242 



THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



[August, 



" why should we treat a forest like an orchard ?" these growing stumps will fight with those of the 

 that is, set the trees about fifteen or twenty feet trees we leave stand for a share of that food which 

 apart ? Can we not set them thicker, and thin them should all go to the standing timber if we would 

 out, and will not the successive thinnings be worth have the best results. 



much more than the cost of cutting them ? We Aside from all these objections is the one element 

 think not, and that it is right there that the ex- of time. If we can get 200 trees in 25 years as 

 perience of European scientific forestry has failed. | large by the " orchard " process, as in 50 years by 

 It has been shown by the figures that they do not the thick planting and thinning process, the differ- 

 pay the expense of cutting, and it is precisely be- 1 ence will very soon eat up all the profit we can 

 cause the figures show this, that we recommend make on "thinning." 



crops that will pay better. And if the Old World 1 To our mind we are about entering on an era of 

 shows this, we in America have the more reason to profitable timber culture, but it will not be by 

 abandon the " thinning " notion, because of forest | selecting ground unfit for culture ; by imitating the 

 fires. ! struggling and starving incident to "nature's way" 



We cannot get rid of the waste "brush" under I of raising a forest, or by following the "science" of 

 the thinning system. It remains to feed the forest the "Schools of Forestry " of the Old World. We 

 fire ; nor can we get rid of the stumps which will ^ shall have to start out entirely afresh, with knowl- 

 continue to sprout and grow, and the roots from i edge gained from our own American experience. 



Natural History and Science. 



COMMUNICATIONS. 



FRAGRANCE. 



BY A. W. HARRISON. 



(Concluded from page 214.) 



The great bulk of Essential Oils produced con- 

 sists of Lavender, Rosemary, Thyme, Sage, Spike 

 Lavender and Sweet Marjoram. The most valu- 

 able products, of any amount, are the Essential 

 Oils of Neroli and Petit Grain. The Neroli is the 

 result of the distillation of Orange Flower water 

 from the flower petals of the Bigarade, or Bitter 

 Orange Tree ; the sweet or Sicily Orange yields an 

 inferior oil. Petit Grain is distilled from the green 

 leaf of the tree. 



The price of Neroli varies with the season, from 

 $30 to $45 the pound, and Petit Grain from S8 to 

 $12. These two oils are extensively used in the 

 composition of the highest quality of Cologne 

 water, together with the oils of the skin of the 

 Orange, Lemon and Bergamot, and those of 

 Lavender, Rosemary and Thyme, which should be 

 so proportioned and combined that no one odor 

 shall dominate. 



[Here the lecturer illustrated his meaning by the 

 exhibition of a sample of "Golden Cologne Water," 



composed of fifteen ingredients in widely different 

 proportions so harmoniously combined that no one 

 odor was distinctly perceptible, but the resulting 

 fragrance was pure, rich and delightful to the 

 smell.] 



The Orange Flower water is consumed in im- 

 mense quantities in France to flavor the " eau 

 sucree," or sugared water, so universally drunk in 

 the summer season; this, by the way, is the only 

 form in which the Frenchman drinks water at all. 



I The Bigarade Orange tree also yields a rough- 

 skinned, bitter, inedible fruit, from the rind of 

 which is expressed an inferior oil called " Essence 

 Bigarade," often used to adulterate the finer oils. 

 The tree requires ten years to mature, and twenty 

 to attain perfection, and yields an average of 

 seventeen pounds of flowers per annum. 



Rose water is also distilled in great quantity. A 

 result of its distillation is a very minute proportion 

 of Otto of Roses, of the very highest quality ; it 

 appears in small greasy-looking drops, floating on 

 the surface of the distilled water, which are care- 

 fully skimmed off and filtered. It is stated that in 

 India 50,000 Roses are required to obtain one 



I ounce of the Otto. That produced in Grasse is 

 superior to the famous Kissanlik, or Turkish Otto, 



I used in this country, and, like it, congeals at 



