lo May, 191^.] Lavender Cidi'ivaiiou. 317 



water-logging. Excessive moisture at the roots soon causes the plant to 

 p. rish. Low, wet land should, therefore, ht* avoiiled, unless it is well 

 drained. 



Raising Plants. 



Plants may be obtained from either seed or cuttings, but the best 

 method of propagating is by cuttings, and these should always be selected 

 from the best plants available. Slips from 4 to 5 inches long — no matter 

 how fine or .small — mav be planted out in a nursery bed, close in the rows, 

 e\en touching. If the cuttuig be 4 or 5 inches long, i inch tO' lo inches 

 abo\e the ground is sufficient. The nursery rows should be sufficiently far 

 apart to pei'mit of the ground being kept loose and clean. The cuttings 

 should be planted early in tiie autumn, when they will reach the stage in 

 which they may be planted out in their permanent place in the following 

 spring. A few blooms will show up sufficient to indicate what the plant 

 is like. 



Planting Out. 



In planting out permanently the distance apart must be regulated by 

 the class of labour to be subsequently employed. If horse labour is to be 

 used in the after cultivation the distance between the rows should be from 



4 to 5 feet. If manual labour only is available then the plants may be 

 grown closer, say, 3 to^ 4 feet, or, if it can only be ploughed or worked 

 one way with the aid of horse labour, then the plants may stand 4 feet x 



5 feet or 3 feet 6 inches x 5 feet. The plant, when developed, will spread 

 out to co-\'er ground from i foot 6 inches to 2 feet in diameter. There is 

 no economy in close planting — the plant should have sufficient feeding 

 ground, or it will become stunted, and the yield of flowers small and 

 pinched. 



The securing of proper cuttings is important, and care should be taken 

 in this respect. There are a number of mother patches available, and a 

 limited quantity may be obtained from the Labour Colony, Leongatha, bv 

 writing to the manager, who will supply them in bundles f.o.b. rail 

 Leongatha at 3s. pd. per i.ooo cuttings. In commencing this business 

 it is important that plants should be secured early. Cuttings may be 

 planted out at any time in the autumn or spring, but, if too late in 

 autumn, tbe growth will be retarded by the cold, wet bed, and, if late in 

 spring, with drv, hot weather. In planting, little can be done by way of 

 regulating the length of stem above or below, but deep planting should be 

 avoided. The plant should stand the same depth as when in the nur.sery 

 bed ; mistakes are made in this respect frequently, and the plant too much 

 buried. Spread the roots well and tramp the soil firm. A\oid planting 

 when soil is wet or otherwise out of condition. 



Preparation of Soil. 

 As the profitable lifetime of the plant runs for seven or eight years the 

 soil should be properly prepared prior to planting, as it is impossible to 

 do much after, beyond cleaning and ploughing shallow betwixt the plants. 

 The plant will repay the labour for subsoiling. as the roots will be enabled 

 to penetrate to a depth that wdll enable it to withstand the changes of 

 excessive drought and wet. Subsoiling is preferable to deep, single plough- 

 ing, as the surface soil should be kept to the surface; and the cold, stub- 

 born bottom soil should not be brought to the surface, as this soil is usually 

 infertile and difficult to work. Whatever system is adopted, the .soil should 

 be well worked and pulverized to a fair depth, so that the young plant 

 mav 1:)e enabled to push its roots freelv. 



