d September , I8‘9- J 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
193 
TRAVELLERS in the metropolis are familiar with the itinerant 
U vendors’ somewhat plaintive cry, “ Sixteen good branches a 
penny, sweetly blooming Lavender !” and are accustomed to 
'regard it as one of the signs of a waning summer, but few probably 
■give a thought to the extent of the supply needed to meet the 
■demand for the cut flowers or their product in the form of Lavender 
water. Yet the culture of this plant forms an important branch 
of horticultural industry, and one that might be considerably 
■extended with advantage both to the owners and occupiers of land. 
As a garden plant all know how accommodating it is. The dryest 
•situation and the poorest soil are assigned to it, yet it annually and 
for years produces a plentiful crop of its soft tinted fragrant 
flowers, which are valued not a little in many a cottage home. 
But there is another phase in its culture of a more important 
•character—namely, the production of flowers in quantity for the 
market and the distillery. This gives employment to numbers of 
people, and some of the land so occupied is in favourable seasons, 
and on the average, much more profitable than that devoted to 
what may be termed standard crops. 
There are some great advantages in favour of Lavender 
•culture, though, of course, there are also some attendant draw¬ 
backs. The great point in its favour, however, is that what is 
•ordinarily termed poor land, scarcely fitted for maintaining any 
other form of vegetation than a scanty crop of grass, suits Lavender 
admirably, indeed much better than soils of a rich character. 
The importance of this cannot be overrated, for there are thousands 
of acres in the southern counties of England, especially in the 
•chalk districts, that might be profitably utilised in the culture of 
the plant. It is usually grown in low-lying situations and soils 
that encourage too rapid growth, as though the plant is benefited 
by a fairly fertile soil excessive vigour is unquestionably injurious 
finally. 
One of the chief defects or disadvantages to be contended with 
Is that where Lavender is cultivated mainly for distillation its 
success is largely dependent upon the character of the season, 
more especially upon the two summer months of June and July 
preceding the period of cutting. In sunless wet summers the yield of 
oil is greatly reduced, and this is a matter which no skill on the 
part of the cultivator can overcome. On the other hand, many find 
that the best results are obtained in pecuniary returns by selling the 
flower spikes in the market or to private purchasers for drying, as 
the prices are less influenced by the season except so far as the 
supply is affected. 
Another difficulty is that the plant has an unpleasant habit of 
dying in pieces, and a field of apparently healthy plants may be 
reduced to half its former value in the next year. Frost in severe 
winters has something to do with this, and some of the evil results 
have also been ascribed to the action of a fungus; but beyond all, 
failure in this respect is undoubtedly due to want of care in main¬ 
taining a succession of young stock, and to planting in too rich a 
■soil. Mr. E. M. Holmes, Curator of the Pharmaceutical Society’s 
Museum, has stated in a contribution to the “ Encyclopaedia Bri- 
tannica,” that in 18G0 much devastation was caused to the Lavender 
crop by a severe frost, and since that time the plants have been 
subject to the attacks of a fungus, which has proved so destructive 
that the growers in some districts have been compelled to discon- 
No. 480.— Vol. XIX., Third Series. 
tinue its culture. Market Deeping, in Lincolnshire, which wa3 at 
one time noted for its Lavender production, is given as an instance 
of the enforced discontinuance owing to the fungoid troubles. 
Where, however, the acreage has been reduced in southern counties 
it seems to be mainly traceable to other causes. 
For example—Mitcham, in Surrey, has been for at least a hundred 
years celebrated for its Lavender, and in all the works of reference 
containing any particulars on this subject, including the most 
recent, it is said that the plant is there “ cultivated extensively.” 
At one time this was correct, but there has been a considerable 
change in recent years, for now only a few small plots can be found 
in Mitcham itself, though the cultivation has been extended greatly 
in neighbouring districts. The few small patches now seen are of 
a very unpromising character, the plants seem to be too old, many 
are in a half-dying state, and they do not receive even the small 
amount of attention they require in keeping them clear of weeds. 
It often happens that plants which need the least attention are the 
most neglected, and this is certainly the case with Lavender in several 
places. Last autumn a tract of land in a neighbouring district 
of Surrey, sloping in a northerly direction down to a small stream, 
was planted with Lavender, and, as might have been expected in so 
cold and damp a situation, the greater portion was lost during the 
winter, and the remainder was in such bad condition that it had to 
be pulled up or ploughed in to make room for other crops. Another 
field more favourably situated was planted about the same time, 
and the plants made good progress, but during the present summer 
the ground has been allowed to become infested with weeds to 
such an extent that the Lavender is nearly smothered, and quite a 
season will be lost in its culture. 
At one time it was estimated that in Mitcham and the neigh¬ 
bourhood 300 acres of land were devoted to Lavender. I have not 
been able to ascertain the exact space now occupied, but the falling 
off at Mitcham is amply compensated by the extended cultivation 
in Cars’nalton, Beddington, and Cheam. In Kent also it has 
received some attention in recent years, while near Cambridge and 
Hitchin it has been grown for a long period. At the last named 
place in particular it is said to have been grown for at least 
300 years, though it only became of commercial importance in that 
district during the present century. The total acreage under 
Lavender has probably increased notwithstanding the fungus 
attacks, frosts, and adverse ciimatal influences generally. 
The method of cultivation adopted by the more successful 
growers may be briefly summarised as follows, premising that the 
systems differ slightly in some districts, that here described being 
the Surrey practice. It may be observed that the species grown 
both for flower and perfume is Lavandula vera, a native of widely 
separated districts in Southern Europe and Northern Africa, mostly 
in stony land and warm situations on the slopes of mountains up 
to an elevation of 3 to 5000 feet. It is, however, cultivated in 
Europe in much more northern latitudes, and is reported to thrive 
even in Norway. Other species of Lavandula are grown for the 
sake of their oil, but their perfume is mostly of a ranker and less 
agreeable character, and in the case of the oil of Spike mentioned 
in many old works its use is chiefly in preparing pigments for 
painting on porcelain. L. Spica has long been regarded as a 
distinct species, but some authorities now consider it as synonymous 
with L. vera. 
Lavender can be readily increased by cuttings, but the market 
garden system consists in dividing the roots of the plants, thus 
obtaining good sized slips at once with roots attached. These are 
planted either in autumn or spring, but preferably at the latter 
time, in rows 18 inches apart and the same distance between the 
plants, all the preparation needed being digging or ploughing 
the soil ; but it is not necessary that it be much loosened, as the 
firmer it is the better it suits the plants, provided there is a free 
drainage for the surface water. The second year after planting 
every alternate row and each alternate plant in the remaining rows 
No. 2136 .—Vol. LXXXI., Old Series. 
