602  Medicinal  Plants  at  Hit  chin.        { A%Je^87h7arm' 
tendency  to  produce  flower  and  foliage  has  been  stimulated  to  a  greater 
degree  and  caused  a  greater  demand  upon  the  root  than  it  is  able  to 
meet.  The  vitality  of  the  plant  has  probably  been  lowered  by  years 
of  reproduction  from  the  stem  instead  of  in  the  way  that  nature  has 
appointed,  viz.,  by  the  seeds.  The  method  of  propagating  at  present 
adopted  is  certainly  tfne  that  is  very  likely  to  continue  the  disease,  since 
it  may  be  latent  in  the  divided  root  of  apparently  healthy  plants.  That 
the  disease  is  not  likely  to  be  owing  to  difference  in  soil  is  shown  by 
the  fact  that  fresh  soil  or  otherwise,  manure  or  no  manure,  make  no 
difference  in  its  appearance. 
The  method  of  cultivation  is  as  follows  : 
The  harvest  of  lavender  flowers  is  rarely  over  until  the  middle  of 
September,  so  that  it  is  not  possible  to  get  the  ground  cleared  and  ready 
for  the  fresh  plants  before  the  end  of  October  or  beginning  of  Novem- 
ber. The  ground  which  is  to  be  planted  is  generally  manured  before- 
hand with  thirty  to  forty-five  tons  of  stable  manure  per  acre,  but 
manure  is  not  applied  afterwards  until  a  fresh  planting  takes  place.  The 
roots  of  the  old  plants  are  parted  sometimes  from  two,  but  preferably 
from  one  year  old  plants,  and  the  sets  dibbled  in  rows  about  eighteen 
inches  apart.  The  young  plants  make  a  start  in  growth  in  March,  if 
the  weather  be  mild  with  gentle  showers,  and  increase  considerably  in 
size  in  April  and  May,  so  that  the  tufts  become  on  an  average  about  a 
foot  in  diameter.  If,  however,  there  occur  heavy  rains  so  that  the 
leaves  are  much  splashed  with  soil,  the  growth  is  somewhat  stopped. 
In  hollows,  or  where  the  damp  is  liable  to  remain,  the  young  flowering 
stems,  if  there  be  frost  in  May,  are  frequently  nipped,  and  the  plant 
either  dies  or  does  not  send  up  fresh  flower-stalks  until  the  end  of  June, 
making  the  harvest  a  late  one.  Black  frosts  do  not,  however,  injure 
the  plants. 
The  sets,  if  made  by  parting  the  roots,  flower  the  first  year  ;  if, 
however,  slips  from  the  branches  are  taken,  they  are  not  allowed  to 
flower  the  first  year  lest  the  young  plants  should  be  weakened  thereby, 
but  the  flower  shoots  are  clipped  down  close  to  the  stem. 
In  the  second  year  every  alternate  plant  is  removed  in  the  autumn 
and  planted  elsewhere,  leaving  the  others  one  yard  apart.  The  second 
year  the  plants  attain  a  diameter  of  about  15-18  inches,  and  in  the 
third  year  the  tufts  are  from  2  to  2J  feet  across. 
Shade  has  a  pernicious  effect  upon  the  plant  ;  under  the  shadow  of 
