CULPEPER'S COMPLETE HERBAL,

AND

ENGLISH PHYSICIAN;

Of gathering, drying, and keeping simples, and their juices.

CHAP. III.

Of Seeds.

    1. The seed is that part of the plant which is endowed with a vital faculty to bring forth its like, and it contains potentially the whole plant in it.
    2. As for the place, let them he gathered from the place where they delight to grow.
    3. Let them be full ripe when they are gathered; and forget not the celestial harmony, before mentioned; for I have found by experience that their virtues are twice as great at such times as at others. There is an appointed time for every thing under the sun.
    4. When you have gathered them, dry them a little, and but a little, in the sun, before you lay them up.
    5. You need not be so careful of keeping them so near the fire, as the other before-mentioned, because they are fuller of spirit, and therefore not so subject to corrupt.
    6. As for the time of their duration, it is palpable they will keep a good many years; yet they are the best the first year, and this I make appear by a good argument. They will grow soonest the first year they are set, therefore then they are in their prime; and it is an easy matter to renew them yearly.