use he will observe a
larger and a larger number of plants approaching the type of plant he
has been selecting for. In time practically the whole plantation will be
coming "true to type," and he will have developed a new variety. If his
ideal is such as to appeal to the practical man--the man who grows
parsley for money--and if the variety is superior to varieties already
grown, the originator will have no difficulty in disposing of his stock
of seed and plants, if he so desires, to a seedsman, who will gladly pay
a round price in order to have exclusive control of the "new creation."
Or he may contract with a seedsman to grow seed of the new variety for
sale to the trade.

[Illustration: Harvesting Thyme Grown on a Commercial Scale]

It may be said, further, that new varieties may be produced by placing
the pollen from the flowers of one plant upon the pistils in the
flowers of another and then covering the plant with fine gauze to keep
insects out. With the herbs, however, this method seems hardly worth
while, because the flowers are as a rule very small and the work
necessarily finicky, and because there are already so few varieties of
most species that the operation may be left to the activities of
insects. It is for this reason, however, that none but the choicest
plants should be allowed to bloom, so none but desirable pollen may
reach and fertilize the flowers of the plants to be used as seed
producers.

STATUS AND USES

Some readers of a statistical turn of mind may be disappointed to learn
that figures as to the value of the annual crops of individual herbs,
the acreage devoted to each, the average cost, yield and profit an acre,
etc., are not obtainable and that the only way of determining the
approximate standing of the various species is the apparent demand for
each in the large markets and stores.

Unquestionably the greatest call is for parsley, which is used in
restaurants and hotels more extensively as a garnish than any other
herb. In this capacity it ranks about equal with watercress and lettuce,
which both find their chief uses as salads. As a flavoring agent it is
probably less used than sage, but more than any of the other herbs. It
is chiefly employed in dressings with mild meats such as chicken,
turkey, venison, veal, with baked fish; and for soups, stews, and
sauces, especially those used with boiled meats, fish and fricassees of
the meats mentioned. Thus it has a wider application than a