leasant odor; and have an
acrid, bitter taste when eaten. The plant is more generally used for
medicinal purposes than as an esculent.

* * * * *

SNAILS.

Snail Trefoil. Medicago orbicularis.

From the south of Europe. It is a hardy, annual plant, with reclining
steins, compound or winged leaves, and yellow flowers. The pods, or
seed-vessels, are smooth, and coiled in a singular and remarkably
regular manner. As they approach maturity, they gradually change to a
dark-brown color; and, seen from a short distance, have the appearance
of snails feeding on the plant.

The seeds are large, flat, somewhat kidney-shaped, of a yellowish-brown
color, and retain their powers of germination five years. They are
usually sold in the pods, but should be taken out before planting.

_Sowing and Culture._--It is propagated by seeds, which should be sown
in April or May where the plants are to remain. Sow in drills fifteen
inches apart. The plants should be thinned out where they are too close,
and kept clean from weeds; which is all the culture they require. They
will blossom in July, and the seeds will ripen in autumn.

_Use._--Though entirely inoffensive, no part of the plant is used for
food. The pods resemble some species of snails in a remarkable degree,
and are placed on dishes of salad for the purpose of exciting curiosity,
or for pleasantly surprising the guests at table.

* * * * *

SWEET CICELY.

Sweet-scented Chervil. Osmorrhiza odorata. Scandix odorata.

A hardy perennial. When fully grown, the stalk is three feet or more in
height; the leaves are large, and many times divided; the stems and
nerves downy; the flowers are white, fragrant, and terminate the stalks
in flat, spreading bunches, or umbels; the seeds are large, brown, and
retain their vitality but one year.

_Sowing and Culture._--It is usually grown from seeds; and is of easy
cultivation, as it thrives in almost any soil or situation. When allowed
to scatter its seeds after ripening in the autumn, the plants will
spring up spontaneously in great numbers in the following April or May,
and may then be transplanted where they are to remain; or the seed may
be sown in October, in beds, making the rows fifteen or eighteen inches
apart, and thinning the plants to a foot apart in the rows. When
practicable, the seed should be sown in the autumn; as it seldom
vegetates well, unless subjected to