236 



CULINARY OR KITCHEN GARDEN. 



a dozen to twenty plants will be sufficient for 

 most families. The common sage, however, 

 should be grown to about three times that ex- 

 tent. In very cold and damp situations, a very 

 proper situation for common sage is an elevated 

 rockwork, or the top of an old wall, where it may 

 be quite dry, and fully exposed to the sun. In 

 some situations it requires partial shelter during 

 severe frosts, and for this purpose may be pro- 

 tected by covering it with branches or dry fern 

 fronds. Protecting the roots, in most places, 

 by a covering of rotten tan, leaves, or sifted 

 coal-ashes, is very beneficial. 



The European names of the common sage are 

 — Sauge in French ; Salvia in Italian and Span- 

 ish ; Salva in Portuguese; Schalweja in Hussiau; 

 Szalwia in Polish ; Salbey in German ; and Salie 

 in Dutch. Those of common clary, Orvale in 

 French ; Schiarea in Italian ; and Scharlach- 

 kraut in German. 



Balm (Melissa officinalis L.) belongs to the 

 natural order Labiatse, and to the class Didy- 

 namia and order Gymnospermia in the Lin- 

 nsean arrangement. The generic name is derived 

 from Melissa, a bee, from the abundance of 

 honey that bees gather from it. A native of 

 the south of Europe, and introduced into Bri- 

 tain in 1573. The plant, in its green state, has 

 an agreeable odour of lemons, and an austere 

 and sHghtly aromatic taste, and hence is some- 

 times employed to flavour certain dishes in the 

 absence of lemon-thyme. 



" It has also been called apistrum, from apis, 

 a bee, on the same account ; and it is still the 

 custom to rub the bee-hives with balm and 

 sugar, or honey, previous to taking a swarm — 

 a practice," as Plullips correctly enough observes, 

 " which certainly appears to have the effect of 

 attaching the colony to its new settlement." 

 Pliny notices this method of securing the bees 

 in his time, and says that, where there is plenty 

 of balm in the garden, there is no fear of the 

 swarms straying. He tells us, also, that it is a 

 good remedy for the sting of bees and wasps, 

 &c. — a practice also still continued. The only 

 other domestic use for which this plant is em- 

 ployed is in making cool tankards, balm wine, 

 and balm tea. It is a perfectly hardy perennial 

 plant, readily increased by division of the 

 roots, either in autumn or spring. Set the 

 plants a foot or 15 inches apart. They continue 

 for several years, and adapt themselves to any 

 ordinary garden-soil. Cut the crop when com- 

 ing into flower, and dry as recommended for 

 mint. The young leaves are the parts employed 

 for making balm wine, and these are produced 

 during the greater part of the summer. The 

 dried plant loses nearly all that agreeable odour 

 of lemons which the young green leaves pos- 

 sess. 



The European names are — La melisse in 

 French; Die melisse in German; Melisse in 

 Dutch; Melissa in Italian, Portuguese, and 

 Eussian; Melisa in Spanish and, Polish. 



-Mentha viridis, green spearmint; 

 Mentha piperita, peppermint ; and Mentha 

 Pulegium, Penny-royal — are the sorts cultivated 



in gardens. They belong to the natural order 

 LabiatEe, and to the class Didynamia and order 

 Gymnospermia in the Linnaean arrangement. 

 They are all natives of Britain. The generic 

 name is derived from Mintha, daughter to Co- 

 cytus, who, according to the heathen mythology, 

 was changed into this plant ; the specific name, 

 Pulegium, from Pulex, a louse, which animal it 

 was thought to drive away. Mint and balm are 

 said to be amongst the earliest medicinal plants 

 selected by man. The young leaves of M. viridis 

 are used in spring salads, and in acid sauce, with 

 roasted lamb ; it is boiled with green pease; it 

 is generally used in pea-soup, and is relished by 

 many in other soups also. As all do not, how- 

 ever, participate in the same taste for it, it should 

 be served at table in a povmded state, so that 

 each may help himself, according to taste. M. 

 piperata is chiefiy used for distillation ; the leaves 

 of M. pulegium are used in different branches of 

 cookery. 



It is propagated by division of the roots, the 

 smallest portion of which will grow by remov- 

 ing off-sets or young shoots in spring, with a 

 fragment of root attached to them — and in extre- 

 mity, by cuttings of the stems. The first is the 

 usual and best mode. Penny-royal is best in- 

 creased by dividing the old plant into small 

 pieces. It should be planted either in spring 

 or autumn, before the plants begin to grow, or 

 after vegetation has ceased, in drills drawn a 

 foot asunder, and 2 inches deep. Select the 

 youngest and strongest roots from amongst the 

 old, and lay them lengthwise in the drills, and 

 cover them over. When offsets are employed, 

 remove them from the sides of the old plants 

 in spring, when about 3 inches high, and set 

 them in drills as above, 6 inches apart in the 

 rows. Cuttings of the young stalks taken off in 

 June, and planted like offsets, and at a like dis- 

 tance, will be established by autumn. Penny- 

 royal should be planted in spring, at the same 

 distances as the above, preferring a dampish 

 situation. 



Young plants recently set will be improved 

 in growth by occasional waterings, and espe- 

 cially penny-royal, particularly during dry warm 

 weather. Keep the beds clear of weeds by 

 hand-weeding, for, from the nature of the plants, 

 their roots running in all directions near the 

 surface, hoeing cannot be appUed. Old beds 

 should have a top-dressing of light soil or rot- 

 ten tan laid over them every autumn, to the 

 depth of 2 inches : in this the young roots seem 

 to luxuriate. It also preserves the buds during 

 winter, and causes them to spring earlier in 

 spring. This should not, however, be applied 

 to penny-royal. In some soils the mints will 

 continue for years, in others it is well to make 

 new plantations every second or third year. 

 At the end of summer cut over all the remain- 

 ing stems close to the ground before top-dressing. 

 Cut the alleys off at the same time, and gather 

 out all extending roots, so as to restrain the 

 plants within their proper bounds. 



A moist loose soil is the most proper for the 

 spear and pepper mints, while a strong mode- 

 rately-moist soil is more fitting for penny-royal; 

 all of them naturally grow in situations which 



