PARSLEY. 219 



oval, smooth ; the flowers are small, of a purplish color, and 

 produced in spikes. 



It is much inferior to Sweet Marjoram. 



A half-hardy perennial, from the south of Winter 



T-< a.,. i x i i i T i Sweet Mario- 



Europe. Stem eighteen inches high, purplish ; ram. Corb. 



the leaves resemble those of Sweet Marjo- 



ram ; the flowers are white, and are put forth 



in July and August, in spikelets two inches in length ; the 



seeds ripen in September. 



Propagation and Culture. It is propagated, cultivated, 

 and used as Common Marjoram. 



There is a variety with variegated leaves, but differing in 

 no other respect from the foregoing. 



PARSLEY. 



Apium petroselinum. 



Parsley is a hardy, biennial plant from Sardinia. The 

 leaves of the first year are all radical, compound, rich, deep 

 green, smooth, and shining. When fully developed, the 

 plant measures three or four feet in height ; the flowers are 

 small, white, in -terminal umbels ; the seeds are ovoid, some- 

 what three-sided, slightly curved, of a grayish-brown color, 

 and aromatic taste. Seven thousand are contained in an 

 ounce, and they retain their vitality three years. 



Soil and Propagation. Parsley succeeds best in rich, 

 mellow soil, and is propagated from seeds sown annually ; 

 an ounce of seed being allowed to a hundred and fifty feet 

 of drill. 



Sowing. As the seed vegetates slowly, sometimes re- 

 maining in the earth four or five weeks before the plants 

 appear, the sowing should be made as early in spring as 

 the ground is in working condition. Lay out the bed of a 



