The proper times[1243] for watering are the morning and the evening, to prevent the water from being heated[1244] by the sun; with the sole exception, however, of ocimum, which requires to be watered at midday; indeed, this plant, it is generally thought, will grow with additional rapidity, if it is watered with boiling water when sown. All plants, when transplanted, grow all the better and larger for it, leeks and turnips more particularly. Transplanting, too, is attended with certain remedial effects, and acts as a preservative to certain plants, such as scallions, for instance, leeks, radishes, parsley, lettuces, rape, and cucumbers. All the wild plants[1245] are generally smaller in the leaf and stalk than the cultivated ones, and have more acrid juices, cunila, wild marjoram, and rue, for example. Indeed, it is only the lapathum[1246] that is better in a wild state than cultivated: in its cultivated state it is the same plant that is known to us as the “rumix,” being the most vigorous[1247] by far of all the plants that are grown; so much so, indeed, that it is said that when it has once taken root, it will last for ever, and can never be extirpated from the soil, more particularly if water happens to be near at hand. Its juices, which are employed only in ptisans,[1248] as an article of food, have the effect of imparting to them a softer and more exquisite flavour. The wild variety[1249] is employed for many medicinal purposes.
So true it is, that the careful research of man has omitted nothing, that I have even met with a poem,[1250] in which I find it stated, that if pellets of goats’ dung, the size of a bean, are hollowed out, and the seed of leeks, rocket, lettuces, parsley, endive, and cresses is inserted in them, and then sown, the plants will thrive in a marvellous degree. Plants[1251] in a wild state, it is generally thought, are more dry and acrid than when cultivated.
CHAP. 61.—THE JUICES AND FLAVOURS OF GARDEN HERBS.
This, too, reminds me that I ought to make some mention of the difference between the juices and flavours of the garden herbs, a difference which is more perceptible here than in the fruits even.[1252] In cunila, for instance, wild marjoram, cresses, and mustard, the flavour is acrid; in wormwood[1253] and centaury,[1254] bitter; in cucumbers, gourds, and lettuces, watery; and in parsley, anise, and fennel, pungent and odoriferous. The salt flavour is the only one that is not to be found[1255] in plants, with the sole exception, indeed, of the chicheling[1256] vetch, though even then it is to be found on the exterior surface only of the plant, in the form of a kind of dust which settles there.
CHAP. 62.—PIPERITIS, LIBANOTIS, AND SMYRNIUM.
To come to a full understanding, too, both here as elsewhere, how unfounded are the notions which are generally entertained, I shall take this opportunity of remarking that panax[1257] has the flavour of pepper, and siliquastrum even more so, a circumstance to which it owes its name of piperitis:[1258] libanotis,[1259] again, has just the odour of frankincense, and smyrnium[1260] of myrrh. As to panax, we have spoken of it at sufficient length already.[1261] Libanotis grows in a thin, crumbly soil, and is generally sown in spots exposed to the falling dews; the root, which is just like that of olusatrum,[1262] has a smell in no way differing from that of frankincense; when a year old, it is extremely wholesome for the stomach; some persons give it the name of rosmarinum.[1263] Smyrnium is a garden herb that grows in similar soils, and has a root which smells like myrrh: siliquastrum too, is grown in a similar manner.
Other plants, again, differ from the preceding ones, both in smell and taste, anise[1264] for example; indeed, so great is the difference in this respect, and in their relative virtues, that not only are the properties of each modified by the other, but quite neutralized even. It is in this way that our cooks correct the flavour of vinegar in their dishes with parsley, and our butlers employ the same plant, enclosed in sachets, for removing a bad odour in wine.
[1265]Thus far, then, we have treated of the garden plants, viewed as articles of food only; it remains for us now (for up to the present we have only spoken of their various methods of cultivation, with some succinct details relative thereto), to enlarge upon the more elaborate operations of Nature in this respect; it being quite impossible to come to a full understanding as to the true characteristics of each individual plant, without a knowledge of its medicinal effects, a sublime and truly mysterious manifestation of the wisdom of the Deity, than which nothing can possibly be found of a nature more elevated. It is upon principle that we have thought proper not to enlarge upon the medicinal properties of each plant when treating of it; for it is a quite different class of persons that is interested in knowing their curative properties, and there is no doubt that both classes of readers would have been inconvenienced in a very material degree, if these two points of view had engaged our attention at the same moment. As it is, each class will have its own portion to refer to, while those who desire to do so, will experience no difficulty in uniting them, with reference to any subject of which we may happen to treat.
Summary.—Remarkable facts, narratives, and observations, one thousand one hundred and forty-four.