FENNEL. 
59 
FENNEL. 
Amthum Foeniculum. — L'Aneth, Fr.— billkraut , Ger. 
“The fennel is a perennial plant, naturalized in England, and found in 
fiialky soils. The plant rises with finely cut leaves, and capillary leaflets, 
Du a smooth, dark green, branched, tubular stalk, to the height of five or six 
feet. On the summit are produced umbels of gold-colored flowers, in July 
and August. The whole plant is aromatic, and has long been an inmate of 
the garden. 
44 U se .—The tender stalks of common fennel are used in salads ; Jhe leaves, 
boiled, enter into many fish sauces; and, raw, are garnishes for several 
dishes. The blanched stalks of the variety called finochio are eaten with 
oil, vinegar and pepper, as a cold salad, and they are likewise sometimes 
put into soups. 
“ The varieties are— 
The common, or sweet, 
Dark-green-leaved, 
Dwarf, or finochio. This variety is char¬ 
acterized by a tendency in the stalk to 
swell to a considerable thickness. This 
thickened part is blanched by earthing 
up, and is then very tender. ‘ Owing 
to the peculiar nature of this variety,* 
Neill observes, ‘ it is more tender than 
the common fennel, and often perishes 
in the course of the winter. Misled by 
this circumstance, several horticultural 
writers describe it as an annual species, 
under the appellation A. segetum. 
“ Propagation .—They are all raised from seed, of which half an ounce is 
sufficient for a seed-bed four feet by six feet. Sometimes, also, they are 
raised from offsets from the old plants, where only a few are wanted. 4 Sow 
in the spring in light earth, either in drills from six to twelve inches apart, 
or broad-cast and raked in. When the plants are three or four inches high, 
thin or transplant a quantity fifteen inches asunder. As the roots of old 
plants divide into side offsets, these may be slipped off in spring, summer, 
or autumn, and planted a foot apart. They will produce immediate leaves 
for present supply, and in continuance; or, for an immediate larger supply 
of leaves, you may procure some established full roo*s, and plant as above. 
Let them be well watered. ? 
“ Subsequcni culture .— ; The same plants remain several years by the root; 
but as fennel sends up strong stems for seed in summer, these, or a part oi 
them, should be cut down, to encourage a production of young leaves below, 
in succession. It is apt to spread more than is aesirable, if suffered to seed. 
The swelling stems of the finochio variety, when of some tolerable sub¬ 
stance, should be earthed up on each side five or six inches, to blanch them 
white and tenth r. This will be effected in ten days or a fortnight; and, by 
