COUNTRY LIFE
Herb -Collecting When I first introduced the subject of medicinal-herb collecting last year, quoting what seemed to be the fantastic prices which the
wholesalers were then paying for such common plants as dock and dandelion, I believe many readers thought that they had only to seize a fork, start digging and so pile up a fortune. Correspondents are still writing to ask me if it is true that docks and dandelion, can be sold for £5 or £6 per cwt., and if so how and when do they start? I must apologise to all those correspondents for not replying, and I hope they will understand the reason. The reason is that the collecting of medicinal herbs, formerly imported largely from abroad, is far from being a simple business. Until I could give more practical details, a better idea of current prices and of the wholesale druggists' demands, it seemed useless to reply. Now that I am able to give these details I must still point out that herb- collecting, though it is a nationally important thing and may be an extremely profitable thing, is not a pastime for making easy money. The prices of herbs are still attractive (red rose-petals 3(:) per cwt., lily-of-the-valley flowers £35 per cwt., fox-glove seeds L4o per cwt.) and herbs are still urgently needed, but there are certain rules which must be observed in .collecting, drying and pack- ing the produce, and unless they are observed herb-collecting may be a very disappointing farce. This does not at all mean that herb- collecting by amateurs is to be discouraged; on the contrary the Government, the directors of Kew Gardens, the Pharmaceutical Society and the Wholesale Drug Association have all taken the greatest interest in this extremely important business.
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