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Sorrel

Sorrel is an acid-leaved plant, the leaves of which are largely used on the Continent to make soups, sauces, and salads. Where the taste for it has been acquired, it is considered a pleasant accompaniment to young meat. Sometimes, when sorrel alone is considered too acid, a mixture of equal parts of spinach and sorrel is served. Sorrel grows wild, and may be had for the plucking, and gathered thus is very good; nevertheless, as the flavour of cultivated sorrel is much superior to that of wild sorrel, every garden should contain a few plants. The most useful variety is the broad-leaved sorrel, which is easily propagated either by seed or division of the root. This root, like that of rhubarb, will stand almost any amount of ill-usage. The seed is very small, and must be only slightly covered with earth. The young plants may be thinned to from three to six inches apart; but if they are left crowded no great harm will be done, as they must eventually be transplanted. Spring-sown sorrel may be gathered the next autumn; during the following season it will afford several cuttings.