128 CULINARY HERBS 



cutting may be started, when the remaining plants 

 should be large enough to make about three bunches 

 each. This last cutting may continue well into Novem- 

 ber without serious loss of lower leaves. If the plants 

 are not thinned, but are allowed to crowd, the lower 

 leaves will turn yellow and drop off, thus entailing loss. 



For cultivation with hand-wheel hoes the plants 

 in the rows should not stand closer than 2 inches at 

 first. As soon as they touch, each second one should 

 be removed and this process repeated till, when 

 growing in a commercial way, each alternate row 

 has been removed. Finally, the plants should be 12 

 to 15 inches apart. For cultivation by horse the 

 rows will need to be farther apart than already 

 noted ; 18 to 24 inches is the usual range of distances. 

 When grown on a large scale, sage usually follows 

 field-grown lettuce, early peas or early cabbage. If 

 not cut too closely or too late in the season sage 

 plants stand a fair chance to survive moderate win- 

 ters. The specimens which succeed in doing so may 

 be divided and transplanted to new soil with little 

 trouble. This is the common practice in home gar- 

 dens, and is usually more satisfactory than growing 

 a new lot of plants from seed each spring. 



For drying or for decocting the leaves are cut 

 when the flowers appear. They are dried in the 

 shade. If a second cutting is to be made, and if it 

 is desired that the plants shall live over winter, this 

 second cutting must not be made later than Sep- 

 tember in the North, because the new stems will 

 not have time to mature before frost, and the plants 

 will probably winterkill. 



