VEGETABLES DESCRIPTION AND CULTURE. 447 



Medicinally it was formerly thought endowed with 

 very great virtues, and numbered among the four cordial 

 flowers. 



Old Gerard says: " Those of our time do use the flowers 

 in salads, and to exhilarate and to make the minde glad. 

 There be many things made of them used for the comfort 

 of the heart, to drive away sorrow and increase the joy 

 of the minde." The plant is not much used now except 

 as an ingredient in the drink called " a cool tankard," 

 made of wine, water, lemon-juice, and sugar, to which a 

 few of the tender leaves seem to give additional coolness. 



Sow T early in spring, broadcast, and a little thinning 

 and weeding is all the attention that will be needed. 



Caraway (Canon Card) is a native of England and 

 various other countries of Europe. It is a biennial, Um- 

 belliferous plant, w T ell known to the ancients. Pliny men- 

 tions it. Caraway is cultivated for its aromatic seeds, 

 which are useful in confectionery, as in cakes, comfits, 

 etc., and the leaves are sometimes used in soups. The 

 roots are said to excel those of the parsnip, being for- 

 merly cooked and used in the same manner. Medicinally 

 the seeds are used in an infusion for flatulence. Sow in 

 autumn, or early spring, and thin so as to give each plant 

 ten inches of room. Keep free from w T eeds. Plants sown 

 in autumn w T ill give seed the next season. 



Chamomile (Anthemis nobilis) is a hardy, Composite- 

 flowered perennial, a native of England, cultivated for its 

 flowers, which have a bitter, aromatic taste, and are in 

 small doses a useful tonic, but given largely, act as an 

 emetic. An infusion of them improves digestion and 

 gives tone to the disordered stomach. The flowers are 

 sometimes chewed as a substitute for tobacco. 



It is best propagated by dividing the roots in spring. 

 Keep the ground free from weeds. Plant nine inches 

 apart. As to varieties, the single-flowered has the most 



