PREFACE 



A small boy who wanted to make a good impres- 

 sion once took his little sweetheart to an ice cream 

 parlor. After he had vainly searched the list oi 

 edibles for something within his means, he whis- 

 pered to the waiter, ''Say, Mister, what you got that 

 looks tony an' tastes nice for nineteen cents?" 



This is precisely the predicament in which many 

 thousand people are today. Like the boy, they ha ve 

 skinny purse s, voracious appetit es and migh ty 

 y earnings to make the best possible imp jression 

 within their means . Perhaps having been '*invit"ed 

 out," they learn by actual demonstration that the 

 herbs are culinary magicians wh ich convert^ cheap 

 cuts and ''scraps" into toothsome daintie s. They 

 are thus aroused to the fact that by using herbs 

 they can afiford to play host and hostess to a larger 

 number of hungry and envious friends than ever 

 before. 



Maybe it is mainly due to these yearnings and to 

 the memories of mother's and grandmother's famous 

 dishes that so many inquiries concerning the propa- 

 gation, cultivation, curing and uses of culinary herbs 

 are asked of authorities on gardening and cookery; 

 and maybe it is because no one has really loved the 

 herbs enough to publish a book on the subject. That 

 herbs are easy to grow I can abundantly attest, for 

 I have grown them all. I can also bear ample wit- 

 ness to the fact that they reduce the cost of high 



