58 THE SCHOOL GARDEN BOOK 



Even in Bible times herbs were freely used. Mint, anise, 

 and cumin are mentioned in the pages of this book. Old- 

 time stories tell of others, such as dill and pennyroyal, which 

 children nibbled at to while away the long hours of the 

 church service. But to-day such herbs are little known. 

 Some large city markets sell a few kinds fresh, and occasion- 

 ally a limited number are grown in home gardens, but these 

 are mainly on estates with gardeners and skilled cooks. Most 

 of us are content with the tropical spices so cheaply supplied 

 by commerce, while in the main the delicate flavors and the 

 delights of the home garden of herbs are past. 



The school garden may restore past joys and values to 

 home gardens, as well as serve to introduce there the best 

 products of modern horticultural art. In 1906, one school 

 garden showed twenty sorts of herbs at the fall exhibition of 

 the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. Some of the fine 

 cooks of the neighborhood of this school welcomed the op- 

 portunity of purchasing fresh herbs in great variety, if not in 

 large quantities. Some of the children started mint and sage 

 and annual herbs at home. One boy grew sage and catnip in 

 quantity at his summer home in the country, and realized a 

 snug little sum retailing both fresh and dried herbs of his own 

 production to his city neighbors. A bed of herbs is a very 

 desirable and practical feature of a school vegetable garden 

 or of a home garden. 



Herbs of the kitchen garden are plants native to Europe, 

 and mainly to Mediterranean countries, whose aroma at- 

 tracted attention and led to their use for flavoring food in 

 times when the spices of tropical shores in the Far East were 

 unknown or very costly. Since native to Europe they are 

 either hardy annuals or perennials whose seed may be sown 



