uted medicinal properties.

DARK-GREEN LEAVED. _Loud._

A variety with deep-green foliage. Its uses, and modes of culture, are
the same as those of the foregoing species.

FLORENCE OR ITALIAN FENNEL. _Mill._

Finochio. Sweet Azorian Fennel. Foeniculum dulce.

Quite distinct from the Common Fennel, and generally cultivated as an
annual. The stem, which is about eighteen inches high, expands near the
surface of the ground; and, when divided horizontally, presents an oval
form, measuring four or five inches in one direction, and two inches in
the opposite. The flowers are produced in umbels, as in the other
species. The seeds are slender, yellow, somewhat curved, sweet and
pleasant to the taste, and of an agreeable, anise-like odor.

_Sowing and Culture._--The plant should be grown in well-enriched,
mellow soil. Sow the seeds in April or May, thinly, in shallow drills
from eighteen inches to two feet apart. Half an ounce of seeds will be
sufficient for fifty feet of drill; or, by transplanting when they
spring up too thickly, will furnish seedlings for a hundred feet.

The plants should be eight or ten inches apart; and, when the stems have
attained a sufficient size, they should be earthed up for blanching, in
the manner of Celery. Two or three weeks will be required to perfect
this; and, if properly treated, the stems will be found white, crisp,
tender, and excellent.

Plants from the first sowing will be ready for use in July and August.
For a succession, a few seeds may be sown in June, or early in July.

_Use._--The blanched portion of the stem is mixed in soups, and also
used as a salad. It is served like Celery, with various condiments; and
possesses a sweet, pleasant, aromatic taste.

It is a popular vegetable in some parts of Europe, but is rarely
cultivated in this country.

SWEET FENNEL. _Mill._

Malta Fennel. Foeniculum officinale.

By some writers, this has been described as a variety of the Common
Fennel; but its distinctive character appears to be permanent under all
conditions of soil and culture. The leaves are long and narrow, and,
compared with those of the last named, less abundant, and not so
pointed. The stem is also shorter, and the seeds are longer, more
slender, and lighter colored.

_Sowing and Cultivation._--It is propagated and cultivated as the Common
Fennel.

_Use._--It is used in all the forms of the last named. The seeds have a
sweet, pleasant, anise-like taste and o