40 



THE HERB-GARDEN 



will want earthing up several inches on each side, 

 to blanch them, if they are destined for the table. 

 One of Grimm's prettiest fairy tales is written 

 round the Rampion, Rapunzel ; but, presumably 

 because in England we do not know the plant very 

 well, the translators call it Lettuce. 



The cheerful Marigold grows anywhere and 

 seeds itself. We can have either the single or 

 double variety. For cookery, some say the single 

 is the best, but we find the petals of both sorts 

 taste and smell much the same. At one time 

 whole barrels of the golden petals were stored and 

 sold for winter use. ' No broth is well made 

 without dried Marigolds,' was the idea, but Charles 

 Lamb speaks of ' detestable Marigolds floating in 

 the pail ' to poison it, and we can well imagine it 

 would not be difficult to overdo such a strong- 

 flavour. So far as I am aware, we do not use 

 Marigolds for our soups in England nowadays ; 

 but Miss Edg worth's ' Simple Susan ' added a few 

 petals as a finishing touch to the broth she had 

 made for her mother. Dr. Fernie says the flowers 

 of Marigold were greatly in request by American 

 doctors during the Civil War, and modern doctors 

 frequently use a lotion made of Marigold for 

 sprains and wounds. As children, the single Mari- 



