V. BALM, BASIL. 



thick coverings, but linings, must be resorted to, and 

 these you will find fully described under the head of 

 CUCUMBER. As to the sorts of asparagus of which some 

 people talk, I, for my part, could never discover any 

 difference : some talk of red-topped and some of green- 

 topped j but I am convinced that all the difference that 

 there is, is to be traced to the soil, the climate, and the 

 culture. 



121. BALM. This is a herb purely medicinal. A 

 very little of it is sufficient in any garden. It is propa- 

 gated from seed, or from offsets. When once planted, 

 the only care required is to see that jt do not extend 

 itself too widely. 



122. BASIL is a very sweet annual poi-herb, being o* 

 two sorts, the dwarf and the tall. It should besowec .in va-'i 

 fine earth early in the spring, and transplanted into earth 

 equally fine, with very great care. But, let me here speak 

 of the place for herbs in general. They should all be 

 collected together in one spot if possible. The best form 

 is a long bed, with an alley on each side of it, the bed 

 too narrow to need trampling in order to reach the 

 middle of it. The herbs should stand in rows made 

 across this bed, the quantity of each being in due pro- 

 portion to the consumption of the family ; for it is a 

 mark of great want of judgment to occupy great spaces 

 of greund with things that can be of no possible use. 

 We often see, in a gentleman's garden, as much parsley 

 growing as would be sufficient for the supply of a large 

 country town - } and, as to mint, I have often seen it co- 

 vering several rods of ground, when the sensible original 



