August 27, 1898. 



GARDENERS' 



MAGAZINE 



561 



v re was no Gardeners' Magazine to interest and instruct one. They will 

 vTdlv realise my feelings, however, when I first saw it announced that a weekly 

 Adenine paper was about to be published at twopence per week. I quickly 

 me the order to have a weekly copy. To my regret, the fourth week was a 

 double number, for which fourpence was charged. This was a damper to a young 

 fellow with small means, but I continued to subscribe to it, although I was not 

 sorry when the double number died a natural death, which it did at the end of a 

 few months. 



My next change was to a district where good gardens were not so far apart, 

 and in which a gardeners' mutual improvement society had already been formed, 

 but to which no under-gardeners were admitted. This I and several other young 

 men felt to be unfair, so we drew up a statement of what we considered our 

 wrongs, and laid it before the committee of management, with the result that the 

 rule was relaxed and we were admitted to all the privileges of the society on the 

 same terms, which was 6d. per month ; the meetings being held during the winter 

 months on the Thursday evening next before the full moon. This arrangement 

 was for the purpose of making it more pleasant for members to have the benefit of 

 the moonlight to go to and from the meetings. With the money so subscribed 

 a good stock of gardening books was provided, and one or two monthlies. 1 he 

 latter each member was allowed to keep three days, and then to hand it over to 

 another. This, in some cases, meant a walk of two or three miles. I well 

 remember with what avidity I devoured the contents of all Loudon's works, 

 especially that on trees and shrubs. ^ " Pax ton's Botanical Dictionary" was pub- 

 lished about that time, and my delight was great when it came to my turn to be 

 its possessor for a month. Young men at that time had a good deal of opposition 

 to contend with. The older men in the garden regarded books or papers as use- 

 less aids to gardening, as many of them could neither read nor write ; yet to show 

 the capacity and retentive memory of some such men, I would mention that I 

 worked for two years with one who had acted as parish clerk for many years, yet 

 he could not read or write his own name. At the beginning his wife read out 

 to him the Church Service, and that was all the tuition he had, yet I never knew 

 him to make a mistake, T. C. Clar 



T 



Sweet Lave 



71 



Am 



Bl 



Many good receipes for clearing apple trees of the American blight have 

 been given from time to time by cultivators. These consist of quick- 

 lime, sulphur, lamp-black, soap, and paraffin. I venture, however, to recom- 

 mend at this season, when the blight is prevalent, a swifter and more sure 

 means of cu«e which I mainly relied on for many years. This consists 

 0 a hard scrubbing brush and a hot lime or other wash. The American 



's point of view as a pest to 



W I. L?°. to s peakr thou 8 h surel ? such a P recii * plant as the lavender 

 this delil?HM e K t0 blush-it would, observes a writer in the Globe, seem that 



n 1 T « L w C herb ° f - ragrance must ' be y° nd a11 question, be a native of our 

 vervJn* thl? T- S ^ ,n f e and ^obtrusive, and its uses so homely and 

 EfrSL g> c " • d ' fficult t0 think of the sober-tinted bush as originally a 

 loreigner Some exotics never look naturalised ; while the lavender seems never 



Uth JL an eX ° t r C J A Certain shrinking modesty hangs about it which makes 

 it he very paragon of domestic life. For one thing, lavender is obviously of too 

 < )uakensh a habit to flaunt it with its gaudier floral sisters in the competition for public 

 favour. Whoever encountered the pretty puritan at a flower show ? Its very hue 

 is suggestive of everything that is humble and retiring, while its form is slight, and 

 by no means beautiful. But then the violet has lost its lovely odour in the course 

 of its development into the pansy. And it is not an unpleasant reflection, in these 

 days of advanced floncullure, to know that there remains at least one modest 

 garden blossom which has not had " greatness thrust upon it." 



In the time of Queen Elizabeth, some half-dozen varieties of the lavender 

 plant were to be found in our better-cultivated gardens. Shakespeare speaks 

 lamiliarly of it, though it was scarcely known in England before the sixteenth 

 century. It is doubtful to whom we specifically owe its introduction ; but, at 

 all events, the lavender speedily made itself at home with us, and throve equally 

 in the affections of the country folk who favoured it. In a few years it had 

 entered into the very heart of our purely domestic observances. The lady of the 

 manor and the "mother" of the hamlet set equal store upon it. It yielded 

 washes, scents, ointments, and medicine. At a later period it was used to miti- 

 gate the austere contents of the snuff-box ; while a drop of its essential oil was 

 regarded as "sovereign for the vapours." A herb possessing so many merits 

 was naturally welcomed on all sides. It was so exquisitely clean, fragrant, and 

 refreshing that it took all the housewives' chests and store-closets by storm. 

 Izaak Walton completes his picture of an ideal chamber in a rustic inn by the 

 recommendation of "lavender in the windows," while his pupil "Venator" is 

 attracted to the same house by the fact that "the linen looks white and smells 

 of lavender. The phrase, "laid up in lavender," is emphatic of the prevalence 

 of this wholesome and delightful custom. And, in many of our country districts, 

 lavender for the linen presses of a house is still deemed quite as necessary as 

 honeysuckle for the adornment of its porch. 



The lavender is indigenous to several countries of Northern Africa and Central 

 Asia, and is thought by some learned commentators to have entered into the com- 

 position of the famous "spikenard " ointment of the East. It was much used by 

 the ancients for scenting the waters of their manifold baths, and the Latin deriva- 

 tion of the word is sufficiently obvious. Our term " lavender water 



nas.vhliahf" 6 ". 0 !!'^ 011811 1 rec ? mm end a hard brush for reaching the 

 EH r g u u" dee P est devices of the wood or bark, the slightest 



Z it is not n^fTf 65 t0 , ki11 th J S Virulent P est ' • Some'even cS 



cripple or 



&i£ ^ JUT 6 • £ pl f • f ,tS filament aceous embellishments 



as t mav IZJ °f- m ' sch,ef ' shouId * not end its life. Be that, however, 

 as t may, a very s ight pressure under a hard brush makes a soeedv end 



fall of 'tKf 1 f Sh arC well ; ni ? h insurmountable ; but with the 

 facilita te this Te I « aC ^f S t0 th f ' nsects > sin g'y or ^ masses. To 



«him2? the brush al„ Yht 7 S TC ° r branches ™V be then 



end of the MX affi^f d,1,gen ^ y and * k,lfulI y «sed, soon making an 

 *ash of caus fr iml ♦ few u °P"at.ons. To make security doubly sure a 



of the TrS Th rkilk a nr r S?,0l { ld b u 6 SCrubb ? 1 in to every nook andcranny 

 ^^to^J^i; n fS^^ stra Sglers, or forces them to retire 7 



Paraffin, methylated 6 ^ °l° thei Washes with soa P> sul P h ^, 



*>* efficient JhantheTnrH' ? v BlU , ^ more costl y» and 



Not a few fail tli a ♦ d b A USh and caust,c lime wa «h. 

 the ^ots,aswel L to i e ^ Ame ncan blight, through failure to clean 

 fctfle breeding ™„d fi? r °I tbe brancbes . and yet perhaps the most 

 *■ boles of thf frees Id i'^, PCSt ' S f ° Und , ,n the border land around 

 h ' s of little use cleaning til ? fl' m ° re kl )° tted > and & narled roots. 

 «d blighted wUl Tvermin OfK ° f ^ WhUe theroots are covered 

 Reared before the scrubhi™ l * V** ^ v ° n the main roots must 

 ! ? on the blight ^ut fn? g A * ° r 6 hme Wash can be brou & ht 

 that the underground Zdt 6 • enc f oura & e K n ;ent of growers it may be 

 •at on the tn J?% ?""_, bl ght ls > l i Possible, more readily destroved 



that on the tops°of T™u"t*? n pos f DIe ' mor e readily destroyed 

 fj th « Pest on th? oots m n s Vh^ # But *«P<>™t of most moment is 

 J Jot bath of soapsuds o r ^e! Ill de f Str °y ed ,f the trees are to be cleaned. 

 ? the L clusters has V* ' m^l 8 *' * \ tem P erat ure of ,30 Fahr., rubbed 



r f bands round the bdes L fn e h aS , tened ^ P rocess of cleanin ff- 

 formed distasteful Wri s £ 2? ° r tW ° U "? er the surface soil have 

 g.Wner consists of puS? ° f b,i ^ ht ' A ^re potent 

 rounds.... Pacing a handful or two of dry soot and caustic 



P»ckled. 



A fe 



the 



But 



•oaluVi 



n y reliance is 



•nieth 

 Nearer, 



*P«ritat 



•lea 



ylated 



may pass through, but the majority are 



^uUeU e her?hitesLcro h r rh' ^ 

 the sooner if ^, P thread a PPears. These 



, or alcohol ^S7 ^ ?Wer W °, Uld Carf y a sma11 P hia l 

 w th ^ a smi'll Whlch , is l , e . c l ua lly effectual, but much 

 Lh , a l m . a11 . cam 5 1 , ha,r Pencil. The moment a 



f>r> 



t«.7 i. '."» n Ot a leaf 



touc hed will escape ' g ' ° r frUU need be in J u red, while not 



an 



D. T. Fish. 



It' - sim P lest answer I can give 

 March, April, and May of the present 



• ••rv ; ;5*J ^aches to four inche t S ^ in each case, 



^ e not li'! n nds f - something U hen ^ ? , Added t0 this ' ocul " 



^ *aS dn . er Edition ^ ye l r r' We are cert ain that the soil 



ar„ ficU , JJttjJ usual and I am sure in our case fruit trees, 



ave suffered from the continued drought. -South 



fe 



. - ' may thus 



be a survival ; for though in English practice the essential oil of the plant is 



obtained by distillation with water, its perfume is afterwards imparted to highly 

 rectified spirit. Our country custom of making lavender bags and placing the 

 dried flowers among linen is also derived from antiquity. There are records of 

 this practice older than the discovery of distillation, and it says much for the 

 natural efficacy of the lavender that its homely virtues are to this day so highly 

 prized. To breathe the fragrance of the sad- coloured spears after the penetrating 

 perfumes in which our ancestors delighted, must have been as delightful as the 

 savour of sea air. And ytt the lines long continued to be true which thus 

 apostrophised the over-scented fop of the period : 



" Bring, oh bring, thy essence pot, 

 Amber, musk, and bergamot ; 

 Eau de chipre, eau de luce, 

 Sanspereil, and citron juice." 



There must be something in the English soil and climate peculiarly acceptable 

 to the habits of this plant, for it attains here to a perfection unequalled by the 

 growths of most other countries. No doubt an immense impetus was originally 

 given to its cultivation by the practice of home distillation. At all events, the 

 fame of our English lavender-water is world-wide, a fact generally admitted by 

 foreign perfumers themselves. Of course, the industry is a most important one in 

 the South of France, where the lavender harvest enlists a large part of the 

 peasant population. The operations attending it are simple, but not devoid of 

 interest. As among ourselves, the flowers are reaped with a kind of sickle, 

 and being tied into bundles, are at once conveyed to the adjacent distillery. 

 But the French manufacturer insists on putting both stalks and leaves into his 

 still, and on adding to its product some other kinds of essential oil, and various 

 coarser compounds. Preferring quality to quantity, our own leading makers 

 confine their operations to the blossom itself, with a result best appreciated by 

 those who have once compared the home and foreign forms of the perfume. The 

 distinctly refreshing nature of the best home-made scent is in strong contrast with 

 the heavy, clinging quality of that which comes from abroad. Upon the whole, 

 good English lavender-water is the perfume most generally acceptable in a sick 

 chamber. It is refreshing long after other essences have palled ; and thus, to the 

 end, the lavender holds its own in its unpretentious and almost prosaic way. 

 No doubt the famous " attar " of the rose of Cashmere still ranks as the hi 



ideal of the perfumer's fastidious art. m _ 



its fragrance, about our old-fashioned English lavender-water which endears it 

 to many. The modern builder has seriously encroached upon the once famous 

 lavender fields of Surrey and Middlesex, but Mitcham lavender has still a 

 reputation which commands for it the highest prices in the market. But, as in 

 other and more important commodities, Greater Britain is quickly coming into 

 the competition. For some time past the settlers of South Australia have been 

 annoyed by a " nuisance" in the form of a persistent plant which their cattle 

 refused to eat. It proved to be lavender, with which a considerable area has since 

 been planted.' And now Australia is distilling her own lavender-water, which, 

 let us hope, may not be very inferior to that produced by the mother country. 



New Invention. 



Celluloid Auto-Labals.— These labels are small strips of celluloid, with 

 one end treated and curled so as to form a spring-like clip, and thus enable the 

 label to be affixed to stem or stake without tying. The patentees claim for their 

 invention that it requires no tying ; is always white and clean ; uninjured by heat, 

 damp, or time ; clip expands with growth of stalk ; and it can be fixed in a second 

 with one hand. No preparation is needed, a soft black leadpencil only being 

 required for writing- The label, when fixed, stands out horizontally from the 

 stalk. We are in doubt as to how the action of water would affect the writing, and 

 fear the legibility would not long remain if the label were used out of doors, as 

 writing both by pen and pencil appears to be readily washed off ; then also 

 while the clip end will expand it cannot readily be contracted to fit a more 

 slender stem. The labels are to be obtained from Allport's Patents, 108, Queen 

 Victoria Street, E.C. 



ghest 



Buc there is a simplicity, almost as grateful 



as 



