December 3, 1891. J 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
467 
I SHOULD like to give a few hints on the formation of 
plantations, as I have had considerable experience in this work. 
Where the situation and soil are of a suitable character many land- 
owners might do worse than turn some of their—at present— 
unprofitable land to account by growing Lavender. I am positive 
that a fair return may be realised by so doing. Where Lavender 
is cultivated with a view to distilling the flowers for the oil, the 
wet month of August was very detrimental to a good yield ; the 
best weather is that which is hot and dry. Sold in a green state 
Lavender will pay £5 per acre for the first year’s cutting, and 
often more can be realised. The fourth year’s harvest sometimes 
realises £40 per acre, which cannot be considered a bad investment, 
and this sold in a green state, which dispenses with the trouble and 
cost of distilling. 
Although Lavender plantations in some districts suffered to a 
great extent by the long and severe winter of last season, strange 
to say in a plantation established the year previous we did not lose 
a single plant. They look remarkably well, and yielded a good 
crop of flowers this season. No doubt the position favoured these 
plants somewhat. The ground slopes gently to the south, and is 
sheltered on the eastern side as well as the north. Although the 
land is retentive and heavy, it cannot be termed a wet soil ; there 
are too many flint stones among the soil to admit of the water 
remaining long in it. The chalk lies fully 2 feet below the 
surface, and I think Lavender is as certain to succeed there as 
it is possible to do anywhere. 
Some say that the soil must be poor to grow good Lavender. 
I do not think it is wise to have the soil rich at planting time, 
especially if cuttings are used instead of plants ; but, like most 
other crops, a fairly luxuriant growth gives the best crop of spikes, 
and from these a better yield of oil is obtained than from small 
puny flowers, the result of poor, half-starved land. Soil of the 
character named, and which overlays chalk, is sure to be highly 
impregnated with this composition, rendering it quite of a calca¬ 
reous nature, and the same plants will continue to bear freely much 
longer than where the subsoil is clay, and likely to be wet during 
the winter. Shelter from the east is most essential; the tender 
growth of the young shoots often receive a check in the spring by 
the prevalence of biting winds from that quarter. 
In growing Lavender for profit the best variety must be 
secured. This is undoubtedly the English variety spica, or what 
is commonly known as the “ Mitcham ” kind, distinguishable 
from the French variety by its upright growth, larger flowers, 
which are deeper also in colour, as well as more numerously pro¬ 
duced. The French kind is more spreading in its habit of 
growth, the leaves are larger, much more grey or “mealy ” in 
appearance, fewer spikes are produced, these being considerably 
smaller in the flower heads, and less rich in oil producing, which 
is an absolute essential point to study in a commercial point of 
view. Intending planters ought to pay considerable attention to 
this phase of the undertaking, it being utterly useless to risk the 
planting of the inferior kind. 
Propagation requires some consideration. Cuttings, or what is 
perhaps more correct, slips, are usually employed to increase the 
stock. I have tried both methods—cuttings and slips. Much the 
greater success is obtained by the latter. Pieces with three or four 
No. 597.— Vol. XXIII., Third Series. 
growths attached are the best; these slipped off the plants by a 
sharp downward tug contain a small portion of old wood attached 
to the base, commonly called a heel. From this part roots are first- 
formed. Some pull old plants in pieces, and with pruning shears 
or a small bill-hook sever the cuttings about 3 inches below the 
growth shoots from the main stems squarely across. In this case 
roots are first made from the sides of the cutting, not direct from 
the base, as in the case of the slips. The shoots formed at the top 
of the cuttings or slips are cut squarely across, which lays the 
foundation for a future bush growth. Opinions differ as to the 
best time for inserting the cuttings. I have tried the early part of 
October and also February ; the greatest success has been obtained 
during the first named time, especially if the position is a sheltered 
one. The advantage of autumn propagation is, I think, considerable 
over spring, as so much more time is allowed for the plants to grow 
the first year, the sooner they make big bushe3 the better for their 
future success in producing a crop of flowers. Many of the Sutton 
and Mitcham growers of Lavender hold to February propagation, 
but I have noticed very long gaps in the rows the following 
summer, and have come to the conclusion that autumn inserted 
cuttings have an advantage. 
The next question is, How shall the cuttings be inserted? The 
general practice is to dibble them in rows 1 foot apart, and the 
same distance from each other. The following October the plants are 
thinned, removing every other ; the next year they will stand 
3 feet apart, which is the usual distance for established plants. 
Where land is not of very great consequence and horse labour 
available the cuttings may be dibbled in rows 3 feet apart, the 
plants half that distance, the surplus cuttings required would be 
available for filling up any gaps which might occur in the rows. 
This plan saves the trouble of replanting from the beds into the 
permanent place, and does not entail any check upon the growth 
of the plants occasioned by removal. With the aid of a horse hoe 
a few acres of land is quickly cleaned, given suitable weather. 
Where land is scarce, and labour for cleaning it also, I consider 
the best plan is to insert the cuttings in rows 1 foot apart, allowing 
but 4 inches between the cuttings, putting out the plants per¬ 
manently at the end of September if the weather be showery. By 
this method less ground has to be kept clean and the risk in the 
permanent plantation is reduced to a minimum. The great point 
in getting the cuttings to strike and root freely is to make them 
thoroughly firm at the base, going over them a few times after 
severe frost, which raises them out of the ground somewhat, which 
is all against their making roots. 
Directly 2 inches of new growth is made the point of each 
shoot should be pinched out with a view to induce side shoots to 
form, making a more compact and larger bush. If the shoots are 
topped twice the first year there will be a wonderful difference in 
plants so treated as compared with those which are not topped. 
In preparing the ground for the plants it ought to be well 
worked, ploughing it 6 inches deep if possible, following with a 
subsoil plough in every trench, afterwards crossing the top spit to 
break up the clods. The better the land is worked and pulverised 
the greater will be the success the first and subsequent years. In 
the case of impoverished soil a dressing of farmyard manure 
should be ploughed in previous to putting out the plants from the 
cutting bed, but where they are dibbled direct into the land at the 
full distance I consider manuring the whole space is partly lost. In 
this latter case I prefer a dressing of dissolved bones or blood 
manure sprinkled about the plants early in April during showery 
weather, forking it in afterwards, repeating the application each 
succeeding spring. The ground should be kept well stirred about 
the plants, and free from weeds at all times ; nothing effectually 
answers so well as a combined drag and horse hoe. While in the 
cutting bed the plants are not allowed to flower, but induced to 
make growth freely. 
In some districts—wet ones—it is a good plan to slightly earth 
No. 2253.— Vol. LXXXV., Old Series. 
