[85] Neither lime nor chalk must be repeatedly added or the soil will be impoverished.
_Horehound_ and _Rue_ may be coupled together as liking a shady border and a dry, calcareous soil, and I have always heard that the latter thrives best when the plant has been _stolen_! It is a good thing to cut the bush down from time to time, when it will spring again with renewed vigour. Rue may be grown from seeds or cuttings taken in the spring. Horehound may be grown from seeds or cuttings, but is most usually increased by dividing the roots.
_Hyssop_, _Rosemary_, and _Sage_ are natives of the south of Europe, and the two first appreciate a light, sandy soil, and not too much sun. Hyssop should be sowed in March or April; rooted off-sets may be taken in these months or in August and September, or cuttings from the stems in April or May, and these should be watered two or three times a week till they have struck. Both Hyssop and Sage are the better for being cut back when they have finished flowering. Loudon[86] says of Rosemary: “The finest plants are raised from seed. Slips or cuttings of the young shoots may be taken in the spring and summer and set in rows, two-thirds into the ground and occasionally watered till they have struck. In the autumn they may be transplanted.” There are four kinds of Sage: red, green, small-leaved, or Sage of Virtue, broad-leaved or Balsamic. Gardening books speak of the red variety as being the commonest, though it seems to me that the common green sage is the one oftenest seen in kitchen-gardens. Red Sage seldom comes “true” from seed but is easily raised by cuttings, and it sometimes succumbs to a hard winter. The other varieties are propagated by seed or by cuttings taken in May or June; the outer shoots should be the ones chosen and they should be put well into the ground and watered. After about three years the plants begin to degenerate and new ones should be set. Three kinds of _Marjoram_ are cultivated, _Winter_ (_Origanum Heracleoticum_), _Pot_ (_O. Onites_) and _Sweet Marjoram_ (_O. Marjorana_). The last-named is not a perennial. Winter and Pot Marjoram like a dry, light soil and are best propagated by off-sets, slipping or parting the roots in spring or autumn, but they may be also raised from seed. _Bergamot_, sometimes called Bee Balm, is, Robinson says, of the simplest culture, thriving or flowering in any position or soil. “For its scent alone, or for its handsome crimson flowers it would be well worth cultivating.”[87] He adds that the different varieties of _Monarda_ are admirably suited to being planted “for naturalization in woods and shrubberies.” Bergamot may be increased by division of the roots in the spring or grown from seed.