The Field and Garden Vegetables of America Part 80

_Use._--It is sometimes employed, like other pot-herbs, for flavoring meats and soups. It is used in the manufacture of "eau de Cologne," and its flowers and calyxes form a princ.i.p.al ingredient in the distillation of "Hungary Water." Infusions of the leaves are made in some drinks, and the young stems are used as a garnish.

There are four varieties, as follow:--

COMMON OR GREEN-LEAVED.

Leaves narrow, rounded at the ends,--the upper and under surface green; the flowers are comparatively large, and deep-colored.

The plant is of spreading habit; and, in all its parts, is more strongly aromatic than the Narrow-leaved. It is decidedly the best sort for cultivation.

GOLD-STRIPED.

A variety of the Common or Green-leaved, with foliage striped, or variegated with yellow.

This and the Silver-leaved are generally cultivated as ornamental plants. The Gold-striped is much the hardier sort, and will succeed in any locality where the Common Green-leaved is cultivated.

NARROW-LEAVED.

The plants of this variety are smaller and less branched than those of the Common or Green-leaved, and are also less fragrant; the leaves are h.o.a.ry beneath, and the flowers are smaller and of a paler color.

It is used in all the forms of the Common or Green-leaved, but is less esteemed.

SILVER-STRIPED.

This is a sub-variety of the Common or Green-leaved, and the most tender of all the sorts. It is princ.i.p.ally cultivated for its variegated foliage; the leaves being striped, or variegated with white.

Like the Gold-striped, it can only be propagated by slips or by dividing the roots, and must be well protected during winter.

SAGE.

Salvia.

Sage is a low-growing, hardy, evergreen shrub, originally from the south of Europe. Stem from a foot and a half to two feet high,--the leaves varying in form and color in the different species and varieties; the flowers are produced in spikes, and are white, blue, red, purple, or variegated; the seeds are round, of a blackish-brown color, and retain their power of germination three years,--nearly seven thousand are contained in an ounce.

_Soil and Propagation._--Sage thrives best in light, rich, loamy soil.

Though easily grown from slips, or cuttings, it is, in this country, more generally propagated from seeds. These may be sown on a gentle hot-bed in March, and the plants set in the open ground in June, in rows eighteen inches apart, and a foot asunder in the rows; or the seeds may be sown in April, where the plants are to remain, thinly, in drills eighteen inches apart, and three-fourths of an inch deep. When the plants are two inches high, thin them to a foot apart in the rows; and, if needed, form fresh rows by resetting the plants taken up in thinning.

If grown from cuttings, those from the present year's growth succeed best. These should be set in June. Cut them four or five inches in length, remove the lower leaves, and set them two-thirds of their length in the earth. Water freely, and shade or protect with hand-gla.s.ses. By the last of July, or first of August, they will have taken root, and may be removed to the place where they are to remain.

It may also be propagated by dividing the roots in spring or autumn, in the manner of other hardy shrubs.

_Gathering and Use._--Sage should be gathered for drying before the development of the flowering-shoots; and, when cultivated for its leaves, these shoots should be cut out as they make their appearance.

When thus treated, the product is largely increased; the leaves being put forth in much greater numbers, and of larger size.

It is sometimes treated as an annual; the seeds being sown in April, in drills fourteen inches apart, and the plants cut to the ground when they have made sufficient growth for use.

The leaves are employed, both in a green and dried state, for seasoning stuffings, meats, stews, and soups. Sage is also used for flavoring cheese; and, in the form of a decoction, is sometimes employed for medical purposes.

_Species and Varieties._--

BROAD-LEAVED GREEN SAGE.

Balsamic Sage. _Mill._

Stems shrubby, less erect and more downy than those of the succeeding species; the leaves are comparatively large, broad, heart-shaped, woolly, toothed on the margin, and produced on long footstalks,--those of the flower-stalks are oblong, sessile, and nearly entire on the borders; the flowers are small, pale-blue, and much less abundant than those of the Common Sage.

It is rarely employed in cookery, but for medical purposes is considered more efficacious than any other species or variety.

COMMON OR RED-LEAVED.

Purple-top. Red-top. Salvia officinalis.

This is the Common Sage of the garden; and with the Green-leaved, which is but a sub-variety, the most esteemed for culinary purposes. The young stalks, the leaf-stems, and the ribs and nerves of the leaves, are purple: the young leaves are also sometimes tinged with the same color, but generally change by age to clear green.

The Red-leaved is generally regarded as possessing a higher flavor than the Green-leaved, and is preferred for cultivation; though the difference, if any really exists, is quite unimportant. The productiveness of the varieties is nearly the same. The leaves of the Green Sage are larger than those of the Red; but the latter produces them in greater numbers.

GREEN-LEAVED.

Green-top.

A variety of the preceding; the young shoots, the leaf-stalks, and the ribs and nerves of the leaves, being green.

There appears to be little permanency in the characters by which the varieties are distinguished. Both possess like properties, and are equally worthy of cultivation. From seeds of either of the sorts, plants answering to the description of the Red-leaved and Green-leaved would probably be produced, with almost every intermediate shade of color.

NARROW-LEAVED GREEN SAGE. _Mill._

Sage of Virtue.

Leaves narrow, h.o.a.ry, toothed towards the base; the spikes of flowers are long, and nearly leafless; flowers deep-blue; the seeds are similar to those of the Red-leaved, and produced four together in an open calyx.

Compared with the Common Red-leaved or Green-leaved, the leaves are much narrower, the spikes longer and less leafy, and the flowers smaller and of a deeper color.

The variety is mild flavored, and the most esteemed of all the sorts for use in a crude state; as it is also one of the best for decoctions.

"At one period, the Dutch carried on a profitable trade with the Chinese by procuring the leaves of this species from the south of France, drying them in imitation of tea, and s.h.i.+pping the article to China, where, for each pound of sage, four pounds of tea were received in exchange."--_M'Int._

VARIEGATED-LEAVED GREEN SAGE.

A sub-variety of the Green-leaved, with variegated foliage. It is not reproduced from seeds, and must be propagated by slips or by dividing the roots.