Cuminum cyminum.

Cumin is a native of Egypt. It is a tender, annual plant, from nine to twelve inches high. The leaves are deep-green, and divided into long, linear segments, not unlike those of Fennel; the flowers are white or pale-blue, and produced in small umbels at the extremities of the branches; the seeds are long, furrowed, of a pale-brownish color, and somewhat resemble those of Anise,--about seven thousand are contained in an ounce, and they retain their power of germination three years.

Soil and Cultivation.--Cumin requires a light, warm-loamy soil. The seed should be sown about the beginning of May, in drills fourteen inches apart and half an inch deep. When the plants are well up, they should be thinned to three or four inches apart in the lines. The treatment of the growing crop, and the usual method of harvesting, are the same as directed for Anise or Coriander.

The seed is sometimes sown broadcast; the soil being first finely pulverized, and raked smooth and even. This may be successfully practised upon land naturally light and warm, if free from weeds.

Though a native of a warm climate, Cumin may be successfully grown throughout the Middle States, and in the warmer portions of the Northern and Eastern.

Use.--The plant is cultivated for its seeds, which are carminative, and used as those of Caraway and Coriander. They are sometimes employed for flavoring spirits.

The plant is rarely grown, and the seeds are but little used, in the United States. There

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