NASTUETIUM 



SWEET HEBBS 



tIAEJORAM 1163 



Another metliod of growing Horse- 

 radish is to take medium-sized roots 1-2 

 ft. long, and having rubbed off all the 

 rootlets, plant them in a slanting hole 

 made with a strong stick or crowbar, 

 leaving about a foot between them in the 

 rows. 



Still another successful method of in- 

 creasing the stock. As each root often 

 has 2-3 buds or crowns, each one of these 

 may be cut off with a sharp knife. About 

 2 in. of the root should be attached, and 

 the ' crowns ' may then be planted at the 

 bottom of a hole about a foot deep made 

 with a crowbar. During growth the 

 crowns will be pushed up to the surface 

 of the soil to develop foliage, and the 

 following year good straight stems of 

 Horse-radish will have been produced. 

 A modification of this system is to plant 

 the crown-buds about 2 in. beneath the 

 surface at the seasons mentioned. They 

 may then be covered with a foot or more 

 of rich soil, and during the season tender 

 stems will be pushed up through the 

 mounds of soil thus made. 



Where large quantities of Horse-radish 

 are required, fresh cuttings should be put 

 in every spring. The plants will thus 

 always be fairly young, and will yield 

 more satisfactory and more highly 

 flavoured roots than those obtained from 

 old roots which have been left undisturbed 

 for years. 



HYSSOP (Hyssopus officinalis). — 

 A South European evergreen undershrub 

 with oblong lance-shaped leaves and 

 usually blue or sometimes white or pink 

 flowers in whorled spikes, as in many 

 other plants belonging to the same order 

 (Labiatse, see p. 742). 



Culture. — Hyssop is grown for its 

 leaves and shoots which are used as 

 pot herbs or as a condiment, on account 

 of their aromatic and rather hot and 

 bitter taste. Hyssop flourishes in a rich 

 and rather chalky soil, and is hardy in 

 ordinary winters in the British Islands, 

 but is likely to be killed in severe win- 

 ters. It may be increased by dividing 

 the tufts in early spring just as growth is 

 about to oomnaenoe. Seeds may also be 

 sown in the open air in April and May in 

 warm spots, and the seedlings may be 

 transferred to their permanent quarters 

 in showery weather in June. 



INDIAN CRESS or NASTUR- 

 TIUM. — The young leaves and shoots of 



TropcBolum majus and T. minus are 

 sometimes eaten as salads, or between 

 bread and butter as sandwiches. The 

 young and quite green fruits are also 

 pickled and used as a substitute for Capers, 

 those of T. minus being preferred. 



Particulars as to the culture, propa- 

 gation, and description of these two species 

 and others will be found at p. 290 under 

 the genus TropcEolum. 



MARIGOLD (Calendula officina- 

 lis) .■ — This S. European annual has already 

 been referred to as a plant for the flower 

 garden at p. S44. The cultural directions 

 given there may be carried out when the 

 Marigold is cultivated as a pot herb. For 

 this purpose the flowers are used. When 

 fully expanded between June and Sep- 

 tember they are gathered and hung up to 

 dry slowly, and are afterwards used for 

 flavouring soups, colouring butter &c. 



MARJORAM. — There are a few 

 species of Marjoram cultivated as Sweet 

 Herbs, all belonging to the genus Origa- 

 num, which has been described at p. 744. 

 The Sweet or Knotted Marjoram (O. 

 Majorana) is a tender biennial, native of 

 Egypt, and grows 1-2 ft. high, having 

 downy oblong ovate leaves and purplish 

 or white flowers borne in spikes in early 

 summer. 



Culture and Propagation. — It will 

 flourish in ordinary garden soil. Seeds 

 may be sown out of doors in a warm 

 sunny position in April and May, in 

 shallow drills. The seedlings if too thick 

 are thinned out to about 6 in. or more 

 apart. The flower spikes and tops of the 

 plants are cut and dried slowly in the 

 shade for use in flavouring and seasoning 

 the following winter and spring. 



POT MARJORAM (O. Onitbs). — 

 This is a perennial undershrub, about a 

 foot high, native of the Mediterranean 

 region. It has somewhat ovate serrate 

 leaves, without stalks, and more or less 

 downy or hairy. The whitish flowers are 

 produced in summer and autumn, and 

 with tops of the plants may be slowly 

 dried and used in the same way as the 

 Sweet Marjoram,. 



Culture a/nd Propagation. — The 

 Pot Marjoram rarely ripens seed in 

 the British Islands. It is therefore 

 usually increased by dividing the tufts 

 in early spring, as grovirth is beginning, 

 or by inserting cuttings of the shoots in 



