and should be cut when just coming into flower, and dried in
the shade.

* * * * *

AROMATIC NIGELLA.

Four Spices. Allspice. Black Cumin. Quatre Epices, of the French.
Nigella saliva.

A hardy, annual plant from the East Indies. Stem twelve to eighteen
inches high, with alternate, sessile, finely divided leaves; the flowers
are large, white, variegated with blue; the seeds, which are produced
in a roundish capsule, are somewhat triangular, wrinkled, of a yellowish
color, and pungent, aromatic taste,--about thirteen thousand are
contained in an ounce, and they retain their vitality three years. There
is a species cultivated, the seeds of which are black.

_Soil and Cultivation._--It is always raised from seed, and thrives best
in light, warm soil. The seed may be sown from the middle of April to
the middle of May. Pulverize the soil well, make the surface smooth and
even, and sow in drills twelve or fourteen inches apart and about half
an inch deep. When the plants are two inches high, thin them to five or
six inches apart in the rows. During the summer, cultivate in the usual
manner, keeping the soil loose, and watering occasionally if the weather
be dry; and in August or September, or when the seed ripens, cut off the
plants at the roots, spread them in an airy situation, and, when
sufficiently dried, thresh out; after which, spread the seed a short
time to evaporate any remaining moisture, and they will be ready for
use.

_Use._--The seeds have a warm, aromatic taste; and are employed in
French cookery, under the name of _quatre epices_, or "four spices."

* * * * *

PARSLEY.

Apium petroselinum.

Parsley is a hardy, biennial plant from Sardinia. The leaves of the
first year are all radical, compound, rich, deep-green, smooth, and
shining. When fully developed, the plant measures three or four feet in
height; the flowers are small, white, in terminal umbels; the seeds are
ovoid, somewhat three-sided, slightly curved, of a grayish-brown color
and aromatic taste,--seven thousand are contained in an ounce, and they
retain their vitality three years.

_Soil and Propagation._--Parsley succeeds best in rich, mellow soil, and
is propagated from seeds sown annually; an ounce of seed being allowed
to a hundred and fifty feet of drill.

_Sowing._--As the seed vegetates slowly,--sometimes remaining in the
earth four or five weeks before the plants app