512  The  Lavender  Country.  [k\{Ti 
Am.  Jour.  Phaem. 
1872. 
that  the  oil  is  being  extracted  by  the  process  going  on.  Above  the 
furnaces  are  the  stills,  of  dimensions  sufficient  either  to  contain  half 
a  ton  or  a  ton  weight  of  herb,  and  the  building  is  spacious  enough  to 
admit  of  carts  being  driven  in  for  the  purpose  of  unloading.  The 
-still  is  filled  thrice  in  four-and-twenty  hours,  namely,  eight  hours  to  a 
.run.  The  men  get  upon  the  upper  floor,  remove  the  still-head  by  a 
lever,  then  take  the  lavender  from  the  mats  and  tread  the  stalks  down 
with  their  feet  until  the  copper  is  tightly  filled  to  the  brim.  Liquor 
at  boiling  heat  is  then  taken  from  the  top  surface  of  the  worm-tub, 
although  at  the  bottom  and  lower  surface  the  water  is  quite  cold,  and 
the  furnaces  are  set  to  work.  The  worm  consists  of  piping  at- 
tached to^the  head  of  the  still,  and  passes  round  and  round  the  tub 
which  contains  the  cold  water.  The  men  watch  the  bringing  over  of 
the  still — that  is,  the  moment  when  the  liquor  begins  to  flow  over  the 
head  into  the  worm.  Directly  it  does  so,  they  know  that  the  oil  is 
running,  and  immediately  damp  down  the  furnaces.  The  boiling 
liquor  from  the  herbs,  by  passing  through  the  tubing  immersed  in 
cold  water,  becomes  condensed,  and  the  oil  separates  from  the  water 
and  runs  into  the  percolator  at  the  foot  of  the  worm-tub.  This  bring- 
ing over  is  the  most  critical  point  in  the  whole  operation ;  then  great 
attention  and  experience  are  needed,  otherwise  the  herbs,  both  stalk 
and  flower,  might  be  taken  into  the  worm,  and  the  oil  be  spoiled.  So 
well  practiced,  however,  are  the  men  employed  that  what  is  called  a 
"run  foul"  is  scarcely  known  during  the  whole  of  the  distilling  sea- 
son. From  thence  it  is  taken  and  placed  in  dark  glass  bottles  with 
short  necks,  containing  4  lbs.  to  7  lbs.  each,  ready  for  merchandizing. 
When  one  lot  has  been  distilled  the  still  top  is  removed  by  the  lever, 
and  the  charge  taken  out  with  long  forks.  The  steam  and  vapor  that 
^trise  are  very  great — for  the  uninitiated  quite  overpowering ;  and 
what  is  termed  the  "  walk"  being  very  heavy,  the  men  themselves 
liave  to  labor  hard  to  get  out  the  refuse,  which  is  thrown  just  at  the 
back  of  the  building  for  manure.  The  coppers  are  filled  up  again 
with  herbs,  fresh  water  is  pumped  into  the  worm-tub  to  supply  what 
has  been  taken  off  the  surface  for  the  still,  and  to  replace  what  has 
passed  off  in  the  evaporation  that  has  been  always  going  on,  and  the 
process  again  proceeds.  The  quantity  of  oil  extracted  from  a  ton  of 
lavender  varies  according  to  the  influence  of  the  season  ;  from  15  lbs. 
to  16  lbs.  is  considered  a  fair  average,  very  seldom  it  reaches  21  lbs., 
sometimes  not  more  than  10  lbs.    The  distilling  lasts  about  two 
