SWEET lavender; 



259 



account of the Excise laws. The Lavender generally carries blue 

 flowers, though there is a white variety, and this was known many 

 years ago,' for in 1649, when the " Survey of Wymbledon Manor " 

 was made, " there were in the Kitchen Gardens very great and large 

 borders of Eosemary, Eue, and White Lavender." 



Twenty-four species are described, of which only two are of general 

 interest, namely, the common lavender (Lavandula vera), of which 

 we have been treating, and Lavandula Spica. Both are natives of the 

 sterile hills of the South of Europe and Barbary. The former yields 

 the fragrant oil, the latter the^ " Oil of Spica," which is employed by 

 painters on porcelain and^ in the preparation of varnishes for artists. 

 It'piay be interesting to know that the County of Essex has grown a 

 yp^st^ amount of Lavender within recent years. The late Mr. Orst, 

 of Kelvedon,' was a keen specialist in this direction, and his fields 

 were, I think, ' unique. He grew Lavender largely for the London 

 markets besides selling large quantities of it to' passers-by on the high- 

 way ; his' fields were situated in the parish of Feering, and were to me 

 a 'never- failing source of attraction and delight. The little bushy, 

 grey-green plants in winter waiting for the call of spring, and oh! 

 the jpy of the harvest. The main road passed/the fields, and at the 

 gate was stationed a lad, a table covered with bunches of fresh-cut 

 Lavender for sale, and a chair placed for the boy at. the receipt of 

 custom. The fields in the background were in full bloom, and memory 

 revels in recalling both the sight and the perfume. Large quantities 

 of Lavender were put on the Great Eastern Eailway at Kelvedon, the 

 Lavender train bearing it away to the great city, shedding its burden 

 of sweetness on the summier air. It seems a pity that Lavender is not 

 more largely cultivated in Essex and Suffolk. 



Soil. — A light sandy soil is best, and, where so planted, the quality 

 is far superior to that grown on rich soil. Plants in light sandy soil 

 give a far greater strength of perfume, and bear the cold winters better 

 than in rich garden soil. The plants are grown from cuttings, or 

 slips, and sometimes from seed. The first year yields a good crop, 

 the second the finest, and the third year the plants must be taken up 

 and replaced. 



The Various Uses of lavender. — The late Duke of Wellington used 

 (so the legend runs) to revel in a bottle of Lavender-water. in his bath; 

 and who would grudge the brave soldier-statesman this delicious 

 luxury ? Do we not all like it in homoeopathic doses in our hand-basins 

 on a hot day in summer ? Parkinson gives us the following : That in 

 his time the " heads of the flowers were much vsed to bee put among 

 linen and apparell " — a custom handed down from mother to daughter 

 in Enghsh homes for many a century after. This was in 1633, when 

 Charles I. was king. Our great-grandmothers delighted in putting 

 sprigs of Lavender among their napery and fine linen, and in many 

 houses the custom continues to the present time. Lavender has been 

 used considerably the last three or four years in table decorations — 

 a new use for it, and the effect was very good when the colours 



