e
dwarf nature of the plant the rows and the plants may be closer
together. The seedlings should be 5 or 6 inches asunder. They are very
thirsty things and require water frequently. When the "apple" attains
the size of an egg, earth may be drawn up slightly to the base, which
may be about half covered; cutting may begin about 10 days later.
Florence fennel is generally boiled and served with either a butter or a
cream dressing. It suggests celery in flavor, but is sweeter and is even
more pleasingly fragrant. In Italy it is one of the commonest and most
popular of vegetables. In other European countries it is also well
known, but in America its cultivation is almost confined to Italian
gardens or to such as supply Italian demands in the large cities. In New
York it is commonly sold by greengrocers and pushcart men in the Italian
sections.

=Fennel Flower= (_Nigella sativa_, Linn.), an Asiatic annual, belonging to
the Ranunculaceae, grown to a limited extent in southern Europe, but
scarcely known in America. Among the Romans it was esteemed in cookery,
hence one of its common names, Roman coriander. The plant has a rather
stiff, erect, branching stem, bears deeply cut grayish-green leaves and
terminal grayish-blue flowers, which precede odd, toothed, seed vessels
filled with small, triangular, black, highly aromatic seeds. For garden
use the seed is sown in spring after the ground gets warm. The drills
may be 15 to 18 inches apart and the plants thinned to 10 or 12 inches
asunder. No special attention is necessary until midsummer, when the
seed ripens. These are easily threshed and cleaned. After drying they
should be stored in sacks in a cool, dry place. They are used just as
they are or like dill in cookery.

=Hoarhound=, or =horehound= (_Marrubium vulgare_, Linn.), a perennial plant
of the natural order Labiatae, formerly widely esteemed in cookery and
medicine, but now almost out of use except for making candy which some
people still eat in the belief that it relieves tickling in the throat
due to coughing. In many parts of the world hoarhound has become
naturalized on dry, poor soils, and is even a troublesome weed in such
situations. Bees are very partial to hoarhound nectar, and make a
pleasing honey from the flowers where these are abundant. This honey has
been almost as popular as hoarhound candy, and formerly was obtainable
at druggists. Except in isolated sections, it has ceased to be sold in
the drug stores