206 A'HE KITCHEN-GARDEN. [March. 
Alexanders, or Mesanders. 
The Smyrnium Olusatrum, or common Alexanders, are used for 
culinary purposes as the Cardoons, and blanched in like manner. 
The whole plant is of a strong, warm and aromatic nature, and the 
leaves and seed are sometimes used for medicine. 
The seed of this plant should be sown in autumn soon after it is 
ripe, for if kept out of the ground till spring, few of them will come 
up till that time twelve months; however, when you sow the seed 
in spring, let it be done as early as possible, and sown pretty thick 
in drills eighteen inches asunder, covering the seeds near an inch 
deep; when the plants are up, thin them to six or eight inches dis- 
tance in the rows, and as they advance in growth draw the earth up 
to their stems as you do to celery, in order to blanch and whiten 
them, that they should be crisp and tender for autumn and winter 
use: in the spring following, such as remain will shoot out again 
vigorously, let the earth then be hoed up close to each plant, and in 
three or four weeks they will be blanched and in a fine condition 
for use. 
When these plants are desired, I would recommend them to be 
sown where they are to remain, in any of the autumn months; in 
that case, they will rise freely in spring, and become fine vigorous 
plants. 
Propagating various Pot and Medicinal Herbs. 
The latter end of this month will be a good time to plant cuttings 
or slips of hyssop, thyme, winter savory, rue, rosemary, lavender, 
wormwood, southern-wood, sage, and any other under-shrubby 
kinds; in taking off the slips of any of these sorts, give a prefer- 
ence to the suckers if any, that is, such as have a few fibres attached 
to them; from such as are not furnished with these, take off slips or 
cuttings of the young healthy outward shoots, produced last year, 
from about six to ten inches long, according as they occur, observ- 
ing to slip or cut them clean off close to the parts from whence 
they proceed. Let these be planted in a bed or border six inches 
apart, and inserted two-thirds of their lengths into the ground; 
they will take root freely, by observing to water them in dry wea- 
ther, and in September will be well rooted, and may either then, or 
in October, be transplanted wherever destined to remain; or the slips 
may, in the first instance, be planted in such places. 
Propagate tarragon, tansey, chamomile, common fennel, marsh- 
mallows, pot-marjoram, baum, burnet, horehound, spear-mint, pep- 
per-mint, feverfew, officinal scurvy-grass, cat-mint, celandine, pen- 
ny-royal, or Mentha Fulegium^ angelica, lovage, gromwell, and any 
other perennial herbaceous plants, and also thyme, hyssop, and win- 
ter-savory, by parting their roots or by slips therefrom: the best 
lime for separating the roots of each and every of the above kinds, is 
just when they begin to advance a little in growth. All the above 
kinds may be planted in four feet wide beds, in any tolerably good 
