CULINARY HERBS III 



side marked with fine ribs. They retain their ger- 

 minating power for three years. An interesting fact, 

 observed by Palladius in 210 A. D., is that old seed 

 germinates more freely than freshly gathered seed. 



Cultivation. — Parsley is so easily grown that no gar- 

 den, and indeed no household, need be without it. 

 After once passing the infant stage no difficulty need 

 be experienced. It will thrive in any ordinary soil 

 and will do well in a window box with only a mod- 

 erate amount of light, and that not even direct sun- 

 shine. Gardeners often grow it beneath benches in 

 greenhouses, where it gets only small amounts of 

 light. No one need hesitate to plant it. 



The seed is very slow in germinating, often requir- 

 ing four to six weeks unless soaked before sowing. 

 A full day's soaking in tepid water is none too long 

 to wake up the germs. The drills may be made 

 in a cold frame during March or in the open ground 

 during April. 



It is essential that parsley be sown very early in 

 order to germinate at all. If sown late, it may 

 possibly not get enough moisture to sprout, and if 

 so it will fail completely. When sown in cold 

 frames or beds for transplanting, the rows may be 

 only 3 or 4 inches apart, though it is perhaps better, 

 when such distances are chosen, to sow each alter- 

 nate row to forcing radishes, which will have been 

 marketed by the time the parsley seedlings appear. 

 In the open ground the drills should be 12 to 15 

 inches apart, and the seed planted somewhat deeper 

 and farther apart than in the presumably better- 



