THE AMATEUR’S KITCHEN GARDEN. 
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soil, in a warm greenhouse, or on a hot-bed in March, and 
plant out from those pans in May. Give scarcely any water 
at any time. Sow in the open ground during April, May, 
and June ; if in quantity, the drills should be six inches 
apart, and the plants to be thinned to six inches. A dry, 
sandy bank is the proper place for them, and the hotter the 
better. 
Rosemary, Rosmarinus officinalis . — There are varieties with 
golden-striped and silver-striped leaves. The soil cannot be 
too poor and dry for this useful shrub, which, when growing 
on a wall from self-sown seeds, is longer lived than when 
growing in a garden border. The hot sandy bank will, at all 
events, be a good place for it. It may be propagated from 
.seed sown in March, April, and May, or from cuttings in 
spring; or, better still, by taking off rooted pieces, and 
planting them and covering them with hand-lights for a 
week or two, to assist their establishment. The plant may 
also be layered in summer — a process which consists in bend- 
ing down a branch to the earth, and fixing it with a peg or 
stone, and covering the part which touches the earth with a 
little fine soil. If the branch is slightly cut or snapped 
without breaking it through at the part where it is required 
to root, the process is hastened, but roots are sure to be 
formed if this preliminary is neglected. When planted in 
quantity, a distance of ten inches apart every way must be 
allowed. Most of the preparations for promoting the growth 
of the hair consist chiefly of infusions of rosemary. 
Rue, Ruta graveolens . — The “Herb of Grace” thrives well 
on the top of a wall, or on a heap of brick rubbish, or on a 
bank of chalky or sandy soil. The best way to propagate it 
is by cuttings of young shoots in May or June, put under 
hand-lights, but firm hard shoots may be planted in October, 
and they will make good plants the next season. Seed is a 
tedious method, but it may be adopted, and the best time to 
sow it is April or May. When grown in quantity, plant a 
foot apart. The variegated-leaved rue is a beautiful shrub 
for a rockery or wall. The only uses for rue are as a stomachic 
and to provoke appetite, and also to destroy worms in the 
intestines. For both of these purposes it is steeped in gin, 
and the gin is taken as a medicine. It is certainly effectual. 
Sage, Salvia officinalis . — The roast goose of Old England 
is scarcely less important than the roast beef ; and so sage is 
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