Cultivation.—Although peppermint prefers wet, even swampy, soil, it will do well on moist loam. It is cultivated like spearmint. In Michigan, western New York and other parts of the country it is grown commercially upon muck lands for the oil distilled from its leaves and stems. Among essential oils, peppermint ranks first in importance. It is a colorless, yellowish or greenish liquid, with a peculiar, highly penetrating odor and a burning, camphorescent taste. An interesting use is made of it by sanitary engineers, who test the tightness of pipe joints by its aid. It has the faculty of making its escape and betraying the presence of leaks. It is largely employed in the manufacture of soaps and perfumery, but probably its best known use is for flavoring confectionery.
Rosemary (Rosemarinus officinalis, Linn.)—As its generic name implies, rosemary is a native of sea-coasts, "rose" coming from Ros, dew, and "Mary" from marinus, ocean. It is one of the many Labiatæ found wild in limy situations along the Mediterranean coast. In ancient times many and varied virtues were ascribed to the plant, hence its "officinalis" or medical name, perhaps also the belief that "where rosemary flourishes, the lady rules!" Pliny, Dioscorides and Galin all write about it. It was cultivated by the Spaniards in the 13th century, and from the 15th to the 18th century was popular as a condiment with salt meats, but has since declined in popularity, until now it is used for seasoning almost exclusively in Italian, French, Spanish and German cookery.
Description.—The plant is a half-hardy evergreen, 2 feet or more tall. The erect, branching, woody stems bear a profusion of little obtuse, linear leaves, green above and hoary white beneath. On their upper parts they bear pale blue, axillary flowers in leafy clusters. The light-brown seeds, white where they were attached to the plant, will germinate even when four years old. All parts of the plant are fragrant—"the humble rosemary whose sweets so thanklessly are shed to scent the desert" (Thomas Moore). One of the pleasing superstitions connected with this plant is that it strengthens the memory. Thus it has become the emblem of remembrance and fidelity. Hence the origin of the old custom of wearing it at weddings in many parts of Europe.
"There's rosemary, that's for remembrance; pray, love, remember:
And there is pansies, that's for thoughts."
—Hamlet, Act iv, Scene 5.
Cultivation.—Rosemary is easily propagated by means of cuttings, root division and layers in early spring, but is most frequently multiplied by seed. It does best in rather poor, light soil, especially if limy. The seed is either sown in drills 18 to 24 inches apart or in checks 2 feet asunder each way, half a dozen seeds being dropped in each "hill." Sometimes the seedbed method is employed, the seed being sown either under glass or in the open ground and the seedlings transplanted. Cultivation consists in keeping the soil loose and open and free from weeds. No special directions are necessary as to curing. In frostless sections, and even where protected by buildings, fences, etc., in moderate climates, the plants will continue to thrive for years.
Uses.—The tender leaves and stems and the flowers are used for flavoring stews, fish and meat sauces, but are not widely popular in America. Our foreign-born population, however, uses it somewhat. In France large quantities, both cultivated and wild, are used for distilling the oil of rosemary, a colorless or yellowish liquid suggesting camphor, but even more pleasant. This oil is extensively used in perfuming soaps, but more especially in the manufacture of eau de cologne, Hungary water and other perfumes.
Rue (Ruta graveolens, Linn.), a hardy perennial herb of roundish, bushy habit, native of southern Europe. It is a member of the same botanical family as the orange, Rutaceæ. In olden times it was highly reputed for seasoning and for medicine among the Greeks and the Romans. In Pliny's time it was considered to be effectual for 84 maladies! Today it "hangs only by its eyelids" to our pharmacopœia. Apicus notes it among the condiments in the third century, and Magnus eleven centuries later praises it among the garden esculents. At present it is little used for seasoning, even by the Italians and the Germans, and almost not at all by English and American cooks. Probably because of its acridity and its ability to blister the skin when much handled, rue has been chosen by poets to express disdain. Shakespeare speaks of it as the "sour herb of grace," and Theudobach says:
"When a rose is too haughty for heaven's dew
She becometh a spider's gray lair;
And a bosom, that never devotion knew
Or affection divine, shall be filled with rue
And with darkness, and end with despair."
Description.—The much branched stems, woody below, rise 18 to 24 inches and bear small oblong or obovate, stalked, bluish-green glaucous leaves, two or three times divided, the terminal one broader and notched at the end. The rather large, greenish-yellow flowers, borne in corymbs or short terminal clusters, appear all summer. In the round, four or five-lobed seed vessels are black kidney-shaped seeds, which retain their vitality two years or even longer. The whole plant has a very acrid, bitter taste and a pungent smell.
Cultivation.—The plant may be readily propagated by means of seed, by cuttings, by layers, and by division of the tufts. No special directions are needed, except to say that when in the place they are to remain the plants should be at least 18 inches apart—21 or 24 inches each way would be even better. Rue does well on almost any well-drained soil, but prefers a rather poor clayey loam. It is well, then, to plant it in the most barren part of the garden. As the flowers are rather attractive, rue is often used among shrubbery for ornamental purposes. When so grown it is well to cut the stems close to the ground every two or three years.