Warnings and Advice One of the results of this expert
interest is a booklet. It is im- possible to think of any potential herb-collector getting along five minutes without it and I should recommend any interested reader to send for it : Herb-Gathering, by Barbara Keen and Jean Arm- strong (Brown and Schimmer, 4 Leather Market, S.E.r, ninepence). The authors are practical herb-farmers ; the publishers are whole- sale druggists. There is a foreword by Dr. W. 0. James of the Department of Botany at Oxford, a glossary of medical terms, a bibliography, a detailed description of about seventy herbs with their uses and seasons of harvesting, some really sound advice in collecting and drying and some enchanting woodcuts from Illustra- tions of the British Flora. The text is non-technical. Some of the information may have, and in fact should have, a calming effect on enthusiasts who are not prepared to work hard. For example, most herbs lose about 8o per cent. of their weight while drying. Thus to lbs. of parsley are needed to make r lb of the commercial herb; of bog-bean 16 or 20 lbs., of dandelion-roots 7 or 9 lbs. Herbs should never be gathered while wet or immediately after rain; they should never be heaped together or, like lawn mowings and hay, they will heat; they are useless unless colour has been preserved; they bruise easily. Drying in this country, except in the case of sphagnum moss, can never be undertaken out of doors, and indoors some kind of artificial heat is always essential and success will depend almost entirely on the kind of drying-methods, and structure, that is used.
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