20 On the Cultivation of the Rampion. 



pleasant nutty flavour ; it is also sometimes cut into winter 

 salads, and then the leaves, as well as the root, are used. 



The seed should be sown in the latter end of May, on a 

 shady border of rich earth, not over stiff, the mould being 

 made as firm as possible : it is better not to rake in the seed, 

 which, being so very fine, may, by that operation, be buried 

 too deep. If the sowing is earlier than May, the plants will 

 sometimes run to flower in the autumn, and so become use- 

 less. Moderate waterings must be given, as the seeds vege- 

 tate, through a fine rose of a watering-pot, and it is necessary 

 that the bed be kept, at all times, tolerably moist. 



When the plants are of sufficient size, they must be thin- 

 ned out, to the distance of three or four inches apart ; those 

 drawn will bear transplanting well, if put into a border similar 

 to the seed bed, but care must be taken to insert the roots 

 straight into the earth, and not to press the mould too close 

 about them ; the roots which become forked are not so good 

 as the straight ones. In November, the plants will be fit for 

 use, and will continue so until April, about which time they 

 begin to flower : they should not be taken out of the ground, 

 till wanted ; a few should be left for seed, which will be pro- 

 duced in abundance. 



