158 



THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



cultivated as it should be ; and many other 

 things of similar habit and season of 

 blooming, to which the mention of the 

 foregoing will be a sufficient guide. Then 

 there are pansies, which, after this exces- 

 sive wet, are flowering fine, but are grow- 

 ing rather too vigorously ; blue-bells, and 

 the white and pink varieties, most effec- 

 tive of Saponaria oxymoides, a lovely trail- 

 ing plant ; Aubrietia purpurea, a delight- 

 ful plant, producing a rich carpet of purple 

 almost through the summer ; but I am 

 afraid you will think my pen is running 

 wild, for I could extend the list indefi- 

 nitely from the numberless plants that 

 come to my recollection. Before I quite 

 close up, let me say a word in favour of 

 the old-fashioned olive-scented tulip, which, 

 with its rich scarlet and orange flowers, is 

 one of the most effective plants wherever 



it is introduced, and stands the weather 

 better than almost any other I know of. 



One other reason why I send you this 

 paper at this time is because the season 

 has arrived for beginning to propagate 

 many of these things for the next season, 

 so that they may become strong and flower 

 vigorously ; Alyssum, candytuft, double 

 wallflowers, etc., from cuttings ; single 

 wallflowers, Delphinum, etc, from seed ; 

 Arabis, Aubretia, etc., by division of the 

 roots. Though a multitude of cares press 

 upon the gardener's attention at the pre- 

 sent moment, provision for the future 

 must not be forgotten. I have omitted to 

 say a word in favour of the single rocket, 

 which, simple as it is, is a most effective 

 plant in masses at the present moment, in 

 its white and pink varieties. 



W. Chittt. 

 Stamford Hill, June 11, 1860. 



CULTITEE OF LAVENDEK EOE DISTILLATION. 



Lavandula vera is a native of Persia, the 

 Canaries, Barbary, and the south of Eu- 

 rope, from the last of which it is said to 

 have been first brought to England, where, 

 finding a congenial soil, and being care- 

 fully cultivated, it yields an essential oil 

 or otto, very far superior to that produced 

 from it in its original places of growth. 

 The peculiar qualities of most plants are 

 susceptible of change, and in many in- 

 stances of improvement, by cultivation, 

 but none, perhaps, more so than this. It 

 is not even in all parts of this country 

 that it can be grown with success, and for 

 many years it was supposed that it would 

 only come to perfection in the neighbour- 

 hood of Mitcham, in Surrey ; but it has, 

 within the last half century, been found 

 that a soil and climate still more suited to 

 its growth exists near Hitchin, in Hert- 

 fordshire. There the finest otto is now pro- 

 duced from its flowers by Mr. S. Perks, 

 from whom we have received the following 

 account of the mode of its cultivation and 

 treatment : — " The ground for a plantation 

 of lavender should not be surrounded by 

 high hedges, or in the immediate neigh- 

 bourhood of any trees, which tend to re- 

 tain too much moisture upon the plants, 

 and thus cause the spring frost to cut off 

 the flowers, but should be a3 much ex- 

 posed to the sun as possible. In October, 

 a large number of slips from the old 

 plants are placed in previously prepared 

 beds, where they are allowed to remain 

 for twelve months, during which time they 

 are carefully clipped. When a year old, 



they are planted out (in fine weather) in 

 rows four feet apart, with a space of three 

 feet from plant to plant, but are not 

 allowed to flower, the clipping being still 

 continued in order to strengthen them, 

 which object is further promoted by a 

 regular supply of short manure to the 

 roots. If this cannot be procured in suf- 

 ficient quantity, its place may be supplied 

 by superphosphate of lime, which greatly 

 improves the appearance of the plant, and 

 causes it also to produce finer flowers. The 

 usual mode of procuring the otto is to put 

 the flowers and stalks into a still with 

 sufficient water, and thus draw off the 

 oil ; but I have found by experiment that 

 very little is produced from the stalks, and 

 that little of inferior quality. My present 

 practice is, therefore, to employ only the 

 flowers which are stripped from the stalks 

 previously to the distillation ; and though 

 this is necessarily a more expensive way 

 of proceeding, the superior quality of the 

 product enhances its value in an equal 

 degree, whilst the loss in quantity is very 

 small. The aroma of the otto produced 

 by this process is so far superior to that 

 of any other, a3 to be at once perceptible 

 to every one accustomed to the use of an 

 inferior kind, and even to those who may 

 be said to have an entirely uneducated 

 sense of smelling. It is, in fact, a pure 

 otto, and when suitably combined with 

 other appropriate materials, produces 

 ' Lavender Water' of the most exquisite 

 fragrance that has hitherto been made." — 

 Piesse's Art of Perfumery, 2nd Edition. 



