Wurtys to make and sewes | also. 



Let hym neuer to hye go 



To lete hym grow to hye hit is grete foly. 

 * * * 



Thay that the sede schal bere the 

 Kytte hym noirjt but lete hym be." 



The same practical poet, John Gardener, also gives directions 

 for the planting of onions, garlick, and leeks. They were to 

 be sown on St. Valentine's day, as they are " herbys vn-meke," 

 or what we call " hardy." The onion plants which were required 

 for seed, were to be sown in April or March, and when the heads 

 began to grow tall, they were supported by ash-sticks : 

 " Forkys y made of asche-tre 



That none of hem downe nou3t fall 

 % * * * 



When they rype they wyl schow 



And by the bollys thu schalt hem know 



The sede wt[ith]yn wul schewe blake 



Then thu schalt hem vp take 



They wul be rype at the full 



At lammasse of Peter Apostull." 



* = carved = cut-up. 



t MS. Trinity College, Cambridge. Printed in Archceologia, 1894. 

 Sauces. 



