568 
JOURNAL OF HORTIGULIURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
I>ecember 25, 1884. 
into 48’s, or 5-in.ch pots. The soil in which the cuttings are struck consists 
of loam, leaf soil, sand, and a good proportion of burnt ballast. When the 
plants are shifted into their flowering pots some good decayed cow manure 
is added to the soil. They are kept in a close pit or house after being 
potted into their flowering pots until the roots take hold of the soil ; they 
are then placed in a cold frame, from which the sashes are removed 
during July, August, and beginning of September to mature the growths 
of the plants. 
HISTORICAL JOTTINGS ON VEGETABLES. 
SUNDRY POT HERBS. 
Our Saxon, Danish, and Norman ancestors were, for the 
most part, men of mighty appetites, but for all that they liked 
to have their dishes tasty. Hence, as I have already remarked 
in the pages of this Journal, the culture of herbs for flavouring 
was a matter of importance, and a space was allotted to these in 
the earliest English gardens we read of. For stews and salads, 
it is true, they used to gather a variety of wild plants, often with 
the risk, like certain Hebrews of old, of getting “ death in the 
pot” through careless or ignorant pickers. Gradually, during 
the Middle Ages, there sprung up a steady demand for garden- 
grown vegetables and herbs, and we find the herb-women spoken 
of as being distinct from the ordinary costers. These herb- 
women bore by no means a good name, in fact several authors 
class them with the fish-wives, so that their characters were far 
from possessing the sweetness of the herbs they vended. 
'• Buy my Sage; a farthing a bunch ! ” is an old cry of 
London streets, and Marjoram generally accompanied it at the 
same low price. The sellers of these herbs were certainly 
content with a moderate amount of profit. Now principally 
used as a seasoning for some meats that take a strong flavour 
from a herb or spice. Sage was formerly in repute for its medi¬ 
cinal qualities also. In Latin, the name of Salvia officinalis 
points to its effects as an internal healer, and the vernacular 
“ Sage,” taken from the French, refers to the belief that the 
plant inci’eased the wisdom or sagacity of those who ate it; 
moreover, it was supposed to strengthen the memory. So food 
and physic were conjoined in Sage cheese, once commonly made 
by housewives, if it be of small popularity now. A tea was a 
favourite beverage. This was made from the leaves of the 
narrow-leaved variety. The London market gardeners raised it 
from seed, but more usually from cuttings, and as Sage is a plant 
that will not thrive in cold or damp places, some have grown it 
upon the top of ruined or half-decayed walls, where it can obtain 
both sun and air. 
The classical name of the Thyme (Thymus vulgaris) makes a 
reference to the reviving properties the ancients attributed to 
the smell of the plant or its flowers. Highly celebrated was the 
Attic honey, because the bees were said to visit frequently the 
flowers of the Thyme, and in consequence the Romans planted it 
freely for the sake of their bees. The species evidently is a 
native of South Europe. If no certain allusion to the Thyme 
can be discovered in English books until 1548, there is good 
reason for believing it was well known in this island long before, 
at least from the period of the Crusades. Kent was famous for 
it in the reign of Charles II., says Evelyn, much being grown 
about Sandwich and Deal, no doubt cultivated with other herbs 
and vegetables^ by foreign gardeners, who, fleeing from perse- 
cution, landed in Kent, and by degrees worked their way to the 
vicinity of the metropolis. For some time only the seed was 
used as a flavouring, and also as a medicine. In the latter 
direction the plant has lost repute; in the former it has neces¬ 
sarily suffered by having to compete with foreign spices, which 
were either unknown to our forefathers or of great scarcity. It 
was the practice of the principal market gardeners who supplied 
London with this herb to sow the seed broadcast, and thin when 
the plants were 2 inches high. Others used to transplant and 
distribute^ a part of the crop, so as to raise fine bushy plants, 
although it has generally been the plan to cut and dry Thyme 
TOr winter use, in spite of its being a hardy species with us. 
TliGis is ^ bioa>(i-lGavG(i kind o£ vigorous growth (T. citriodorus\ 
commonly called the Lemon-scented Thyme, which some botanists 
think may be a variety of the native species common on dry 
banks. Owing to its creeping habit this is mostly propasrated by 
division of the roots. j ^ f a j 
Ma-rjoram, or, as folks^ once^ called it, Marjorum, was then a 
great favourite, now of minor importance for obvious reasons; 
the name, in fact, covers a little group of species. The common 
Marjoram (Origanum vulgare) is a native of Britain, possibly a 
doubtful one, and presumed to be a plant preferring hilly places. 
Before people took to cultivating it in gardens they made tea 
from its leaves, or dried these for snuff; the plant was also 
much liked as a flavouring for broths and similar compounds. 
Gardeners have always been accustomed to propagate this by 
cuttings, and so, too, the winter Sweet Marjoram (Origanum hera- 
cleoticum) which belongs to the south of Europe, and reached us 
about 1G40. The Sweet or Knotted Marjoram (Marjorana ho_r- 
tensis), came from Portugal in 1573, a plant that was found m 
several respects to be superior to the common kind, hence it 
largely superseded it in cultivation. This has always been treated 
rather as an annual than as a biennial, and sown yearly by 
gardeners. That hardy sort, called the pot Marjoram (M. Onites), 
which stands our English winter of the average well enough, 
was from its introduction propagated by cuttings taken at 
intervals of three or four years. This was not brought to 
England until 1759, having then been introduced from Sicily. 
With the Basil there are historical associations of some 
slight interest. As a culinary aromatic writers upon household 
affairs gave it high praise two hundred years ago or more. 
The leafy tops, occasionally accompanied by the flowers, were 
added both to stews and salads. In London city the time- 
honoured aldermanic turtle soup has its traditional flavouring 
of Basil. We notice also that an author of the reign of 
Elizabeth satirises some of the farmers because they grew pots 
or jars of Basil, and presented these to their landlords in order 
to secure their favour. Even yet it is a herb sown in pots, 
particularly on the north of the Tweed. The sweet or larger 
Basil (Ocymum Basilicum), was brought from the East Indies 
in 1548, and the bushy or least Basil (O. minimum), from the 
same country in 1573. Both are annuals, and the English 
gardeners have sometimes sowed the seeds in every month of 
the year for succession. There was also a demand, at one 
period, for Basil seed produced in Italy. 
Parsley, which old Gerard occasionally spells “parsele ” 
(Apium Petroselinum), is a plant that is a native of Sardinia 
and adjacent places, introduced to England in 1548, and before 
long well distributed over the island. Here and thei’e it grows 
seemingly wild, a circumstance unfortunate for this reason, that 
the darker-leaved malodorous Fool’s Parsley (.^thusa Cynapium), 
has been gathered and eaten in mistake for the true Parsley. It 
has also been picked from gardens under the same false impres¬ 
sion. This might be lessened were the culture of Parsley re¬ 
stricted to the curled varieties. The ancients esteemed _ this 
herb, and they were cognisant of the fact that it thrives in or 
near moist spots, and the general scarcity of Pars'ley during the 
summer of 1884 is an illustration of the unsuitableness of dry 
seasons to the species, though some gardeners have, ever since 
it has been grown in Britain, preferred to put it on ground 
somewhat elevated and exposed, lest it should rot off in the 
continued rains which occur, at times, when we have a mild 
winter. 
The Hamburgh Parsley was introduced on account of its 
Carrot-shaped root; drawn between the autumn and spring, 
and supposed to possess medicinal properties. Some attention 
was formerly given to the Naples or Celery Parsley, believed to 
combine the good qualities of both species, the leaves being eaten 
with the young stalks, like those of Celery. Parsley is a hardy 
biennial, hence it has been customary to sow it chiefly in early 
autumn, but the London gardeners were accustomed to make a 
succession of sowings from February to May. It was sometimes 
sown in beds as well as in rows, and also occasionally made an 
edging. The supply to the metropolis at present, however, comes 
nearly all from localities beyond the sound of Bow bells. We 
find this plant oddly associated with the celebrated Peel, who, 
when experimenting in printing on handkerchiefs, had a sprig of 
Parsley brought him from the garden by his daughter Nancy. 
It was copied successfully, and some afterwards jocosely called 
him “ Parsley Peel.”—J. R. S. C. 
HARDY TULIPS. 
For spring and early summer flowering, bulbs, whether Tulips, Fritil- 
laiias, or Scillas, &c., are now looked upon as indispensable necessities 
to modern gardening; indeed, when not a leaf is to be seen on the trees 
around us, and few flowers on our extensive flower borders, these bulbous 
plants come in to raise our drooping hopes by varying and lighting up our 
otherwise dull surroundings. At the present time single flowers in 
fashionable circles carry all before them, and although we do not claim a 
standard of mstheticism for Tulips, their bright and cheery colours do not 
come amiss when flowers are scarce, and in many cases too expensive. 
In almost any soil, provided it be well drained, these bulbs come year 
after year with fresh vigour, and in almost every case in greater numbers, 
the greatest trouble seeming to be to pluck them when they are ready for 
table decorations. Objections have been made to so much space being 
left unoccupied during the summer months, but this need not be so, as 
planting at the depth of, say, 9 inches, a good depth for Tulip”, the borders 
