88 CULINARY HERBS 



Cultivation, — Where dill has not already been 

 grown seed may be sown in early spring, preferably 

 in a warm sandy soil, where the plants are to re- 

 main. Any well-drained soil wiH do. The drills 

 should be i foot apart, the seeds scattered thinly 

 and covered very shallow; a bed 12 feet square 

 should supply abundance of seed foi any ordinary 

 family. To sow this area ^ to ^ ounce of seed is 

 ample. For field use the rows may be 15 inches 

 apart and the seed sown more thinly. It should 

 not be covered much more than ^ inch. Some 

 growers favor fall sowing, because they claim the 

 seed is more likely to germinate than in the spring, and 

 also to produce better plants than spring-sown seed. 



At all times the plants must be kept free from 

 weeds and the soil loose and open. When three or 

 four weeks old the seedlings are thinned to 9 

 inches, or even a foot apart. As soon as the seed is 

 ripe, shortly after midsummer, it must be gathered 

 with the least possible shaking and handling, so as 

 to prevent loss. It is well to place the stems as 

 cut directly in a tight-bottomed cart or a wheel- 

 barrow, with a canvas receptacle for the purpose, 

 and to haul direct to the shade where drying is to 

 occur. A good place for this is a barn, upon the 

 floor of which a large canvas sheet is spread, and 

 where a free circulation of air can be secured. 

 (See page 28.) 



Uses. — The French use dill for flavoring preserves, 

 cakes and pastry. For these purposes it is of too 

 strong and pronounced a character to be relished by 

 American palates. The seeds perhaps more often 



