CHAPTER II 



THE MAKING OF THE HERB-GAUDEN 



* To flower and plant and tree, the garden is a cloistered 

 refuge from the battle of life."* 



The one thing most needful for the Herb-garden 

 is sunshine. Without it there will be neither 

 virtue nor fragrance ; the plants will exist, but will 

 neither be happy themselves nor make us so. 



Any good garden soil suffices to satisfy most 

 Herbs, but the same soil will not suit all equally 

 well. Some are naturally rock or mountain plants, 

 and do not mind how dry the ground is. Others, 

 like the family of Mints, love moist places ; one or 

 two, like Rue and Fennel, absolutely thrive in 

 poor soil, while others demand good living. No 

 doubt the old superstition that plants are apt to 

 quarrel among themselves, and that some are 

 absolutely antipathetic to others, originated in the 

 first instance in the fact that there are great difFer- 



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