66 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



described the perfumes of his day, which was about the time of the 

 Christian era. 



Until the sixteenth century we have no authentic mention of attar. 

 The story of its origin is told in the history of the Mogul empire. The 

 Sultana Nourmahal, the Light of the Harem, during a feast which she 

 gave to the Grand Mogul Jehanguir, caused a canal to be filled with 

 rose-water, where they bathed in its perfumed water, and floated about 

 over its surface. 



After some days a curious substance was observed on the surface. 

 Upon examination it proved to be the essence of the roses, which the 

 heat of the sun had caused to gather on the top of the rose-water, and 

 the delicious fragrance induced them to turn this accidental discovery 

 to account. 



Since that day roses have been cultivated in Persia, in India and 

 in Turkey for the manufacture of the essence. The garden of Gulistan 

 is five days' camel ride from end to end, and in Ghazipur and Roumelia 

 hundreds upon hundreds of acres are planted with roses. There is an 

 attar sold at a low price made in Europe. The French mode of pre- 

 paration is that merely of boiling the petals of the damask rose in 

 lard ; this takes up the perfume, which is then extracted. The attar 

 of commerce is not always extracted from the rose itself, but some- 

 times from the foliage leaves of the rose geranium. 



While in different parts of the east great quantities of roses are 

 grown for their essential oil, the province of Roumelia is perhaps the 

 most important center for the industry. On the lofty plain bounded 

 on the north by the Balkan Mountains, are planted the great rose 

 gardens, where the finest attar in the world is made. Kasanlik, the 

 center of the district, means in the Turkish tongue place of boilers. 

 The roses are planted by the farmers of this district on sloping ground 

 facing the sun, and where the soil is sandy. Laying down a rose 

 garden may be done in the spring or fall, the ground being cleared of 

 weeds. Young rose shoots are torn from the old plants, so as to carry 

 with them a part of the roots. These are laid almost horizontally in 

 trenches five feet apart. In six months or so the shoots appear, and 

 are earthed up, and in almost a year the plants stand like young hedges, 

 about a foot high. It is not till the end of the third year that the 

 blossoming is of any importance. At the end of the fifth the plants 

 are in full bearing, and they continue blooming for fifteen years longer. 

 It does not do to enrich the soil too heavily, as it injures the quality 

 of the essential oil quite as much as it improves the quantity. Hoar 

 frost, fog and dampness are very injurious; in 1870 all the roses in, 

 this district were killed. 



