The Field and Garden Vegetables of America Part 75

LETTUCE-LEAVED BASIL. _Vil._

The leaves of this variety are large, pale-green, wrinkled and blistered like those of some kinds of Lettuce: whence the name. It resembles the foregoing varieties in taste and odor, and is used for the same purposes.

BUSH BASIL.

Ocymum minimum.

The Bush Basils are small, low-growing, branching plants; and are propagated and cultivated like the Common Sweet Basil.

GREEN BUSH BASIL.

Basilic fin vert. _Vil._

Stem about eight inches high; leaves small, green, oval; flowers white, produced in whorls about the upper portion of the princ.i.p.al stalk and towards the extremities of the branches.

PURPLE BUSH BASIL.

Basilic fin violet. _Vil._

Leaves purple. In other respects, similar to the Green Bush Basil.

_Use._--The leaves and young branches have a strong, clove-like taste and odor, and are used in highly seasoned soups and meats. They are also sometimes added to salads. For winter use, the stalks are cut while in flower, dried, powdered, and preserved, like other pot-herbs.

BORAGE.

Borago officinalis.

Borage is generally cla.s.sed as a hardy annual, though it is sometimes biennial. Stem two feet high; the leaves are oval, alternate, and, in common with the stalk and branches, thickly set with stiff, bristly hairs; the flowers are large and showy,--they are red, white, or blue, and often measure more than an inch in diameter; the seeds are large, oblong, slightly curved, and retain their germinative property three years.

_Soil and Cultivation._--Borage thrives best in light, dry soil. The seeds are sown in April or May, in drills ten or twelve inches apart, and half an inch deep. They should be sown quite thinly, or so as to secure a plant for every six or eight inches; to which distance they should be thinned. When a continued supply is required, a second sowing should be made in July. The plants seed abundantly; and, when once introduced into the garden, spring up spontaneously.

_Use._--The plant is rarely cultivated and little used in this country.

It is sometimes employed as a pot-herb, and the young shoots are occasionally mixed in salads. They are also sometimes boiled and used as Spinach. The flowers make a beautiful garnish, and it is well worthy cultivation as an ornamental plant. "The stalks and foliage contain a large proportion of nitre; and, when dried, burn like match-paper."

_Varieties._--There are several varieties, differing slightly, except in the color of the flowers; the Red-flowering, White-flowering, and Blue-flowering being the princ.i.p.al. A variety, with variegated foliage, is described by some authors. Miller states that "they generally retain their distinctions from seeds."

CARAWAY.

Carum carui.

The Common Caraway is a hardy, biennial plant; a native of various parts of Europe; and, to a considerable extent, naturalized in this country.

The root is long and tapering, of a yellowish-white color, and about three-fourths of an inch in diameter near the crown or at its broadest part; the flesh of the root is white, fine-grained, with a flavor not unlike that of the carrot; the flower-stalks are put forth the second season, and are about two feet and a half in height, with numerous spreading branches; the leaves are finely cut, or divided, and of a deep-green color; the flowers are small, white, and produced in umbels at the ends of the branches; the seeds, which ripen quite early in the season, are of an oblong form, somewhat curved, furrowed, slightly tapering towards the extremities, of a clear olive-brown color, and pleasant, aromatic flavor and odor,--nearly eight thousand five hundred seeds are contained in an ounce, and they retain their vitality three years.

_Soil and Cultivation._--Caraway is one of the hardiest of plants, and succeeds well in almost any soil or situation. In the coldest parts of the United States, and even in the Canadas, it is naturalized to such an extent about fields and mowing lands, as to be obtained in great abundance for the mere labor of cutting up the plants as the ripening of the seeds takes place.

When cultivated, the sowing may be made in April or May: but, if sown just after ripening, the seeds not only vegetate with greater certainty, but the plants often flower the ensuing season; thus saving a summer's growth. Sow in drills twelve or fifteen inches apart, and cover half an inch deep. When the plants are well up, thin to six or eight inches apart, and keep the ground loose, and free from weeds. The seeds will ripen in the July of the year after sowing. For other methods of culture, see CORIANDER.

_Use._--It is princ.i.p.ally cultivated for its seeds, which const.i.tute an article of some commercial importance; a large proportion, however, of the consumption in this country being supplied by importation from Europe. They are extensively employed by confectioners, and also for distillation. They are also mixed in cake, and, by the Dutch, introduced into cheese.

It is sometimes cultivated for its young leaves, which are used in soups and salads; or as a pot-herb, like Parsley. The roots are boiled in the manner of the Carrot or Parsnip, and by some preferred to these vegetables; the flavor being considered pleasant and delicate.

There are no described varieties.

CLARY. _Loud._

Clary Sage. Salvia sclarea.

Clary is a hardy, biennial plant. It is indigenous to the south of Europe, and has been cultivated in gardens for upwards of three centuries. The radical leaves are large, rough, wrinkled, oblong-heart-shaped, and toothed on the margin; stalk two feet high, four-sided, clammy to the touch; flowers pale-blue, in loose, terminal spikes; seeds round, brownish, and, like others of the family, produced four together,--they retain their vitality two years.

_Sowing and Culture._--It is generally grown from seeds, which are sown annually in April or May, in drills fifteen or eighteen inches apart, and half or three-fourths of an inch deep. When the young plants are two or three inches high, thin them to ten or twelve inches apart, and treat the growing crop in the usual form during summer. The leaves will be in perfection in the ensuing autumn, winter, and spring; and the plants will blossom, and produce their seeds, in the following summer.

_Use._--The leaves are used for flavoring soups, to which they impart a strong, peculiar flavor, agreeable to some, but unpleasant to most persons. It has some of the properties of Common Sage, and is occasionally used as a subst.i.tute.

The plant is seldom employed in American cookery, and is little cultivated.

CORIANDER. _Law._

Coriandrum sativum.

A hardy annual, supposed to have been introduced from the south of Europe, but now naturalized in almost all temperate climates where it has once been cultivated.

Stem about two feet in height, generally erect, but, as the seeds approach maturity, often acquiring a drooping habit; stem-leaves more finely cut or divided than those proceeding directly from the root, and all possessed of a strong and somewhat disagreeable odor. The generic name is derived from _Koris_ (a bug), with reference to the peculiar smell of its foliage. Flowers white, produced on the top of the plant, at the extremities of the branches, in flat, spreading umbels, or bunches; seeds globular, about an eighth of an inch in diameter, of a yellowish-brown color, with a warm, pleasant, aromatic taste,--they become quite light and hollow by age, and are often affected by insects in the manner of seed-pease. Though they will sometimes vegetate when kept for a longer period, they are not considered good when more than two years old.

_Propagation and Cultivation._--Like all annuals, it is propagated from seed, which should be sown in April or May, in good, rich, mellow soil well pulverized. Sow in drills made fourteen or sixteen inches asunder and about three-fourths of an inch in depth, and thin to nine inches in the rows. It soon runs to flower and seed, and will be ready for harvesting in July or August.

In the south of England, Coriander is generally cultivated in connection with Caraway; eighteen pounds of Caraway seed being mixed with fifteen pounds of Coriander for an acre. The Coriander, being an annual, yields its crop the first season. After being cut, it is left on the field to dry, and the seeds afterwards beaten out on cloths; the facility with which these are detached not admitting of the usual method of harvesting.

An unquestionably preferable mode of cultivation would be to sow them both in drills alternately, by which means the Caraway would be more easily hoed and cleaned after the removal of the Coriander.

_Use._--It is generally cultivated for its seeds, which are used to a considerable extent by druggists, confectioners, and distillers. In the garden, it is sometimes sown for its leaves, which are used as Chervil in soups and salads; but, when so required, a sowing should be made at intervals of three or four weeks.

There are no varieties.

COSTMARY, OR ALECOST.