The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1893-11-08
THE HITCHIN LAVENDER FIELDS.
A Visit to These Famous Meadow
and What Was Seen There.

The sun shines brightly and the sky
is a cloudless blue, we leave the
Hitchin station and begin our walk to
the lavender fields for which this country
town is famous. Long before we reach
them we scent the exquisite perfume CT
the flowers, heavy upon the still hot air.
And what a picture when at last we
reach the fields, and. turning of the
sandy road. come suddenly upon them
a sight once, seen, never forgotten.
Under the bright sunlight they lie,
field after field, one blazing mass OF
lavender kissed into deepest violet, now
gray as the sun hides for moment De-
hind a cloud. The scent, delicious from
afar, is almost Overpowerlng, ana Ior
once in our lives we think 1t almost dis
agreeable. While we stand looking the
color deepens, and, softened by the sky
and sun, the trees look their brightest
green in contrast to the mass OF purple.
The sandy road stretching away IN the
distance is perfect in its harmony with
the trees and fields. The men are busy
cutting. packing and carting. and soon
we watch them and learn the why ana
wherefore of their work.
Lavender stalks are, as we all know,
very stiff and hard to break to cut
them. therefore, the men have smal'
sickles: in the right hand these are held,
while with the left the stalks are bent
for the cutting, and with strong stroke
of the sickle severed from the plant ana
thrown upon the ground. Meanwhile,
other men gather the cut lavender into
huge bundles and put it in sacks, which
are carted away to the cisullerles ana
different places, from which it issues as
lavender water, lavender soap and many
other delicacies. 1t is also sent into our
towns and sold there in the streets at
3 pence and pence for quite small
punches. At Hitchin as much as any
one man can carry may be bought Tor
half a crown.
We hear so much of old lavender
bushes in country gardens. prided for
their antiquity by the owners that
learned with surprise that for market
purposes plants are considered useless
after the third year. The first year sees
them small and bearing little, If any,
flower: the second they are in their prime
and should be a mass of blossom, and
the third year they begin to go off, and
cuttings from them are taken for re-
planting, and the old plants taken up as
useless One lives and learnsi
Lavender should be thoroughly dried
before il is put into bags, such as our
Observation-Disclosures loved to stow among
the linen And if the scent is to be
preserved for any length of time, it
should after drying, be put in box and
left until the flowers shake off crisp and
dry, leaving the stalks separate. Then
if put i'm bags or made into the many
it's sweetness for many long day.
Fans. sacks and diminutive torpedoes
are among the prettiest ways of making
I'm lavender; for the former either white
or lavender colored muslin, or, better
still chiffon, is used for the fan and the
sticks with the same colored ribbon
threaded among them for the fan handle;
for this lavender on the stalks, not sep
arate. is better, the heads forming the
fan inside the chiffon. Sacks are more
simple, being merely a bag tied at the
back with ribbon. For what, for lack
of a better name, 1 call torpedoes, the
flower heads are placed inside of the
case made of stalks with ribbon thread
ed in and out of them, and the perfume
passes through it. Lavender, whether
i'm bags or fancy articles. requires to be
shaken pretty frequently or the scent
will probably be faint; good shake
will bring ii back sweet as ever.
Lavender stalks, when properly dried
are most agreeable. / always keep mine
to burn to scent the rooms in winter
time, when there are no flowers. They
burn slowly, and if laid upon a metal
tray will smolder on for a long time;
few stalks make quite a sufficient scent
for an ordinary room. In sick rooms
they are a boon. for the smell is much
cleaner and more natural than the pas
tiles and other things which offend the
patients nose, and only clear the atmos-
phere for a comparatively short time
London Queen.