526 KITCHEN GARDEN. 



It is easy to conceive that ground prepared in this man- 

 ner must be productive of very large crops, and also of 

 very large heads, some of which are said to weigh four 

 ounces each. 



In cutting the heads of Asparagus, I would recom- 

 mend a knife with a straight narrow blade of six inches 

 long, with a sharp smooth edge, instead of having a blade 

 like a saw : the latter has been recommended in books, 

 and I have seen it used; but the practice is not a good 

 one, and it is better laid aside. The cutting season 

 usually commences towards the latter end of April, and 

 should never be continued beyond Midsummer. 



4. BALM. 



Melissa qfficinalis, or common Balm, is a perennial 

 plant, a native of the south of Europe. The recent plant 

 has the agreeable odour of lemons, which is lost in drying, 

 and an austere, slightly aromatic taste. It is used in 

 cool tankards ; and in the form of tea, as a grateful 

 diluent in fevers. 



It is propagated by dividing its roots in March or 

 April. 



5. BASIL. 



Ocymum Basilicum and minimum, the sweet or 

 common, and bush Basil, are the only sorts cultivated 

 in our gardens. Basil is a culinary aromatic, much 

 used in French cookery, along with other aromatic 

 herbs, in soups, &c. They are both annuals, natives of 

 the East Indies, and should be sown on a gentle hot- 

 bed in March : when the plants are two or three inches 

 high, they may be transplanted into a warm border of 

 light rich earth, in rows of six or eight inches' distance 

 from each other, watering them occasionally till they 

 have taken root. 



