248 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE FARM 



been the earliest of these. Gerard reports Pliny as having 

 said that "The smell of mint doth stir up the mindeand the 

 taste to a greedy desire of meat"; and for himself he adds, 

 "Mint is marvellous wholesome for the stomacke". (Herbal, 

 p. 68 1). To the modern cook or confectioner, the herbs 

 themselves are hardly known, tho 

 their essences are used to excess. 

 But our great grandmothers knew 

 them, grew them, cut them, cured 

 them and then seasoned with them. 

 The plants were gathered about the 

 time when their first flowers were 

 opening, dried rapidly to preserve 

 their essential oils, and put away 

 for winter use. Then they were 

 used with discrimination. It was 

 experience, not chemical analysis, 

 that settled upon sage and summer 

 savory as proper seasoning for sau- 

 sage and roasts; upon parsley and 

 thyme as suitable for stews and 

 soups. 



Our grandmothers made tea from 

 sage, mint, horehound, balm, catnip, 

 pennyroyal, etc. It was a com- 

 mon practice to steep a quarter 

 of an ounce of the dried leaves in a half pint of boiling 

 water, and then strain and sweeten to taste. Such teas 

 were at once beverages and "simple home remedies." 

 Pennyroyal tea was used to promote perspiration. Hore- 

 hound was good for colds. Each herb had its virtues, and all 

 of them had the great merit of being rather harmless when so 

 prepared and administered. If one had a cold, a pleasant 

 cup of horehound tea (happily supplemented by good hygienic 



Fig. 95. Pennyroyal. 



