Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1894-02-16
FIELDS.
VISIT no THE FAMOUS
HITCHlN MEADOWS.
The Air From Afar is Laden With.
an Overpowering Fragrance
Gathering the Layen-
der for Market.

we leave the HItchln station
and begin our walk to the
lavender fields for which this country
town is famous. Long before we reach
them we scent tho exquisite perfume
of the flowers, heavy upon the still hot
air. And what u picture when ut last
we reach the fields, and, turning off
the sandy road, como suddenly upon
them-a sight once seen, never for,
gotten.
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 mo.
ment behind tho cloud. The scent,
delicious from afnr, is almost over.
powerIng, and for once in our lives we
think it almost disagreenble. While
we stand looking, the color deepens,
and, softened by the sky and sun, the
trees look their brightest green in con-
trast to the mass of purple, the sandy
road stretching away IN tho 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 and
wherefore oil tnelf Work.
Lavender stalks are, rs We all know,
very stiff and hard to break; to cut
them, therefore, the men have small
sicl1les; i'll the right hand these are
held, while with the left the st lls are
bent for tho cutting, and with n strong
stroke of the sickle severed from the
plant and thrown upon the ground.
Meanwhile other men gather the cut
lavender into huge bundles and put it
in sncks, which are carried away to the
dictillcries and different places, from
which it issues rs lavender water, lay.
ender soap and many other dclicncies.
1t is also sent into our towns and sold
there in the streets Mt three pence and
six pence for quite small punches. At
Hitchin as much rs one can carry may
DO bought for half crown.
We hear 50 much of old lavender
bushes i'll country gardens, priced for
their antiquity by the owners, thot-L
learned with surprise that HAT, for market
purposes, plants are considered useless
after the third year. The first year
sees them small and bearing little, il
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 nre
taken for replanting, and the old
plants taken up rs useless. Ono lives
nd learnsl
Lavender should be thoroughly dried
before it is put into bags, such us our
great grandmothers loved to stow
among the linen. And if the scent ia
to DO preserved for any length of timo
it should, after drying, be put in n
box and left until the flowers shake of
crisp and dry, leaving the stalks sep
arate. Then, if put in bags, or made
into the many delicntc little fancy mr.
ticlcs, it will keep it's sweetness for
many long day. Fans, sacks and
diminutivc torpedoes are among tho
prottiest ways of making up lavender;
for the former, either white or laven-
der colored muslin, or, better still,
chiffon, is used for the fan, and the
sticks with the Same colorcd ribbon
threaded among them for the fun
handle; for this, lavender on tho
stalks, not separate, is better, the
heads forming the fan inside the chif-
ioh' ho"Sho arc IuOEc Slulplc, Doing
merely bag tied Mt the neck with
ribbon. For what, for lack of better
name, I call torpedoes, the flower
heads are placed inside the cnse made
of stalks with ribbon threaded in and
out of them, and tho perfume passes
through it. Lavender, whether in
bags or fancy articles, requires to be
shaken pretty frequently, or the scent
will probably be faint; good shake
will bring it back sweet rs ever.
Lavender stalks, when properly
dried, are most agreeable 1 always
keep mine to burn to scent the rooms
in winter time, when there are no
flowers. They burn slowly, and if
laid upon metal tray, will shoulder
on for long time few stalks make
quite q sufficient scent for an ordinary
room. In sick rooms they are boon,
for the smell is much cleaner and
more natural than the pastiles and
other things which offend the PATIENTS
nose, and only clear the atmosphere
for a comparatively short time
London Queen.