LAVENDER. 361 
habitat. The character of a plant and the character of its produce 
depend on even more than a similarity of soil and geographical 
position : it is asserted that a good judge can distinguish between 
oils produced in two adjacent fields. The difference in odour is 
very apparent between the oils produced in Hertfordshire, Surrey, 
and Sussex. 
The principal lavender-plantations of England are in the districts 
of Mitcham, Carshalton, and Beddington in Surrey, Hitchin in 
Hertfordshire, and Canterbury in Kent. The Surrey and Hert- 
fordshire plantations are situated on the outcrop of the Chalk 
which surrounds the London basin. The most suitable conditions 
of soil are found to be light brown loam over chalk, the depth of 
the loam being very slight, varying from 6 to 20 inches. Of 
course on slopes there is hardly any soil at all in some parts, and 
in some of the hollows it is as deep as 4 feet. There is often a 
thin seam of Coombe rock, of a soft, dry, pulveruleut nature, light 
brown in colour, between the loam and the cialk; this is very 
beneficial to the plant. Im selecting ground, a site should be 
chosen which slopes rather to the south or south-west. A wood 
or copse on the south-west boundary is of some advantage to ward 
off or break the force of gales which may occur in July; but in 
the autumn and winter months, the plants having been clipped, 
present little resistance to the wind. A July gale may do some 
damage ; the tall spikes wave like corn in the wind, but with such 
weight and momentum as to cause the woody branches to some- 
times split at the junction with the stem,—yet tall trees in the 
immediate vicinity are objectionable, keeping off too much light 
and air. Hedges are useful to keep off dogs, but they should be 
cropped very close and low. Walls of any, sort are very objec- 
tionable, as the wind is thrown back from them,—more dangerous 
in effect than a direct wind, which drives through the plants. 
In cleaning the ground preparatory to planting, all weeds should 
be carefully rooted out, stacked in small heaps, and burned; the 
ashes being afterwards distributed over the ground. A soil of the 
nature described is generally full of large flints ; those on or near 
the surface should be taken out, as being quite unnecessary and 
only likely to break the tools. ‘These flints can be used as found- 
ations to paths or sold; they have a marketable value for road- 
mending. It is advisable to prepare the soil previous to planting 
by trenching in a quantity of short straw and refuse from stables, 
