VAGARIES OF THE MUSK.

Hutt News, Volume 1, Issue 20, 12 January 1928, Page 8

VAGARIES OF THE MUSK.

One of the perplexities of the plant world to-day is what has become of the fragrance of the musk. Only a few years ago this little plant, famous for its delicious perfume, was to be seen in cottage windows throughout the lengthl and breadth of the land. At the present time few people trouble to grow musk, because its fragrance—which was three-quarters of its charm—has completely disappeared. A wide search carried out last year by a well-known horticulturist did not discover a single specimen of the musk that still possessed the odour which one has always associated with the plant. Advertisements inserted in garden journals failed to bring any news of musk which had retained its fragrance. There seems to be no reason or explanation for such a remarkable change on the part of this plant, which now seems likely to go out of cultivation altogether. Curiously, the last fragrant musk plants seem to have existed on the east coast of England. The plant always grew particularly well in the bracing breezes which come from the North Sea. For long it was claimed that the most highly fragrant musk in the land was that to be found in the seaside resorts of the Norfolk and Suffolk coast. A single specimen would be worth a considerable sum to a dealer in plants. Even a few cuttings, or one or two seed capsules, would be of

value, for the musk is easily propagated, and it is likely that the new subjects raised would be the old-fash-ioned fragrant type.—"Adelaide Observer."