CHAPTER 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 place, let them be 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 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 best the first year, and this I make
appear by a good argument. They will grow sooner the first year they be
set, therefore then they are in their prime; and it is an easy matter
to renew them yearly.