September 21 , 1S9L ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
271 
fine clean well developed blooms. W. Marshall, Esq., Bickley, was 
awarded a cultural commendation for a fine specimen of Nerine flexuosa 
with about twenty scapes of flowers. 
Two important groups were submitted by Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons 
to the Floral Committee, one of these comprising a series of varieties of 
Elasagnus, of a highly ornamental character, the other consisting of 
Pitcher Plants, Droseras, and allied plants to illustrate the lectures on 
insectivorous plants. Mr. J. Walker, Thame, Oxon, had a large collec¬ 
tion of Improved German Quilled Asters, the blooms very neat in form 
and varied in colours (bronze Banksian medal). Messrs. W. Paul & Son 
contributed a beautiful collection of Boses for such a late period in the 
season (bronze Banksian medal), and Messrs. H. Low & Co., Clapton, 
sent a new Lilium named claptonense, with one medium-sized yellowish 
flower at the apex of the stem. From Mr. R. Owen, Maidenhead, came 
a large collection of early Chrysanthemums, including many novelties 
of much promise; and Mr. T. Godfrey, Hillingdon Nurseries, showed 
•a plant of Chrysanthemum Miss Whiteley with long narrow white 
florets. 
Orchid Committee. —Present : Dr. M. T. Masters (in the chair); 
and Messrs. H. Ballantine, H. Low, J. Douglas, E. Hill, S. Courtauld, 
T. B. Haywood, H. M. Pollett, J. O’Brien, F. Sander, and Lewis 
•Castle. 
The principal group of Orchids was that from Messrs. F. Sander and 
Co., St. Albans, for which a silver Banksian medal was awarded. This 
comprised several seedling variations of the fine hybrid Cypripediums 
Pollettianum and Maynardi, differing in the size of the flowers and the 
richness of colouring. Lmlia grandis tenebrosa is a peculiarly dark and 
handsome variety, Vanda Hookeriana and Odontoglossum vexillarium 
were also included. T. Staffer, Esq., Stand Hall, Manchester (gardener, 
Mr. Johnson), showed plants and flowers of Cattleya Loddigesi splendens, 
pretty variety with rounded brightly coloured sepals and petals, 
Vanda Kimballiana, Miltonia Moreliana atrorubens, and Cattleya inter¬ 
media alba (first-class certificate). Baron Schroder, The Dell, Egham, 
■sent flowers of the charming hybrid Cypripedium Antigone (certificated) 
with fine varieties of Cattleyas Dowiana and Hardyana. Captain Hincks, 
Thirsk, showed Masdevallia Stella, a hybrid from M. coccinea, Harryana, 
and M. Estradas, the flower pale purplish ldac, with long sepaline tails. 
•C. J. Lucas, Esq , Warnham Court (gardener, Mr. Duncan), exhibited 
flowers of Aerides Robanianum, Vanda Sanderiana, Cattleya Scho- 
fleldiana, Cattleya bicolor, and Odontoglossum Pescatorei. Messrs. 
W. L. Lewis & Co., Chaseside, Southgate, showed a fine dark Cypri- 
pedum Harrisianum and Masdevallia Gaskelliana. Messrs. Seeger and 
'Tropp, Dulwich, exhibited a plant of Grammatophyllum Seegerianum 
from the Molucca Is'es, which was thought to resemble G. multiflorum ; 
and Messrs. Pitcher & Manda, Hextable, had a small group of Orchids 
•comprising Lselia Eyermanniana, Cattleya maxima, Burlingtonia 
ifragrans, and Cypripedium Harrisianum Rougieri. 
Plants Certificated. 
Cypripedium Antigone (Baron Schroder).—See note and figure on 
jp3ges 262 and 263. 
Cattleya intermedia alba (T. Statter, Esq.).—Chiefly notable for the 
prure white of the flowers, which are of good size and form (first-class 
certificate). 
Rhododendron Ceres (J. Veitch & Sons).—A fine variety with large 
flowers, having broad round lobes of a rich clear yellow tint. A grand 
.acquisition. 
Cuphea Llavce (Pitcher & Manda).—A peculiar little plant, 9 to 10 
inches high, with elliptical acute leaves, the flowers with long green and 
reddish tubular calyxes, covered with dark hairs, small brilliant scarlet 
petals, each having a black spot at the base, and the stamens covered 
with purple hairs (botanical certificate). 
Dahlia Mrs. Ocoeh (Mr. A. Rawlings).—A distinct Fancy variety of 
-good form, the florets yellow tipped with purple. 
Dahlia Draughtsman (Mr. G. C. P. Harris).—A Show variety of 
neat form, and of a peculiar deep reddish tint. 
Dahlia Mrs. Walter Besant (Mr. T. S. Ware).—A Pompon variety, 
white tipped with deep purple. 
Dahlia Nellie Machray (Mr. T. S. Ware).—Another of the same type 
as the preceding, but of a rich orange shade. 
Dahlia To>< destone (Mr. C. Turner).—A fine Fancy Dahlia with 
bronze yellow florets tinged and streaked with red. 
Dahlia Ada Rehan (Mr. C. Turner).—One of the Show type, of 
excellent shape, the colour a soft lilac pink. 
Dahlia Lorna Doone (Mr. C. Turner).—A neat Pompon, bright 
crimson purple ; Mars , a brilliant scarlet variety of the same type ; and 
Cecil , also a Pompon, bright red tipped with white. 
Dahlia Sultana (Mr. C. Turner).—A Cactus variety of medium size, 
;and peculiar terra coita shade tipped with white. 
Rayon d'Or is another of the same group ; white edged with bright 
rel. 
Dahlia Little Sarah (Mr. Humphries).—A pretty Pompon variety ; 
yellow tipped with purple. 
Elceagnns pun gens maculatus (J. Veitch & Sons).—An ornamental 
shrub, having the leaves creamy white and yellow in the centre, edged 
with green (first-class certificate). 
Dahlia Ernest Cannell (Messrs. H. Cannell &; Sons).—A fine bright 
•red Cactus variety. Airs. Thornton , from the same, is one of that 
dype with broad florets of a soft rosy purple tint. Both are valuable j 
varieties, as also is Sir Roger , very bright and effective. 
“SWEET BLOOMING LAVENDER.” 
Most people like Lavender, “ sweet blooming Lavender,” and we 
know that old Isaac Walton loved it ; for does he not take his friend 
Venator to an honest ale-house, where was “a cleanly room and 
Lavender in the windows ?” and do we notread why that friend was 
willing to stay the night there with them, ‘for the linen looks white and 
smells of Lavender, and I long to lie in a pair of sheets that smell so ? ” 
and why Coridon, too, was pleased with the place, “for here are fresh 
sheets that smell of Lavender?” Wellido we, also, enjoy the smell of it 
when in cottage gardens we come upon its untrained bushes amongst a 
wilderness of homely flowers, all tangle i up together—such as Lark¬ 
spurs, Lupins, and Clove Carnations, Pansies, Gillies, and Cabbage 
Roses, Candytuft, and Pinks ; and even though these gardens might be 
hedged in with Sweetbriar and Honeysuckle. How our thoughts go back 
then to the long a.o ! to the Musk, red Rose leaves, and aromatic herbs 
that the old dames used to treasure—to that still-room, too, where 
they made such fragrant compounds, and to those presses where they 
placed, amongst their clothes, their tiny bags of sweet Lavender; 
a time of flower-chintz dresses, starched linen, and quaint mob-cap 3 . 
Truly has Lavender had many advocates, and it still i 9 valued for its 
charming scent. Few plants, indeed, have a more welcome scent, and 
hence we in July always look for “ the Lavender girls,” who, with their 
musical cry, come selling ; but this time they have missed their season, 
for, though there was some Lavender last month in Covent Garden— 
from Hitchin. in Hertfordshire, and from Henley-on-Thames, where 
it blossoms very early—it is only recently that it has freely been sold in 
the streets, the growth being late in Kent and Surrey, and in parts 
almost a failure. Time was when townsfolk in London went to Mitcham 
Fair—the three days’ pleasure fair upon the green—to wander by the 
church into “ the fields ” to see “ the cutting,” that fair being held in 
August; but now, about ten acres only of that sweet smelling crop are 
grown in once-famed Mitcham. Formerly, “ the Lavender country ” 
extended from Croydon to Battersea—bill, road, and “sweep” "at 
Clapbam Junction has there the term of “ Lavender ; ” but Beddington, 
Banstead, Carshalton, and Wallington grow less and less of it now each 
year, in part owing to the increased value of the land there for building 
purposes, and partly because very much of it has been so long cropped 
with it that it will not now grow it any longer. Grown on a small scale 
at Henley-on-Thames and in Kent, as also on a larger area at Hitchin— 
where, though cultivated as far back as 1568, not much trade was done 
in it until 1823—it used also to be met with at Market Deeping, in 
Lincolnshire, but it is there no longer planted. 
Mitcham oil of Lavender, “ Mitcham ” being the generic term for 
the whole of that district, has always commanded, with other oils made 
there, the very best price in the market, the Lavender from Germany 
being so far inferior. The present price for “ best Mitcham,” that is 
last year’s oil, is 54s. per lb , but in previous years it has been as high as 
126s. and as low as 29s., as it of course varies greatly according to bulk 
and quality, as was shown in the scarce year of 1879, when the price 
went from 34s. to 100s. The greatest growth of Lavender, in recent 
years, was in 1874 and 1887, the Jubilee year ; and the smallest, in those 
years when there was a hard winter or a cold summer ; and the present 
year from the latter cause, has made the crop a late and slight one. 
The best fields used to grow it for some years, without fresh planting, 
for four or five years have some good grounds grown it. but now, as 
Lavender, like Clover grounds, at times, gets “ sick,” and will no longer 
crop, a fresh planting each year is almost the rule. In planting 
Lavender, the ground selected should be dry, light soil, full to the sun, 
and open, as it will not grow in shade, and the higher it lies the better ; 
but it must not be too good nor too rich, or it will grow leaf instead of 
blossom. Cuttings are best, not roots, and they take six weeks to strike ; 
and they are grown in rows that are struck with a plough, and that are 
from lj to 3 feet apart, the ground being afterwards worked with hoe 
and spade, and the soil thrown up against them. Then, when ready for 
“bunching,” they are reaped with a sickle, in just the same way as 
Wheat, only the stems are held straight, and are cut close to the root. 
Two men are engaged in the work, as one ties while the other sickles ; 
three handfuls forming one “ bunch,” and six bunches one “ bundle,” 
which must be of the weight of quite 24 lbs., and practice will hit it 
exactly. The price for these bunches has rapidly risen from 2s. 6d. to 
8s. per dozen, and in some years it has been higher still, 10s. to 12s. for 
that quantity being asked and given. This cutting for bunching lasts a 
month, and the work in the field then stops till the second week in 
August, when that breadth of the plant which has been reserved for the 
still is cut and laid loose in mat°, which, when filled and skewered up 
and carted, are taken to the distillery. There, the Lavender is placed 
in the copper, trodden, as a man treads Hops, and damped, 120 gallons of 
water being used to a still that will ho’d 1200, so that the whole of it 
shall be kept from burning ; and with a good still, practised hands, and 
proper fires, it will begin to run in an hour. Then, when the water has 
been expressed from the bloom, the oil on the top is skimmed off, 
filtered, and bottled, the refuse water being poured into cans or jars, 
and sold on the spot at a very low rate, at even 8d. or lOd. per gallon. 
The finest samples of the oil, however, are made from blossoms only, 
and it takes 60 lbs., weight of them to yield 1 lb. of oil. There are 
usually three distillings, the top price being for the first one. 
Most persons suppose that the perfume called “ Lavender ” which is 
sold in the shops, is the “ water ” that runs from the still; but it is 
not so, as will have been inferred, as in that state it is but on a par 
with that which is made from the Rose and the Elder; in fact, the 
name Lavender “ water ” is quite a misnomer, as no water is in it, 
