Anise seed

“ If clear sauces or soups are desired, the dried herbs may still be used to impart the flavor, their particles being removed by straining.
The method of preparing dill, anise, caraway and other herbs whose seed is used, differs from that employed with the foliage herbs mainly in the ripeness of the plants. These must be gathered as soon as they show signs of maturity but before the seeds are ready to drop from them. In all this work especial care must be paid to the details of cleaning. For a pleasing appearance the seed heads must be gathered before they become the least bit weather-beaten. ”

“ In parsley, coriander, anise, fennel, and cummin, the seed has no covering at all, while in blite, beet, orage, and ocimum, it has an outer coat, and in the lettuce it is covered with a fine down. There is no seed more prolific than that of ocimum;1081 it is generally recommended1082 to sow it with the utterance of curses and imprecations, the result being that it grows all the better for it; the earth, too, is rammed down when it is sown, and prayers offered that the seed may never come up. ”

“ Aniseed is an annual plant of the order of Umbelliferae of the parsley family, a native of Egypt, but also extensively cultivated in Russia, Germany, Malta and Spain. Aniseed is very similar in appearance to the poisonous hemlock seed, for which it has sometimes been mistaken. The seed, which is a little larger than a pin’s head, is of a greyish-green color. ”

“ Star aniseed is held in high esteem by the Japanese and is planted near their temples, the seeds being burned as incense in the temples and over the graves of relatives. The whole plant is carminative, and is used by the Chinese as a stomachic and as a spice in their cookery. The qualities of the seed and oil closely resemble those of the common aniseed and the oil is exported to Europe for the same purpose—flavoring liquors. ”

“ ANISE, Pimpinella Anisum, is an umbelliferous plant found in Egypt and the Levant, and cultivated on the Continent of Europe. It is used medicinally as an agreeable aromatic. The officinal part of the plant is the fruit, which consists of two united carpels, called a cremocarp. It is known by the name of aniseed, and has a strong aromatic taste and a powerful odour. By distillation the fruit yields a volatile, oily matter known as oil of anise. ”

“ In our own and especially in warmer climates a great advantage is secured by employing what are known as "onion sets." These are produced by sowing the ordinary black seed very thickly on light poor land. Being much crowded, and not having much nutriment, the seed develop into little onions from the size of a pea to that of a walnut, the smaller the better, if they are solid and plump. These, pressed or sunk, about three inches apart, into rich garden soil about an inch deep, just as soon as the frost is out, make fine bulbs by the middle of June. ”

“ If prices are ruling high, they may get much more than four rupees per maund for it, and they adopt all kinds of ingenious devices to adulterate the seed, and increase its weight. They mix dust with it, seeds of weeds, even grains of wheat, and mustard, pea, and other seeds. In buying seed, therefore, one has to be very careful, to reject all that looks bad, or that may have been adulterated. They will even get old useless seed, the refuse stock of former years, and mixing this with leaves of the neem tree and some turmeric powder, give it a gloss that makes it look like fresh seed. ”

“ Within are a few seeds, hard and smooth. Why are they so hard? Will it not be difficult for such seeds to get moist enough and soft enough to enable them to germinate? The hard coats enable the seeds to remain uninjured for a long time in the water, in case one or two cells of the papery pods are broken open; and after the tough pod has decayed and the seeds have sunken to the moist earth among the sticks and dead leaves, they can have all the time they need for the slow decay of their armor. Sooner or later a tiny plant is likely to appear and produce a beautiful bush. ”

“ Seedlings are probably the hardiest, and will stand the most neglect, but experience is showing that worked trees are the most profitable to grow. The growth of all kinds of citrus-trees from seed is a very simple matter, all that is necessary being a well-prepared seed bed of friable soil that is partially shaded from the heat of the sun, so as to protect the young plants. Selected, fully ripe fruit from well-grown, prolific, healthy trees is taken, and the seeds sown in rows in the seed bed, or broadcast when weeds are not likely to be any trouble. ”

“ Then a breeze tears off a few pods and they fall on the snow, which has filled up all the crevices in the grass and between the dead leaves and rubbish. Each half-pod, freighted with every other seed, is admirably constructed; like an ice boat, it has a sail always spread to the breeze. In this way there is often nothing to hinder some of the seeds from going a mile or two in a few minutes, now and then striking some object which jars off a seed or two. The seeds are very hard, and no doubt purposely so, that they may not be eaten by insects or birds ”

“ Pansies, which are still unsurpassed for beds and borders, are easily raised from seed. What is more interesting than a long row of plants of Perfection Pansy beside the pathway? every step brings one to a flower of perfect charm, quite different in marking or colour from any other. The several species and varieties of Arabis, Alyssum, Aubrietia, Viola, Polyanthus, Iberis, and Forget-me-not also come quite true from seed. The precision of style and colouring that results from raising these from cuttings is, of course, admitted ”

“ It is not apt to whirl through the air with a gliding motion like a maple seed. Consequently, ash seeds are not great travelers. They are dispersed with economy, however, for all do not come down at once, but many hang on the tree for months, and a few go with every strong wind, thus getting themselves scattered in every direction. Their power of germination is low, and only about forty per cent of seeds are fertile. This is due to the fact that pistillate and staminate flowers do not grow on the same tree, and fertilization is imperfect. ”

“ Pansies growing in a mixed bed never come true from seed and deteriorate rapidly. Growing Pansy seed is work for the Pansy specialist, but if it must be saved a few plants should be grown in a bed by themselves and covered with a netting to keep off the bees, which work incessantly over the Pansy bed. Not more than two or three of the finest flowers on a plant should be allowed to seed, all other buds being removed as they form, and the plants kept in a high state of cultivation and supplied with liquid manure at least once a week during the season of seeding. ”

“ Once upon the ground, the seed has to germinate if it can; its root has to pierce the soil or find a way in between crevices of rocks or sharp-edged stones. All the time it is exposed to danger from birds, beasts, and insects, which are only kept off by its resin. But it is difficult to see, for its colour is just that of dead pine needles and its shape is such that it easily slips into crevices. Then the seven or eight small green seed leaves break out of the tough seed coat, and the seedling is now a small tree two inches high. ”

“ Half a dozen seeds dropped to the inch is fairly thick sowing. As the seed is small, it must not be covered deeply; 1⁄4 inch is ample. When the rows are 15 inches apart about 4 pounds of seed will be needed to the acre. For horse cultivation the drills should be 20 inches apart. Both summer and winter savory do well on rather poor dry soils. If started in hotbeds, the first plants may be gathered during May. Garden-sown seed will produce plants by June. For drying, the nearly mature stems should be cut just as the blossoms begin to appear. ”

“ In every box place a thick layer of rotten manure and then fill with thoroughly rich soil firmly pressed down, leaving the surface quite smooth. One of the most successful growers sows seed in rather small boxes early in January, and about the middle of February the young Onions are pricked into boxes of the size we have named. Only the finest and most promising seedlings are used. When transferred, each Onion is allowed a space of three inches. The boxes are kept in a greenhouse, as near the glass as possible, in a temperature of about 50°. After sowing, very little water is given ”

“ Each flower had two green sepals and five colored petals, also five stamens, so they knew it was an exogen, though it would have been harder to tell this from the thick, pulpy leaves and stem. The little seed-pod of each had a tiny cap which lifted off when the seeds were ripe, leaving a perfect cup, heaping full.
"You see, children," said the Chief Gardener, "weeds do not care to be either useful or ornamental. So they become rank and common, and lose their beautiful flowers. But somehow they never have any less seed. ”

“ We wish present visible growth, and so we must be willing to lend aid, and first aid to such seeds is to give them a whiff of moist heat to soften what has become more hard than desirable through man's intervention. For in wild nature the seed is sown as soon as it ripens, and falls to the care of the ground before the vitality [Pg 47] of the parent plant has quite passed from it. That is why the seed of a hardy plant, self-sown at midsummer, grows with so much more vigour than kindred seed that has been lodged in a packet since the previous, season. ”

“ Opposite the micropyle in the bean (at the other end of the hilum) is an elevation known as the raphe. [22] This is formed by a union of the funiculus, or seed-stalk, with the seed-coats, and through it food was transferred for the development of the seed, but it is now functionless.
Seeds differ wonderfully in size, shape, colour, and other characteristics. They also vary in longevity. These characteristics are peculiar to the species or kind. Some seeds maintain life only a few weeks or even days, whereas others will “keep” for ten or twenty years. ”

“ It is a native of the East Indies, and, in general, good seed may be procured by keeping the plants constantly in a hot-bed or hot-house; but the best method is to raise them on a strong hot-bed, keeping them there till in flower, and then transferring them to the hot-house or dry-stove, to perfect their seeds. ”

“ Why it is that certain seeds resist the influences which destroy the vitality of other seeds of closely allied species is another and a very curious but complicated problem, the explanation of which may perhaps lie in the different chemical properties of the seeds in question, in the more or less permeable character of their seed-coats, or their general texture. ”

“ If young green onions with thin, succulent tops are desired very early in spring, it will be an interesting experiment to sow the seed the latter part of August or early in September. Another method is to leave a row of onions in the garden where they ripened. When the autumn rains begin, they will start to grow again. The winter will not harm them, and even in April there will be a strong growth of green tops. The seed stalk should be picked off as soon as it appears in spring, or else the whole strength will speedily go to the formation of seed. ”

“ Microscopic Structure—The most striking peculiarity of anise fruit is the large number of oil-ducts or vittæ it contains; each half of the fruit exhibits in transverse section nearly 30 oil-ducts, of which the 4 to 6 in the commissure are by far the largest. The hairs display a simple structure, inasmuch as they are the elongated cells of the epidermis a little rounded at the end.
Chemical Composition—The only important constituent of anise is the essential oil (Oleum Anisi) , which the fruits afford to the extent of 3 per cent. ”

“ It cannot be the amount of material stored up in the cotyledons, or embryo seed leaves, for small seeds like the beet and cucumber will retain their vitality ten years, and lettuce, turnip, and tomato seed five or more years, while I do not care to plant large, fleshy seeds like pease and beans that are over three years old, and much prefer those gathered the previous season. The whole question of the germinating of seeds is a curious one. Wheat taken from the wrappings of an Egyptian mummy has grown. ”

“ For a crop of Onions intended for storing, the seed should be only just covered with fine earth taken from the alleys and thrown over, after which the drills must be lightly trodden, the surface again touched over with the rake, and if the soil is dry and works nicely, the business may be finished by gently patting the bed all over with the back of the spade. If the ground is damp or heavy, this final touch may be omitted, as the Onion makes a weak grass that cannot easily push through earth that is caked over it. ”

“ In the seedbed made out of doors in early spring, the drills may be made 4 to 6 inches apart and the seeds sown at the rate of 5 or 6 to the inch. A pound should produce enough plants for an acre. In hand sowing direct in the field, a fine [Pg 139] dry sand is often thoroughly mixed with the seed to prevent too close planting. The proportion chosen is sometimes as great as four times as much sand as seed. Whether sown direct in the field or transplanted the plants should finally not stand closer than 8 inches—10 is preferred. ”