HERBS AND THEIR ORIGIN 37 



'In every plant 



There lives a spirit, more or less akin 

 Unto the spirit of humanity. 



Some heal diseases dire; others wake 

 Strange whimsies in the busy brain of man." 



Scent in the Garden. 



Its Esthetic and Practical Uses. — In olden days 

 no garden was considered complete without its 

 borders of sweet-scented flowers and herbs, and it 

 seems that a great deal more attention was paid 

 to that fragrant subject than is the case in these 

 days. 



Too often individual flowers are "over -culti- 

 vated " to produce blossoms of colossal size or 

 striking and dazzling colours, and the delicate beauty 

 of fragrance is eliminated. 



Some of the newer roses are a typical case in 

 point: they are floral wonders in every sense of the 

 word except that of scent, and that intangible 

 and subtle delight seems totally lacking in these 

 otherwise perfect flowers. 



Modern research has proved that our forefathers 

 were quite right in their cultivation of flowers and 

 plants for scent; they were not merely luxuriously 

 delighting their senses, as science has now disclosed 

 to us that ozone is developed when the sun 

 shines on most kinds of fragrant plants, such as 

 fir and pine trees, scented flowers, and sweet herbs 

 generally. 



John Evelyn, that wise and famous gardener of 

 old, had very ambitious ideas, as he soberly and 

 solemnly proposed to make London the healthiest, 

 as well as the happiest city in the world, by sur- 



