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SECTION IX.—PLANTS USED FOR CULINARY PURPOSES.
"Man's first great ruling passion is to eat."
In the following section I have confined myself principally to such as are in cultivation. There are many of our indigenous plants which, in times of scarcity, and in other cases of necessity, are used as food by the people in the neighbourhood where they grow. But of these I shall make a separate list.
409. ARTICHOKE. Cynara Scolymus.—We have several varieties of this plant in cultivation; but the most approved are the large green and the globe. They are propagated by taking off the young suckers from the old roots in May, and planting them in a piece of rich land. Artichokes have been raised from seed, but they are seldom perfected in this country.
410. ARTICHOKE, JERUSALEM. Helianthus tuberosus.—Is cultivated for the sake of its tubers, similar to the potatoe; but they are not generally esteemed.
411. ASPARAGUS. Asparagus officinalis.—A very delicious vegetable in the spring, and well known to all amateurs of gardening.
There is a variety called the Gravesend Asparagus, and another called the Battersea; but it is the richness of the soil and manure that makes the only difference.
412. BASIL, SWEET. Ocymum Basilicum.—A pot-herb of considerable use for culinary purposes. It is an annual; and the seeds should be sown in a hot-bed in March, and transplanted into the open ground. It is usually dried as other pot-herbs.
413. BEANS. Vicia Faba.—The varieties of the garden-beans are as follow:—