8 



THE HERB-GARDEN 



gathering and drying Herbs came round. Some 

 Herbs — most of them, in fact — would be put away, 

 each sort separate ; but in other cases mixtures or 

 blends of them were found useful. 



Things are very different in France. There we 

 find twenty different Herb flavours to one or two 

 that we get in England. Medicinally, as well as 

 in cookery. Herbs are far more used on the Conti- 

 nent than with us. While travelling about in 

 foreign hotels, what weird smells reach us from 

 the bedrooms or sitting-rooms of Aniseed, Clove, 

 Coriander, and other aromatic things ! It was at 

 an hotel in the South of France, quite lately, that 

 I saw Camomile-tea for the first time since I was 

 a little girl in the nursery. It was brought in 

 every evening, after dinner, by a lady to her 

 husband, a famous doctor, then an invalid. The 

 tisane looked tempting enough, in a large flat- 

 shaped wineglass, sprinkled over at the top with 

 the small white flowers. Great faith was placed in 

 the old-fashioned remedy. 



The French are very clever in the use of herbs 

 for soups — not only in flavouring them (we can 

 do that ourselves), but they can make quite good 

 soup of little else. I have the good-fortune to be 

 acquainted with a French family long domiciled in 



