I885.J 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



243 



ordinary temperature, in beautiful transparent 

 crystals. 



1 saw, at the renowned factory of Mr. Antoine 

 Chiris, who was, in all things, the leader of his 

 profession, a bottle containing about three pounds, 

 which he valued at S550, or nearly S12 the ounce. 

 It is not exported or sold, but the very small 

 quantity produced is reserved for use in unfavor- 

 able seasons, or a partial failure of the flower crop, 

 to give strength and finish to the Rose Pommades 

 and Oils. The " Rose de Mai," {Rosa centifolia 

 provincialis) or hundred-leaved Rose, is the one 

 universally grown. 



Another very costly article, of which less than an 

 ounce had been produced in Grasse at that time, is 

 the Essential Oil of Jessamine. In the year of my 

 visit, 1853, an Algerian chemist obtained a minute 

 quantity which cost him, I was told, at the rate of 

 17,000 francs the kilogram, about Sioo the ounce. 

 It has since been produced at a cheaper rate, but 

 still much too dear for commercial use. 



The wild Arabian Jessamine is grafted on the 

 cultivated plant, and bears for many years, if not 

 winter-killed, yielding from 90 to 150 pounds of 

 flower petals per thousand plants. They are 

 deeply covered in winter, and closely trimmed in 

 spring. 



A most important branch in which great rivalry 

 exists, is the preparation of perfumed pomades 

 and oils, which have a two-fold use ; first, as bases 

 for the finest kinds of scented pomatums and hair 

 oils, and next as a medium for supplying the 

 floral odors for extracts for the handkerchief and 

 toilet waters. Their preparation is the most 

 curious and interesting feature of the Grasse es- 

 tablishments. 



The " corps de Pommade," or pomade body, is 

 prepared in the winter season, and composed of 2 

 parts of fresh leaf lard and I part of kidney beef- 

 suet, except for Jessamine and Tuberose, which is 

 mainly of leaf lard, hardened with veal or mutton 

 suet. These crude fats are finely hashed, washed 

 in several waters — in the first-class factories 

 washed in Rose water — to deprive them of all im- 

 purity or unpleasant odor, then melted in a water 

 bath, and stored away in huge tin cans in airy, 

 cool, stone vaults, for use in the season of flowers. 



Another pomade called " corps ditr," or hard 

 body, is made of beef suet only, and is used to 

 make stick pomatums. 



For the perfumed oils, the material used is the 

 inodorous, virgin Olive oil, expressed from the 

 olives just before they are fully ripe. 



The busy season commences with the Rose. 



There are two processes for impregnating the 

 pomade body and the oil with the odor of the 

 flowers : one is a hot process called infusion, the 

 other is a cold process, termed " enfleurage." The 

 hot process is employed for the strong, fixed odors 

 of the Rose, Orange and .'\cacia ; the cold process 

 for the rich yet delicate and sensitive odors, the 

 Jessamine, Tuberose, Jonquil and all the bulbous 

 plants, which will not endure the application of 

 even a moderate heat without losing their odor. 



The hot process by infusion is as follows: 

 About 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of pomade 

 body are put into a tin-planished copper vessel, 

 placed in a copper water-bath, and slowly melted 

 with a gentle heat, just before the dawn ; at day- 

 break it is charged with a certain quantity of 

 flowers freshly gathered, which are stirred con- 

 stantly during the day and night, the mass being 

 only kept warm enough to maintain a semi-fluid 

 state. About midnight it is removed from the 

 fire, poured into strong bags made of fish-cord, 

 and subjected to heavy pressure in large, per- 

 forated iron cylinders, standing upright on marble 

 bed-plates, which are gently warmed, to prevent 

 the cooling and hardening of the melted pomade. 

 Next morning fresh flowers are added, and the 

 process is repeated daily until the desired strength 

 of perfume is attained ; the scented pomade is then 

 poured into round tin boxes and sealed up for 

 shipment. The oils are worked in the same 

 manner, but when finished each day they are 

 filtered instead of pressed. 



The process of "enfleurage" is as follows: 

 Large numbers of " chassis," or sashes, are pre- 

 pared, about 21^ feet long and i)^ feet wide, the 

 frame being 2 inches wide and l'< inches thick, 

 holding a stout plate of ground glass and resembling 

 j a large school slate. The frames for the oils are 

 about 4 feet long, 2i< feet wide, and thick in pro- 

 portion ; instead of glass they have coarse iron- 

 wire net work. The large factories have several 

 thousands of these frames. Upon each side of 

 the glass the pomade body is thinly spread, and 

 the surface is channeled or furrowed lengthwise 

 and crosswise with a four-tined, square pointed 

 wooden fork, so as to present the utmost surface 

 for the absorption of the odor from the flower 

 leaves, which are thickly and evenly spread all 

 over it. The frames, thus charged with flowers, 

 are piled one upon another, up to the ceiling. 

 The flower leaves thus confined between two 

 layers of pomatum, wither and yield up their 

 fragrance which is absorbed by the two layers 

 above and below. Daily renewals of the flowers 



