House and Garden 
carefully with a rubber sprinkler, or watering pot 
with a very fine rose, cover with newspapers, close the 
sash and leave until the seeds begin to germinate. 
As the seeds in the various plats sprout and the 
first leaves appear, the newspapers should he removed 
from over them and placed on the glass immediately 
above them. On warm, pleasant days the sash may 
be opened sufficiently to admit air and to lower the 
temperature when it becomes too hot, for the tem¬ 
perature rises very rapidly under glass on a sunny 
day, at the same time anything like a draft across the 
bed should be avoided. 
The hotbed must be watched closely the first few 
weeks. Should the sun go under a cloud when the 
sash is open on a cool day, it must be instantly 
closed, lest the tender plants are chilled. Should it 
be closed on a cloudy one and the sun suddenly con¬ 
clude to shine, it must be watched that it does not 
burn and after the plants have gained some size it 
may be necessary to water two or three times a day. 
Plants in the hotbeds are much benefited by trans¬ 
planting, and wherever possible this should be done 
and so leave room for the more tender plant to be 
transplanted in fresh rows in the hotbeds. 
The time for starting the hotbeds varies in different 
localities, hut for ordinary garden operations, the 
first of April or last of March is early enough in the 
latitude of Chicago. This will give sufficient time 
for the development of the plants before the time for 
planting out. ^ 
A Plea for the Herb Garden 
By I.AWRENCE IRWETT. 
O UR British forefathers believed in the vir¬ 
tues of herbs, and extolled them in prose 
and verse. 
Here’s pennyroyal and marygolds, 
Come, buy my nettle-tops. 
Here’s water-cresses and scurvy-grass, 
Come, buy my sage of virtue, ho! 
Come, buy my wormwood and mugworts. 
Here’s all fine herbs of every sort; 
Here’s southernwood that’s very good, 
Dandelion and horseleek. 
Here’s dragon’s tongue and wood-sorrel, 
With bear’s-foot and borehound 
Let none despise the merry, merry cries 
Of famous London Town 1 
Most of these formerly well-known herbs, each 
having its own peculiar curative quality, are now 
almost unknown, but a reference to the herhals of 
Gerard or Turner, or to the “Acetaria” of ]ohn 
Evelyn, would readily show that they were considered 
good for the various ills to which flesh is heir. 
The very earliest medicines were largely composed 
of herbs, and even to-day the learned prescription of 
a high priced New York specialist is likely to contain 
one ingredient which, under a formal Latin name, is 
neither more nor less than a garden herb. 
1 he common marigold, for example, which Ger¬ 
ard calls “the jackanapes-on-Horseback,’’ was at 
one time much used for soup or potages. In Miss 
Edgeworth’s story of “Simple Susan’’ she explains 
how the petals of marigolds were added, as the last 
touch, to the broth made for an invalid mother. 
|ohn Evelyn compares the common bugloss to the 
nepenthe of Homer, but adds that what we now call 
bugloss was not that of the ancients, but was borage, 
“for the like virtue named corrago.’’ 
Borage is still cultivated in England in the neigh¬ 
borhood of Oxford, and is used by some University 
students to give a delicate flavor to claret-cup. 
Smallage was simply wild celery, which is described 
as being like parsley, “ hut greater, greener, and more 
bitter.’’ Sweet cicely, or sweet chervil, is a kind of 
myrrh -“ it adds a good relish to a sallet,” and the 
roots may he preserved or dried. Culpepper, in his 
“English Physician Enlarged,’’ published about 
1566, has much to say concerning the astrological 
virtues of the different herbs. 1 he following words, 
for instance, represent his opinion of balm: “It is 
a herb of jupiter and under Cancer, and strength¬ 
ens Nature much in all its actions. It causeth the 
mind and heart to become merry and reviveth the 
heart, especially of such who are overtaken in sleep, 
and driveth away all troublesome cares and thoughts 
out of the mind arising from melancholy or black 
choler. ’’ 
The common form of halm, Melissa officinalis, 
sometimes known as “lemon-halm,’’ is still used in 
medicine to produce a slight perspiration, and more 
frequently as a flavoring material. 
In the United States to-day, we neglect herbs very 
seriously, while in England they are half forgotten, 
although occasional reminders may be found in the 
form of an old-fashioned garden in which they are 
still planted every year. In Covent Garden Market 
(London) there are a few quaint old herb shops 
(stores) where the “simples’’ of our grandmothers 
may be bought. 
It is an easy matter to cultivate an herb garden, 
and in the midst of improvements in flowers of all 
varieties, such a garden imparts a delightful old- 
world fragrance to the entire surroundings. More¬ 
over, herbs make a most exquisite addition to nearly 
every form of cookery. 
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