Vegetables should be gathered in dry weather, and not when wet with rain or dew. They should be collected annually, and not be kept beyond a year.

Most roots and rhizomes should be dug up after the old leaves and stalks have fallen, and before the new ones appear.

Barks ought to be collected at the season in which they can be most easily separated from the wood; herbs and leaves should be gathered after the flowers have blown and before the seeds ripen.

Flowers should be gathered recently blown.

Fruits and seeds should be collected when ripe.

The different parts of vegetables should be kept dried for use, except when otherwise directed. Expose those which are to be dried, a short time after they have been gathered, in shallow wicker baskets to a gentle heat in a current of air, in the dark; when the moisture is driven off, gradually increase the heat to 150° Fah., that they may dry. Finally, preserve the more delicate parts, viz., flowers and leaves in black glass bottles, well closed, and the rest in vessels, preventing the access of light and moisture.