084 



ADORNACEOUS ESCULENTS. 



SuBSECT. T. — The Parsley. 



1534. The parsley^ Apium Petroselinum L, (Persil, Fr.)^ is an umbelli- 

 ferous biennial, a native of Sardinia, long in cultivation as a seasoning, and 

 also as a garnish. Eaten along with any dish strongly seasoned with onions, 

 it takes off their smell, and prevents their after- taste ; no herb is more 

 valuable as communicating flavour to soups and stews. There are two varieties, 

 the plain -leaved^ and the curled-leaved^ but the latter alone should be cul- 

 tivated, because the former is apt to be confounded with a poisonous plant, 

 the fool's parsley, iEthusa Cynapium Z/., an indigenous annual, common 

 as a weed in most gardens, but which can never for a moment be mistaken 

 for the curled-leaved parsley. Parsley-seed, of which an ounce will sow a 

 drill 150 feet in length, requires to be sown every year in Februar3% either 

 broadcast or in rows, but not as an edging to walks as is commonly done ; 

 because in that situation the leaves get soiled or injured. The seed will 

 remain in the ground from forty to fifty days before it vegetates, being a 

 longer period than is required for any other garden-seed ; and, contrary to 

 what is general, parsley-seed that has been kept several years comes up 

 sooner than new seed ; unless, indeed, the new seed has been taken from the 

 plant before it was fully ripe, and sown immediately. The plants should 

 be thinned out to six inches' distance in the row ; and also all those plants 

 that have not the leaves beautifully curled should be pulled up, an operation 

 technically called roguing (864) ; because one of the principal uses of parsley 

 is as a garnish, and the curled leaves are mcomparably more ornamental 

 than the plain ones. They should be gathered leaf by leaf; and when 

 there is a want of young tender leaves, the plant should be cut over by the 

 surface of the ground, when a new set of leaves will be sent up. In order 

 that there may be a supply in the winter season, a sowing should be made 

 about May, to be covered in October with a frame and sashes, or with 

 hoop sand mats, or propped hurdles. The parsley leaf may be preserved in a 

 state fit for being used in soups and stews, by drying it in a Dutch oven, or 

 in a tin roasting-screen (or hastener), and when it becomes brittle, rubbing it 

 into a fine powder, and putting it into glass bottles till wanted for use. 

 Seed may be saved by selecting a few plants with the most beautifully- 

 curled leaves, and allowing them to run to flowers. The seed will ripen in 

 July, and will keep six or eight years. 



1535. The Hamburgh parsley^ the roots of which are eaten like those of 

 the parsley, has been noticed under esculent roots (1441) ; and the Naples 

 parsley^ the footstalks of the leaves of which are used like celery, was 

 noticed when treating of that vegetable (1524). 



SuBSEcr. II. — Chervil, the Coriander, Dill, Fennel^ Tarragon, and 



Purslane. 



1536. The chervil, Chajrophyilum sativum Pers. (Cerfeuil Fr.), is an 

 umbelliferous annual, a native of the South of Europe, and cultivated for the 

 same purposes as the parsley ; but as it runs rapidly to seed, several soAvings 

 require to be made in the course of the growing season. Sow in shallow 

 drills six inches apart, and thin out the plants ; and when gathering, take the 

 leaves singly. They may be dried and preserved in the same manner as 

 those of parsley. A few plants allowed to run will bear abundance of seed, 

 which will keep six or eight years. 



