Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Dill

DILL (Anethum), a genus of umbelliferous plants having decompound leaves ; umbels without involucre ; yellow flowers, with calices incomplete above ; and lenticular fruit, compressed from back to front, flattened at the margin, and presenting on each side three ridges. The common species, A. yraveolens, is indigenous to the south of Europe, Egypt, and the Cape of Good Hope. It resembles fennel in appearance. Its root is long and fusiform ; the stem is round, jointed, and about a yard high ; the leaves have fragrant folioles ; and the fruits are brown, oval, and concavo-convex. The plant flowers from June till August in England. The seeds are sown, preferably as soon as ripe, either broadcast or in drills between 6 and 12 inches asunder. The young plants should be thinned when three or four weeks old, so as to be at distances of about 10 inches. A sheltered spot and dry soil are needed for the production of the seed in the climate of England. The leaves of the dill are used in soups and sauces, and, as well as the umbels, for flavouring pickles. The seeds are employed for the preparation of dill-water and oil of dill (valued for their carminative properties), are largely consumed in the manufacture of gin, and, when ground, are eaten as a condiment in the East. See Botany, vol. iv. p. 123.