SORI.EL. 297 



and mix the juice, when cold, with the milk of the 

 reindeer, which they esteem an agreeable and 

 wholesome diet. The Irish are generally fond of 

 acids, and eat the leaves of sorrel with their milk 

 and fish. 



There are two or three varieties of the sorrel in 

 cultivation, but that called French sorrel is by far 

 the best for all culinary purposes. It is a native of 

 Provence, in the south of France, and can be easily 

 distinguished from the English variety by the large- 

 ness and thickness of the leaves, which are nearly 

 round : it also remains longer before running up 

 into flower. 



Culture. The sorrel may be increased by seeds 

 and by parting the roots. The seeds should be 

 sown in a bed or border early in spring, raking 

 them in evenly. When the plants come up, they 

 should be regularly thinned, and when of some 

 growth, planted put in rows, in any light soil, about 

 twelve inches apart, supplying them plentifully with 

 water. The leaves will be fit to cut at the end of 

 the same summer, and they continue for many years. 

 Where plants can be procured by parting the 

 roots, it will be preferable to sowing seed, as in 

 that case the plants are apt to sprout too much, 

 and the seeds saved from the best French sorrel 

 cannot be depended on. 



The parted roots may be planted out in the same 

 manner as directed for the seedlings, when they will 

 furnish a plentiful supply of leaves the same sum- 

 mer. They afterwards only require to be kept 

 clean, and to have the seed-stems cut down, as well 

 as the overgrown leaves, in the autumn. 



