d, but fit for human food and even of superior
excellence!

THE HERB LIST

=Angelica= (_Archangelica officinalis_, Hoffm.), a biennial or perennial
herb of the natural order Umbelliferae, so called from its supposed
medicinal qualities. It is believed to be a native of Syria, from
whence it has spread to many cool European climates, especially Lapland
and the Alps, where it has become naturalized.

[Illustration: Prophecy of Many Toothsome Dishes]

_Description._ Its roots are long, spindle-shaped, fleshy, and sometimes
weigh three pounds; its stems stout, herbaceous, fluted, often more than
4 feet tall, and hollow; its leaves long-stalked, frequently 3 feet in
length, reddish purple at the clasping bases, and composed, in the
larger ones, of numerous small leaflets, in three principal groups,
which are each subdivided into three lesser groups; its flowers
yellowish or greenish, small and numerous, in large roundish umbels; its
seeds pale yellow, membranous-edged, oblong flattened on one side,
convex on the other, which is marked with three conspicuous ribs.

_Cultivation._ Since the seeds lose their vitality rapidly, rarely being
viable after the first year, they should be sown as soon as ripe in late
summer or early autumn, or not later than the following spring after
having been kept during the winter in a cold storeroom. The soil should
be moderately rich, rather light, deep, well drained, but moist and well
supplied with humus. It should be deeply prepared and kept loose and
open as long as tools can be used among the plants, which may be left to
care for themselves as soon as they shade the ground well.

In the autumn, the seeds may be sown where the plants are to remain or
preferably in a nursery bed, which usually does not need protection
during the winter. In the spring a mild hotbed, a cold frame or a
nursery bed in the garden may be used, according to the earliness of
planting. Half an inch is deep enough to cover the seeds. The seedlings
should be transplanted when still small for their first summer's growth,
a space of about 18 inches being allowed between them. In the autumn
they should be removed to permanent quarters, the plants being set 3
feet apart.

If well grown, the leaves may be cut for use during the summer after
transplanting; the plants may not, however, produce seed until the
following season. Unless seed is desired, the tops should be cut and
destroyed at or before flowering time, b