KITCHEN GARDEN. 209 



purposes, grow to the length of twenty-four inches, 

 and acquire the thickness of a man's thumb. Strip- 

 ped of their outer covering, they yield a substance 

 slightly acid,* which is much admired, and employ- 

 ed as an ingredient in the composition of puddings 

 and tarts. Cobbett supposes that a hundred wagon- 

 loads of these stalks are annually sold in the markets 

 of London, at a shilling sterling per bunch. f 



The rhubarb is propagated sometimes from seeds, 

 and oftener from offsets from old roots. J It re- 

 quires a soil dry, and rich, and well-laboured. Two 

 years are necessary to render it fit for use, but, 

 once established, it will last a century. 



SAGE (Salvia Officinalis). This is one of the hun- 

 dred and more species of Salvia enumerated by 

 botanists. It has many varieties, the most impor- 

 tant of which are, the large-leaved, the curled,^ the 

 three-coloured, and the variegated. They are all 

 propagated alike, by seeds, by suckers, and by por- 

 tions of old roots, and grow well in any soil not 

 positively wet. Till three or four years old, they 

 have a healthy and agreeable appearance, forming 

 full and regular tufts; but after this period they 

 lose the central branches, and even become ragged 

 and broken on their edges. The treatment already 

 suggested for rue might be useful for sage. Under 

 it the roots would probably renew their vigour, and 

 throw out new and healthy shoots; but of this the- 

 ory we have no experience. 



SALSIFY (Tragopogon). This is a native of the 

 southern mountains of Europe, has been long cul- 



* The stalks, like the roots, yield, on analysis, sulphur and 

 lime. 



t American Gardener. 



j The best mode is to propagate from seeds which ripen in 

 July. If then sown, the plants may be put out three feet apart 

 the next spring, and will give a good crop the second summer af- 

 ter transplanting. J. B. 



This is made a distinct species by Wildenow, under the 

 name of Salvia Tomentosa. 



S 2 



