PARSLEY. 



117 



They should not be kept in a warm place ; for thev will heat and 

 grow. The neatest way is to tie them up in ropes; that is to say, 

 to tie them round sticks, or straight straw, with matting. For 

 seed, pick out the finest onions, and plant them out in rich land, in 

 the spring. To grow this seed upon a large scale, plough the 

 land into four-feet ridges, lay plenty of dung along the furrows, 

 plough the ground back over the dung, flatten the top of the ridge 

 a little, and put along, on the top of the ridge, two rows of onions, 

 the rows seven inches apart, and the onions seven inches apart in 

 the row s. When the w eeds come, hoe the tops of the ridges with 

 a small hoe, and plough lirst from and then to the ridges, two or 

 three times, at the distance of two or three weeks. When the seed 

 is ripe, cut off the heads and collect them in such^ way as not 

 to scatter the seed. Lay them on cloths in the sun till dry as dust ; 

 and then thresh out the seed, winnow it, and put it away. The seed 

 will be dead ripe in August, and turnips or early York cabbages, or 

 even Kidney dwarf beans, may follow upon the same ground the 

 same year. In a garden there always ought to be a crop to suc- 

 ceed seed-onions the same summer. There are several sorts of 

 onions, of w hich the red is the hardiest and the hottest, and the 

 white the teuderest and the mildest, and the best for pickling. 

 The straw-coloured sort is, perhaps, the best for a main crop. 



168. PARSLEY. — Known to every human being to bear its 

 seed the second }ear, and, after that, to die away. It may be 

 sowed at any season when the frost is out of the ground. The 

 best w ay is to sow it in spring, and in very clean ground ; because 

 the seed lies long in the ground, and, if the ground be foul, the 

 weeds choke the plants at their coming up. A bed of six feet 

 long and four wide, the seeds sow ed in drills at eight inches apart, 

 is enough for any family in the world. This would be enough 

 about parsley ; but people want it all the year round. There are 

 some winters that will destroy it completely if it be wholly unpro- 

 tected, and there are no means of preserving it dry in the manuer 

 which has been directed for other herbs. Therefoie, if you per- 

 ceive sharp weather approaching, lay some peas-haulm or straw, 

 not very thickly, over the bed, and do not take it off until after the 

 thaw has completely taken place. The rotting of vegetables is 

 occasioned by thawing ir 'he light, more than by the frost. 

 When the thaw has completely taken place, the peas-haulm or the 

 straw may be taken away, and, by these means, paisley mav be 



