82 



KITCHEN-GARDEN PLANTS. 



■[chap. 



be a very good way ; for it saves the trouble of putting on litter or 

 leaves, which are very ugly things in a garden. 



134. CAMOMILE is a perennial medicinal herb of great use. 

 It may be propagated from seed, but it is most easily propagated 

 by parting the roots. One little bit of root will soon make a bed 

 sufficient for a garden. The flowers which are used in medicine 

 should be gathered before they begin to fade, and at a time %hen 

 they are perfectly dry ; and then put into a shady and airy place 

 to dry, which they will do perfectly, but not in less than a month 

 When perfectly dry, they should be put into a paper bag, hung up 

 in a dry place, and kept from all dust. 



135. CAPSICUM. — This is a plant of a hot country. It is 

 sowed in the natural ground of the United States of America, 

 thouoh it is a native of countries which are never cold. The seed 

 is, in this country, sowed in a gentle hot-bed, in the month of 

 March. In the middle of April they may be moved out, and plantea 

 under a warm wall, so as to be covered by a frame and lights, or 

 by hand-glasses, and so as to have air given them in the warm 

 part of the day. When no more frost is to be expected, and 

 when the general earth becomes warm, that is to say about the 

 third week in June, the plants, very carefully taken up, and with 

 the earth not much shaken off from their roots, should be 

 transplanted in a bed of fine rich earth ; but still in a warm part 

 of the garden. The bed should have hoops placed over it ; the 

 plants should be shaded by mats every day for about a week, if the 

 sun be hot ; and if the nights be very cold afterwards, the beds 

 should have a little shelter in the night for a fortnight or three 

 weeks. To cause your plants to be very stocky and strong, take 

 them when in rough leaf, and prick them out on a gentle heat, or 

 even, if in small quantity, pot them singly, and plant them out 

 when you find them strong and the weather hot. In this manner 

 one plant will bear more fruit than a dozen little spindling ones. 

 The plants will be in bloom in J uly, and, in the month of Octo- 

 ber, their pods, which have a strong peppery taste, would be fit 

 to gather for pickling. There are several sorts of the capsicum, 

 some with red pods, some with green ones ; I do not know which 

 is the best in quality ; and a very small quantity of these plants 

 will suffice for any family. 



136. CARAWAY is cultivated for its seeds, which are used in 

 cakes, and for some other purposes. Sow the seed in the spring, 



