334 CULTIVATED VEGETABLES. 



The lemon-thyme is less pungent than the 

 common garden thyme, but much more 

 grateful ; therefore, it is used as a seasoning 

 for veal and other meats, where lemon-peel 

 would be used, thus answering the purpose 

 of two distinct spices. 



Thyme makes a neat border for cottage- 

 gardens, and if kept cut like box, it will last 

 for many years, and is very agreeable when in 

 blossom ; but as an ornament, it is better 

 calculated for openings in wildernesses or on 

 banks or artificial hills, where it should be 

 sown in clumps about the size of mole-hills, 

 and so arranged as not to have the appear- 

 ance of cultivation. Shakspeare, who ob- 

 served plants as closely as he did men, says 

 in his Midsummer Night's Dream, 



" I know a bank whereon the wild thyme blows, 

 Where ox-lip, and the nodding violet grows, 

 O'er canopy'd with luscious woodbine, 

 With sweet musk-roses, and with eglantine." 



Thyme that is intended for winter use, 

 should be cut when in blossom, and dried in 

 the shade. 



The Romans called the wild thyme Ser- 

 pyllum, d serpendo, alluding to its creeping 

 along the ground. 



