PARSLEY— A ROGUE AND VAGABOND 37 



garnish it is even more decorative than our old 

 friend Parsley, but I cannot claim that it is so 

 lasting. 



Of Parsley, that Prince of biennial Herbs, need 

 much be said ? Do we not all know its dawdling 

 way of not coming up, till we are tired of waiting 

 for it ? We are well aware of what it has been 

 doing — taking journeys to the Lower Regions and 

 back. It is best to have two sowings of Parsley 

 every year, one in March and one in June, for 

 cooks are always clamouring for it. We must 

 protect it in winter, so as to have it always ready ; 

 but Parsley is one of those plants which the hardier 

 you make it the better it is. If a sowing is made 

 in August, and a frame placed over the bed, a good 

 supply can be maintained throughout the winter. 



It likes a deep soil, not too rich, and a little 

 soot agrees with it ; but Parsley is a rogue and 

 vagabond. Plant him where you will, he Hkes to 

 go his own way. My very finest Parsley-beds 

 come up of themselves, sometimes on a bank, 

 sometimes in odd corners of the flower or kitchen 

 garden. Here the Herb will flourish, no matter 

 what the soil. In Suffolk an old behef exists that 

 to insure the Herb coming up double. Parsley- seed 

 must be sown on Good Friday. It is also thought 



