MISCELLANEOUS VEGETABLES. -THE HORSE-EADISH. 



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decoction of the leaves is much used by ladies 

 to wash their hair with, and it is not devoid of 

 medicinal properties. It is often planted on 

 graves by relatives both in England and on the 

 Continent. The name is derived from Ros, 

 dew ; Marinus, of the sea — that is, dew of the 

 sea. It is a half-hardy shrub, requiring to be 

 planted in a dry poor soil, and in a warm shel- 

 tered situation. It is readily propagated by 

 cuttings taken when the young wood is half 

 ripened, and placed in a shaded place under 

 a hand-glass. There are three varieties, the 

 common green-leaved, the silver, and the gold 

 striped— the former is the hardiest. It is also 

 reared from seed, which is imported from 

 France. 



The European names are — Romarin in French ; 

 Romaro in Spanish ; Rosmarino in Italian ; 

 Rosmarin in German; Rosmarinho in Portu- 

 guese ; and Rosmaryn in Dutch. 



Lanender {LaTendula spica L.) belongs to 

 the natural order Labiatse, tribe Nepeteae, and 

 and to the class Didynamia and order Gymno- 

 spermia. A native of the south of Europe. A 

 plant of the greatest antiquity. It appears to 

 be the Nardus stricta or Nardus indica of 

 ancient writers, and by them was held in high 

 esteem. A very interesting account of this 

 plant is given by Phillips in his " History of 

 Cultivated Vegetables," vol. i. p. 298. 



The name is derived from Latio, to wash ; 

 and the plant is recorded in the " Hortus Bri- 

 tannicus " as being introduced in 1S68, but it is 

 highly probable it was cultivated in the monas- 

 tic gardens at a much earlier period. There 

 are two varieties cultivated, the common and 

 the broad-leaved or French : the former is 

 smaller in the spike, but much more aromatic ; 

 the latter is, however, the most extensively 

 grown for distillation and other purposes. 

 Alcohol extracts the virtues of the flowers com- 

 pletely, and gives off by distillation all their 

 odorous parts; water acts leas completely. Ac- 

 cording to the " London Dispensatory," " the 

 oil on which its virtues depend is obtained 

 separately in distillation with water, in the pro- 

 portion of 1 ounce of oil to 60 ounces of the 

 flowers." 



Lavender is grown in most gardens, both for 

 distillation and for being dried and placed 

 amongst linen, as weU as forming an ingredient 

 in those repositories of perfumes called sweet- 

 pots. The flowers should be left on the spikes 

 and gathered when quite dry, and just before 

 they are fully expanded. When cut with about 

 6 inches of the stalks, and tied up in small 

 bundles about an inch in thickness, and sus- 

 pended from the roof of a dry chamber at a 

 temperature of from 60° to 70°, they will dry 

 in twenty-four hours, and be fit for storing by 

 for use. When the flowers fall from the spikes 

 during drying, they should be gathered up and 

 placed in paper bags, and in this state are as fit 

 for use as if they had remained on the spikes. 

 Lavender is grown to a great extent about 

 Micham in Surrey, for the purpose of distilla- 

 tion ; and the lavender-water made of home- 

 grown flowers is considered superior to that 

 imported from France. 

 VOL. II. 



It is readily propagated by seeds, cuttings, 

 or slips — the former make the best plants. 

 The seed is procured from France. It should 

 be sown in March in poor light soil ; and when 

 the plants are about 2 inches in height they 

 should be transplanted to nursery-beds, in 

 which they should remain till the following 

 spring, when they may be planted out for 

 good. Cuttings are struck in the same manner 

 as with all other shrubby hardy plants, and 

 when rooted should be treated as directed 

 above for seedlings. A dry poor soil is the 

 most favourable, and a warm situation fully 

 exposed to the sun the best place for it, as well 

 as for all other highly-aromatic plants. 



The European names are — Lavande in French ; 

 Eapliego in Spanish ; Lavendula in Italian ; 

 Spiklavendel in German; Alfazema in Portu- 

 guese ; and Lavendel in Dutch. 



§ 6. — THE HORSE-RADISH. 



The horse-radish {Coclelearia armoracea L.) 

 belongs to the natural order Cruciferse, tribe 

 Alyssinese, and to the class Tetradynamia in 

 the Linnaean an-angement. The plant is a 

 native of England, found occasionally in damp 

 watery places. The generic name is derived 

 from Cochlear, a spoon, from the spoon-like or 

 concave leaves of several of the genus. Most 

 of the plants of this family, several of which are 

 indigenous to Britain, are wholesome as salad 

 plants,being powerful antiscorbutics, and capable 

 of stimulating the digestive organs. The horse- 

 radish is cultivated in every garden, and is used 

 as a condiment to roast-beef. The root is the 

 part used, and is served at the table either 

 finely scraped down or grated, which latter is 

 the best and moat elegant form. It is also 

 used in winter salads and sauces. 



Propagation is always efiected by planting 

 portions of the roots, which grow readily, and 

 the soil moat conducive to it is a deep, rich, 

 light sand or alluvial deposit, free from stones 

 or other obstructions, as the longer, thicker, 

 and straighter the roots are the more they are 

 valued. With the exception of the Jerusalem 

 artichoke, there is scarcely another culinary vege- ■ 

 table of equal importance in which cultivation is 

 in general ao greatly neglected as in this. We 

 find it often, like the former, planted in some 

 obscure corner of the garden, where it may 

 have existed for years, and only visited when 

 the proprietor's table is about to be graced with 

 Old England's national dish. The operation of 

 hastily extracting a root or two is too often all 

 that is thought of, and the crop is left to fight 

 its way amongst weeds and litter aa best it 

 may. The best directions laid down for im- 

 proved culture are the papers by Mr Knight 

 and Mr Judd, in the " Transactions of the Hor- 

 ticultural Society." The former, in vol. i. 

 p. 207, says, " During winter, trench the ground 

 3 feet deep, and in the following February pro- 

 cure the aets, in the choice of which take the 

 strongest crowns or leading buds from old 

 plants, cutting them about 2 inches long. Mark 

 out the ground in 4-feet beds and 1-foot alleys ; 



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