VEGETABLES DESCKIPTIO.N AND CULTURE. 173 



comes into flower, and hung up in small bundles in the 

 shade to dry for winter use ; thus cut, it will soon grow 

 up again. When thoroughly dried, it may be pounded 

 fine and kept any length of time in closely stopped bottles. 



Seed. — Let some of the finest plants remain uncut, and 

 gather the seeds as they ripen. They will keep for six years. 



Use. — The leaves and small tops are the parts employed, 

 and give a delightful flavor in cookery. They have a 

 strong flavor of cloves, and are used in soups and sauces, 

 and other high-seasoned dishes. They are much employed 

 in French cookery. It is the most agreeable of the pot 

 herbs, and the most useful, except parsley and sage. 



A small sprig of basil, on account of its odor, is an 

 agreeable addition to a bouquet of flowers. 



BEAN, ENGLISH BULOKD—(Vicia Faba.) 



The English Broad Bean is an annual from two to four 

 feet high, with white, fragrant, papilionaceous flowers, with 

 a black spot in the middle of the wings ; seed pods thick, 

 long, woolly within, enclosing large, ovate, flat seeds, for 

 the sake of which it is much cultivated in Europe. It is 

 a native of the East — some say of Egypt, but is probably 

 from Persia, near the Caspian Sea — and has been cultivated 

 from time immemorial. 



VARIETIES. 



Mazagan. — Sweet and agreeable in flavor, and produces 

 well if planted early. Far the most productive variety 

 with me. Pods contain three or four beans, which are 

 small, oblong, and thick. 



Long Pod. — Stems rise about three or four feet high ; 

 bears well ; the pods are long, narrow, and generally con- 



