CH. IV.] THE LEAVES. 143 



correctly, is usually more neglected and more 

 thoughtlessly practised than any other in the varied 

 range of the gardener's duties. To demonstrate this, 

 will only require to have pointed out how it ought to 

 be managed. The flavoui' of almost every potherb 

 arises from an essential oil which it secretes, and 

 this being in the greatest abundance just pre- 

 viously to the opening of its flowers, that is the time 

 which ought to be selected for gathering. Potherbs 

 ought to be dried quickly, because, if left exposed 

 to winds, much of the essential oil evaporates, and 

 mouldiness occurring, and long continuing, destroys 

 it altogether, for nearly eyerj plant has its pecu- 

 liar mucor, (mould,) the food of which is the charac- 

 teristic oily secretion of the plant on which it vege- 

 tates. A dry brisk heat is therefore desirable ; and 

 as the fruit store-room ought always to have a stove, 

 and is untenanted when herbs require drying, no other 

 place can be more efficiently employed for the purpose. 

 The temperature should be 90°, for if it exceeds this, 

 the essential oils are apt to burst the integuments 

 of the containing vessels, 6ind to escape. Forty-eight 

 hours, if the heat be kept up steadily, are sufficient 

 to complete the process of diying. The leaves, in 

 which alone the essential oils of potherbs reside, 

 should then be carefully clipped ^dth scissors, not 

 crushed, from the stalks, and stored in tightly corked 

 wide-mouthed bottles. Each will thus preserve its 



