LA VENDER. 39 



It is chiefly used for painting, but a considerable quantity 

 linds its way every year to the second-class manufactories, 

 where lavender-water and other perfumes, of which the base 

 is the essential oil of lavender, are prepared, and this in its 

 turn is sometimes adulterated with spirits of turpentine. 

 The harvesting of the flowers takes place at the end of 

 July or the beginning of August, according to the season, 

 the proper moment for cutting the spikes being just as 

 the flowers are opening, as they are then more powerfully 

 aromatic, and consequently yield an oil of greater value 

 than when fully expanded. The cutting is done with the 

 sickle, and every care taken to immediately pack and tie 

 up in mats, for when exposed to the rays of the sun for 

 any length of time after cutting, the yield of oil is 

 materially reduced in consequence. The flowers cannot, 

 indeed, be sent to the distillery too quickly after their 

 removal from the plants. Large quantities of lavender 

 Howers are sent to Covent Garden annually, and from 

 thence find their way to the shops and costers' barrows, 

 for there is still a demand for them for filling muslin bags 

 to stow away in drawers and cupboards, notwithstanding 

 the facilities which exist for obtaining the essential oil, 

 and lavender-water, and other perfumes into which it enters. 

 The flowers, it should be remevnbered, are put into drawers 

 and wardrobes to exclude moths, as well as for imparting 

 an agreeable odour to the articles placed in these recep- 

 tacles. A few drops of the oil will, however, serve the 

 same purpose; and it has been ascertained by experiment 

 that if a single drop is placed in a small box along with a 

 living insect, the insect will be killed almost immediately. 

 The distillation of the flowers is a business quite dis- 

 tinct from that of their production, and both large and 



