CULINARY HERBS 79 



dinary attention on any fairly dry soil. The seed 

 need only be sown in autumn or spring where the 

 plants are to remain or in a nursery bed for subse- 

 quent transplanting. If to be kept in a garden bed 

 they should stand i8 to 24 inches apart each way. 

 Nothing is needful except to keep down weeds in 

 order to have them succeed for several years on the 

 same spot. 



Uses. — The most important use of the plant is 

 as a bee forage; for this purpose waste places are 

 often planted to catnip. As a condiment the leaves 

 were formerly in popular use, especially in the form 

 of sauces; but milder flavors are now more highly 

 esteemed. Still, the French use catnip to a con- 

 siderable extent. Like many of its relatives, catnip 

 was a popular medicinal remedy for many fleshly 

 ills ; now it is practically relegated to domestic 

 medicine. Even in this it is a moribund remedy for 

 infant flatulence, and is clung to only by unlettered 

 nurses of a passing generation. 



Chervil (Scandix Cerefolium, Linn.), a southern 

 Europe annual, with stems about 18 inches tall and 

 bearing few divided leaves composed of oval, much- 

 cut leaflets. The small white flowers, borne in um- 

 bels, are followed by long, pointed, black seeds with 

 a conspicuous furrow from end to end. These 

 seeds, which retain their germinability about three 

 years, but are rather difficult to keep, may be sown 

 where the plants are to stay, at any season, about 

 eight weeks before a crop is desired; cultivation is 

 like that of parsley. During summer and in 

 warm climates, cool, shady situations should be 



