1596 



SAGE 



SAGE {Salvia officinalis). For at least three cen- 

 turies this shrubby, tibrous- rooted pereuiiial from 

 southern Eurox^e has been widely oultivuted in kitchen 

 gardens for its aromatic, whitish green, wrinkled, oval 

 leaves. These are arranged o])pusitelY on ascending or 

 decumbent branching stems which seldom exceed 18 in. 

 in height. lu early summer the upper )):irts of these 

 bear generally blue, though sometimes pink or white 

 flowers, followed by almost black spheroidid seeds borne 

 in the open cups. The name Salvia is derived from 

 salro, to save, in reference to the plant's use in au'dunt 

 medicine; the name sage, from its supposed i)n\vi.'r to 

 make people wise by strengthening tlie memory. In 

 modern medicine it is but little used. In domest'ic 

 practice it is, however, credited with tonic, sudoriiic, 

 carminative, anthelmintic and stomacliie properties, 

 and is frequently usc.i as a gargle for aphthous affec- 

 tions of the mouth ;ui<i pharynx. Its pleasant, though 

 powerful-smelling, bittrrish "leaves are used for flavor- 

 ing sausages and some kinds of cheese, for seasoning 

 soups and stews, but mainly for dressings with lus- 

 cious, strong meats such as pork, goose and duck. 

 Among culinary herbs it ranks first in America, being 

 more widely cultivated than any other except parsley, 

 whirh is more largely employe<l for garnishing than as 

 a flavoring agent. When possible the young leaves 

 should be used fresh, for unless carefully dried they 

 lose much of their aroma, "which is due to a volatile 

 oil and which even with careful curing rapidly dissi- 

 pates. For best results the shoots should be gathered 

 before flower-stems develop, becairse they are then 

 ricln'r and because later cuttings may be made. For 

 dryinir upon a commercial scale, since this plan is 

 thnmrlit to involve too much labor, the plants are cut in 

 Aui,aist if seed has been sown early, and the stumps, if 

 not too short, produce a.u:ain in late autumn; or if grown 

 as a secondary crop, which is the common way, they are 

 cut only once — namely, in autumn. Plants grown from 

 cuttings (see below) will often produce three crops in a 

 season. Upon a small scale a warm, airy room is best 

 for drying, the plants being either laid loosely upon 

 racks or the floor, or hung from the ceiling and walls. 

 Upon a larger scale a fruit evaporator with a steady 

 current of warm air at about 100° F. may be used. 

 After drying, the leaves are rubbed to a powder and 

 stored in air-tiiijht vessels. 



8age does I»est in an open, sunny aspect and a well- 

 drained. meUow loam of medium texture, rich in humus 

 anrl nitrogenous matter. Stable manure or a fertilizer 

 containing potash, pliosphoric acid and nitrogen should 

 be applied l)efore the plowing, if done in the spring. 

 Fall phjwing is generally preferred where Sage alone is 

 to oci'upy tlie land. In each case plowing should be as 

 deep as the surface soil will profitably permit. Thorough 

 fining of the soil must precede, and clean cultivation 

 follow planting, the plants being set in drills about 

 1.5 in. apart and 10 in. asunder for manual cultivation or 

 18-21 in. apart and 10 in. asunder for power cultivation. 

 The former method is, as a rule, more profitable though 

 more laborious. After harvesting (see above) if the 

 bed is to be permanent, northern plantations should be 

 mulched witli umrsh hay or other material free from 

 weed seeds. For garden practice it is common to divide 

 the clumps biennially, since the plants become straggling 

 if left longer. Upon a commercial scale, however, it is 

 better to rely upon cuttings or seedlings. Propagation 

 may bo effected by seed, cuttings, layers or division. 

 Seed, the vitality of which lasts three years, may be 

 drilled thinly in flats in greenhouse, hotbed or cold- 

 frame in early spring; or out of doors, as soon as the 

 ground becomes dry enough, in specially prepared beds 

 of fine soil, covering them about '^i in. deep. In the 

 former case the plants must be pricked out and hard- 

 ened off to render them stocky and hardy before trans- 

 planting; in the latter, they are taken directly to the 

 field. This operation may lie performed from miil-.Tune 

 until late July, the plants being not less than 'J.-2 in. 

 tall. The former method, which is considered the 

 better, is the common commercial practice. Cuttings 

 may be of mature or of imuuiture wood. With each, 

 shade and moisture are essential to success. Mature 

 wood cuttings, made in early spring, should be ready 

 for the fiehl in less than six weeks; innuature, taken 



SAGITTARIA 



from outside shoots just before they would form 

 blossom heads, are left'in the cutting bed until the fol- 

 lowing year. Such plants are usually more prolific 

 than those grown from mature wood or from spring 

 seedlings, and are, therefore, best when Sage alone is 

 to occupy the land. But when it is to follow some early 

 vegetable, nmture wood cuttings or seedling plants will 

 probably be found best, though little or nothing can be 

 eut before September. As practiced by market-garden- 

 ers in the vicinity of New York each of the above 

 methods has its advocates, but practically all agree ui)on 

 the plowing and harrowing of the ground in June or 

 July after harvesting an early crop, such as beets, cab- 

 bage or peas. About twice in the three weeks after 

 setting the plants the field is raked to destroy sprouting 

 weeds and to keep the surface loose, after which, if 

 well done, t)ut slight hoeing is necessary. In Septem- 

 ber, wlien the plants crowd each other, each alternate 

 plant or row of plants is cut for sale and the remainder 

 allowed to till the space. At the first cutting each plant 

 should make about two marketable bunches; at the 

 second at least three. This practice not only insures 

 plants full of leaves at each cutting but at least double 

 the quantity in the end. 



In America the green, broad-leaved varieties are in 

 far greater demand than the colored and the narrow- 

 leaved kinds. The best variety known to tlie writer is 

 Holt Mammoth, which is exceptionally prolific of large 

 leaves. It is said to produce no seed. ^[ q Kains. 



SAGE BRUSH. Species of AHeunsia. 

 SAGE, JEEUSALEM. See Phlowis. 



SAGtlNIA [derivation unknown). Polijpodidcece. A 

 genus of ferns, mostly of large and coarse habit, with 

 superior reuiform or heart-shaped indnsia fixed by the 

 sinus, as in Dryopteris, but with veins uniting freely to 

 form areoles with free included veinlets. About 2.") 

 species are known, largely from the East Indies, a few 

 from tropical America. 



dectirrens, Presl. Leaf-stalks narrowly winged from 

 a creeping rootstock: Ivs, 2-4 ft. long, 1 ft. or more 

 wide, cut down to a winged rachis and with 4-8 pairs of 

 pinnte 0-12 in. long, 1-2 in. wide: sori large, in two 

 regular rows lietween the principal ^'eins. India to 

 Polynesia. l_ ^i Underwood. 



SAGINA (Latin, fatnesft ; perhaps alluding to the 

 forage value. Caryophijlldcecf: . 1*earlw'0KT. About 

 8 species of annual or perennial tufted herbs, mostly 

 from the temperate regions of the world. Lvs. 

 awl -shaped: fls. small, usually comparatively long- 

 stemmed; sepals 4-5; petals 4-5, entire or slightly 

 emarginate, minute or none; stamens equal in number 

 to the sepals or twice as many: ovary 1-loculed, many- 

 seeded: styles of the same number as the sepals and 

 alternate with them. 



suhulata, Wimm. {S. pllifera, Hort. Spn-yula pil- 

 ifera, Hort. SptTQuJa suhulata, Sw.). Peaklwort. 

 An evergreen, hard}'-, densely tufted little plant, cov- 

 ering the ground like a sheet of moss: lvs. very small, 

 stiff, aristate on the margin, linear: stems branching 

 and creeping: fls. white, studded all over the plant on 

 long, very slender peduncles. July-Sept. Corsica. R.H. 

 1896, p. 435. E.B. 20:153.- Var. a^rea has lvs. marked 

 with yellow. A good rock-plant in shady places. Cult, 

 similar to Arenaria. Prop, by division. 



F. W. Barclay. 



SAGITTAKIA {Sagiita is Latin for arrow). ^U/.^■- 

 mclcea\ Arrowhead. A small genus of very variahh-- 

 aquatic plants, the number of species depending on the 

 point of view of eacL, author. Nearlj" or quite 100 spe- 

 cific names occur in the genus, but Micheli, the latest 

 monogi-apher (DC. Monogr. Phaner. 3} reduces the 

 species to 13, four of which are doubtful. In his mono- 

 graph of the American forms (6th Hep. Mo. Bot. Card.) 

 Jared G. Smith admits 21 species. The present ten- 

 dency amongst Aunu-ican writers is to recognize several 

 rather than few s[i(-cies. In common with most aquatic 

 l>lants, they are widely distributed. They occur in 

 juany parts of the world, in both temperate and tropical 



