64 CULINARY HERBS 



for ornament as well as for culinary purposes, is 

 probably the same as that mentioned by Mawe in 

 1778. 



Description. — The roots are small and fibrous; the 

 stems, about 18 inches tall, very numerous, erect 

 or spreading, square; the leaves, green (except as 

 mentioned), broadly ovate with toothed margins, 

 opposite, rather succulent, highly scented ; the flow- 

 ers, few, whitish, or purplish, in small, loose, axillary, 

 one-sided clusters borne from midsummer until late 

 autumn ; the seeds very small — ^more than 50,000 to 

 the ounce. 



Cultivation. — Balm is readily propagated by means 

 of divisions, layers, cuttings, and by its seeds, which 

 germinate fairly well even when four years old. 

 Owing to its small size, the seed should be planted 

 in a seedpan or fiat in a greenhouse or hotbed, 

 where all conditions can be controlled. The soil 

 should be made very fine and friable, the thinly 

 scattered seeds merely pressed upon the surface 

 with a block or a brick, and water applied preferably 

 through the bottom of the seedpan, which may be 

 set in a shallow dish of water until the surface of 

 the soil begins to api>ear moist. 



When an inch tall the seedlings should be pricked 

 out 2 inches apart in other, deeper flats and when 

 about 4 inches tall set in the garden about i foot 

 asunder in rows about 18 inches apart. When once 

 established they may be increased readily by the 

 artificial means mentioned. (See page 34.) Ordi- 

 nary clean cultivation throughout the season, the 

 removal of dead parts, and care to prevent the 



