ROCAMBOLE. 



26D 



rather above the surface, instead of being buried 

 iu the earth ; and this improved mode of culture 

 has a fertlier advantage of bettfering the quality 

 and increasing the quantity of the crop obtained. 

 The flavour of the shallot is much more pun- 

 gent than that of garlic, but not nearly so rank. 

 It seasons soups and made-dishes, and makes a 

 good addition in sauces, salads, and pickles. 



Rocambole (allium scorodoprasum ) , is a na- 

 tive of the northern parts of Europe, and is found 

 in situations which are rather elevated. It has 

 been cultivated in this country, though not very 

 extensively, from a period much anterior to any 

 annals of horticulture. The earliest records on 

 this subject mention it as being a plant in com- 

 mon cultivation. It is a perennial, having nar- 

 row flat leaves, with the mark of a keel or ridge 

 on the under sides. The flower-stem rises to the 

 height of about two feet ; the globular head, on 

 its first appearance, is contorted. As the plant 

 advances, however, the head untwists, and the 

 flowers come to maturity ; after which the sphe- 

 rical top changes into a cluster of small bulbules, 

 which have a tinge of purple. The cloves of the 

 rocambole, taken either from the root or the top 

 of the flowering stalk, are the parts used ; the 

 latter being the largest in size ; but those from 

 the roots have the most pungency, especially 

 when the whole of the bulb is buried in the 

 earth. 



Rocambole holds an intermediate place between 

 earlic and shallot, and is applied to the same pur- 

 pose as the latter. 



Orchls, class gynwniria, order monandria, of 

 Linnaeus. The orohidise form a numerous and 

 curious family of plants. They are rather diffi- 

 cult of culture. Few of the species produce 

 seeds, and they are propagated by their bulbs or 

 tubers, which are of a peculiar structure. An 

 orchis, when taken out of the ground, is found 

 with two solid masses, of an oval form, at the 

 base of the stem, above which spring out the 

 thick fleshy fibres which nourish the plant. One 

 of these bulbs or tubers is destined to be the suc- 

 cessor of the other, and is plump and vigorous, 

 whilst the other, or decaying one, is always 

 wrinkled and withered. From this withered 

 one has proceeded the existing stem, and the 

 plump one is an offset, from the centre of which 

 the stem of the succeeding year is destined to 

 proceed. By this means the actual situation of 

 the plant is changed about half an inch every 

 year; and as the eff^ect is always produced from 

 the side opposite to the withered bulb, the plant 

 travels always in one direction, at that rate, and 

 will in a dozen years have marched six inches 

 from the place where it formerly stood. In the 

 garden the orchis can hardly be said to be pro- 

 ]iagatcd. The species are generally taken up 

 from their native habitations with balls, and 

 transfeiTed to a shady border, where they remain 



for a year or two, hut seldom increase. Those 

 which grow in the open fields are generally found 

 in a calcareous soil, and those in bogs or woods 

 tlu-ive best in peat, or peat and loam mixed. 



Several species of the orchis afford the sub- 

 stance called salep. This word is supposed to 

 have been derived from the Arabic name of the 

 plants, which is sahhleb. 



Orchis Mascula, is the species usually em- 

 ployed for the manufacture of salep. It grows 



Orchis. 



abundantly in Oxfordshire, and there salep of 

 the best quality has been manufactured from 

 the roots. The great propoi-tion of that used, 

 however, comes from the Levant. The plant 

 consists of a root, composed of two lobes, from 

 which proceed broad oblong spotted leaves. 

 The flower-stalks are about twelve inches long, 

 are furnished with one or two nari'ow leaves, and 

 terminated by a long spike of reddish purple 

 flowers, which have a slight but very agreeable 

 odour. The flowers make their appearance in 

 the months of June and July. It prefers a dry, 

 rather light soil. In rich loamy soils, which 

 have been fully manured, this plant does not 

 thrive; the roots become black and half rotten. 

 The root is ascertained to be fully matured when 

 the leaves and stalk begin to decay. The plants 

 may then be dug up, and the new formed bulbs, 

 from which alone the salep is prepared, separated 

 from the dry shrivelled one. 



The most approved mode of treating the roots 

 is as follows : The root is to be washed in water, 

 and the fine brown skin which covers it is to be 

 separated by means of a small brush, or by dip- 

 ping the root in hot water, and rubbing it with 

 a coarse linen cloth. "When a sufficient number 

 of roots have been thus cleansed, they are to bo 

 spread on a tin plate and placed in an oven, 

 heated to the usual degree, where they are to re- 



