Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1894-05-04
LAVENDER FIELDS.
VISIT TO THE FAMOUS
HITCHIN MEADOWS.
The Air From Affair." is laden With
an Overpowcring Fragrance
Gathering the Laven-
der for Market.
HHE sun shines brightly, and
the sky is cloudless blue as
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 tho exquisite perfume
of the flowers, heavy upon the still hot
mir. And what q picture when ut last
We reach the fields, and, turning of
the sandy road, come 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 the cloud. Tho scent,
delicious from afar, is almost over
towering, and for once i'll our lives we
think it almost disagrceable. While
we stand looking, the color deepens,
and, softoned by tho sky and sun, tho
trees look their brightest green i'll con-
trast to the mass of purple, the sandy
road stretching away IN the distance
is perfect i'll its harmony with the trees
md fields. The men are busy cutting,
packing, and cartng, and soon we
watch them and learn the why and
wherefore of their work.
Lavender stalks are, as We all know,
very stiff and hard to break; to cut
them, therefore, tho men have small
sicklcs; in the right hand these are
held, while with tho left the st 'llls are
bent for tho cutting, and with strong
stroke of the sickle severed from the
plant and thrown upon tho ground.
Meanwhile other men gather the cut
lavender into huge bundles and put it
in sacks, which are carted away to the
di"tilleries and different places, from
which it issues rs lavender water, Law.
onder soap and many other delicacies.
1t is also sent into our towns and sold
there in the streets ut three pence and
six pence for quite small punches. At
Hitchin rs much MS one can carry may
be bought for half crown.
We hear SO much of old lavender
bushes in country gardens, priced 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 snail and bearing little, il
apy/fiowcr; the second they are i'll
their prime, and should be mass OF
blossom, and the third year they begin
to go of, and cuttings from them nre
taken for replanting, and tho old
plants taken up as useless. One lives
nd lcarns
. Lavender should be thoroughlydried
before it is put into bags, such us our
-grandmothers loved to stow
among the linen. And if the scent is
to DO preserved for any length of timo
it should, after drying, be put i'll n
box and left until the flowers shake oil
crlsp and dry, leaving the stalks sep
nratc Then, if put in bags, or made
into tho many delicate little fancy mr.
ticles, it will keep its sweetness for
many long day. Fans, sacks and
dlminutivo torpedoes are among tho
prettiest ways OF making up lavender;
for the former, either white or laven-
der colored muslin, or, better still,
chiffon, is used for the fun, and the
sticks with the same colored ribbon
threaded among them for the fan
handle; for this, lavender on tho
stalks, not separate, is better, tho
heads forming the fnn inside the cliff
ion. Sacks are more simple, being
merely bag tied Mt the neck with
ribbon. For what, for lack of IL better
name, call torpodoes, the flower
heads arc placed inside the case nude
of stalks with ribbon threaded in and
out of them, and the perfume passes
through it. Lavender, whether in
bags or fnncy articles, requires to be
shaken pretty frequently, or the scent
will probably be faint; good shake
will bring it back sweet MS 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 metal trny, will shoulder
OH for long time; few stalks mako
quite sufficient scent for an ordinary
room. In sick rooms they are boon.
for tho smell is much cleaner and
more natural than the pastiles and
other things which offend the patients
nose, and only clear the atmosphere
for comparatively short time. -
London Queen