LAVENDER 187 



Rustic bridges are very pretty where there is a stream, 

 and they can be made of use ; but they have no preten- 

 sions as mere accompaniments to a plantation. Obelisks, 

 columns, &c. should be placed on elevated places. 



As to tombs and cemeteries, I should wish to banish them 

 entirely from gardens. They always awaken melancholy 

 reflections in old people, for they remind them of their ap- 

 proaching end ; and a regard for their feelings should, I 

 think, exclude from their places of resort every object 

 which could have such an effect. 



Whilst on this subject, I will mention an anecdote of the 

 celebrated Kent, architect of the English gardens, which 

 will show to what extent this mania may be carried. He 

 built a tomb in a park, and, to make the place still more 

 gloomy, planted around it dead and mutilated trees ; but, 

 notwithstanding the celebrity he had acquired, he was 

 loaded with ridicule, and forced to displace the trees. 



LAVENDER. Lavandula spica. The lavender is a 

 hardy under shrub, a native of the south of Europe. The 

 plant rises two to four feet in height, with hoary, linear leaves, 

 slightly rolled back at the edges : the flowers form terminat- 

 ing spikes of a blue colour, and appear from July to Septem- 

 ber. The leaves and flowers are powerfully aromatic. 



" Propagation and culture. It is propagated by cuttings 

 and slips, like rosemary ; it likes a dry soil, and may be 

 planted either in distinct plants, two feet asunder, or to form, 

 a sort of hedge row, in one or more lines, especially where 

 large supplies of flowers are required for distilling. The 

 plants will advance in a close, branchy growth, from a foot 

 and a half to two feet high, or more ; and, when estab- 

 lished, will produce plenty of flowers in July and August. 

 Gather them while in perfection, cutting the spikes off close 

 to the stem. Then give the plants occasional trimming, 

 cutting off the gross and rampant shoots of the year, and 

 the decayed flower-spikes." Neill observes, " If lavender 

 be planted in a dry, gravelly, or poor soil, its flowers have 

 a powerful odour, and the severity of our winters has little 

 effect on it ; 'while, in a rich garden soil, though it grows 

 strongly, it is apt to be killed, and the flowers have less 

 perfume." 



" Use. It is rajther a medicinal plant than one used in 

 cookery ; though a few plants are kept in every garden. 

 Imitation scent-bottles are made, by the ladies, of its fra- 

 grant spikes. They are also put in paper bags, and placed 

 among linen to perfume it. Lavender-water, a well-known 



