Petroselinum sativum.

Varieties

There are two varieties, the common plain leaved and the curly leaved.

Time And Mode Of Sowing

It is sown annually, but if it is never permitted to run to seed, the stalks being cut down as often as they rise, it will last for several years. It may be sown from the close of February until the middle of June, and this is repeated about the middle of September, for the supply of winter and spring; but this is unnecessary if the plants are not allowed to seed. The seed is to be inserted moderately thick, in narrow drills barely an inch deep, twelve inches apart if in a bed by itself, or in a single one round the edge of a bed; the mould being raked level, and the stones immediately over the seed gathered off. The plants make their appearance in from two to six weeks. When two or three inches high, they may be gathered from as required. In early June, when they make a show for seed, the stems should be cut down close to the bottom, and again in September, if they have acquired a straggling rank growth; this will cause them to shoot afresh, and acquire a strong growth before the arrival of severe weather. On the approach of frost, if protection is afTorded to the plants by means of haulm or reed panels, so supported as not to touch them; it will preserve them in a much better state for use in winter and spring.

But a still more effectual plan is to take up some of the strongest and best curled plants in September, and to plant them in pots, two or three plants in each, using a rich soil. If these be placed in a forcing house and abundance of liquid manure given, they will be very superiorly productive throughout the winter.

To Obtain Seed

Nothing more is necessary than to allow some of the plants to run up in June; they should not, however, be allowed to stand nearer than eighteen inches to each other. The seed ripens in early autumn, and when perfectly dry, may be beaten out and stored. Soot is an excellent manure for parsley, and preserves it from root-canker, the only disease affecting it.

Parsley #1

Parsley (Hamburgh). Petroseli-num sativum, var. latifolium.

Use

This esculent is known by the name broad-leaved and large-rooted Parsley. It is cultivated for its root, which attains the size of a middling parsnip, boiling exceedingly tender and palatable. It is eaten both as a sauce to flesh meat, and in soups, etc.

Time And Mode Of Sowing

Sow at monthly intervals from February until the middle of June. Sow thinly in drills nine inches apart. The plants appear in about a month after sowing, and when of tolerable growth, require to be thinned to nine inches asunder, and cleared from weeds, either by hand or the hoe; which latter operation, being performed as often as weeds appear, is the only cultivation required. By the end of July, or during August, the earliest sowings will have acquired a sufficient size for occasional use; but the roots seldom attain their full growth until Michaelmas; and the latest crops not until the following year. On the arrival of frost, some of them must be taken up; and after the removal of the superfluous fibres, decayed leaves, etc, buried in sand, in a dry situation under cover.

To Save Seed

Some plants must be left where grown, and allowed to run in May. Their produce will ripen in July or August, when it must be cut, dried, beat out, and stored.