THE ODOUR OF VIOLET. 115 
sheltered spot. Whilst quite young, the weak-looking plants are 
weeded out and the strongest ones left in the bed. In the third 
year they have generally reached a height of 2 or 3 feet; they are 
then grafted and transplanted to the open ground in fields well 
exposed to the sun and sheltered from the cold winds, each tree 
requiring about 12 square feet of land. Before planting, the 
ground is deeply trenched and well dressed with manure. The 
tree flourishes best in the neighbourhood of Grasse and Cannes. 
The trees begin to Hower after the third year from the time they 
were transplanted, and continue to grow till they reach a height 
of about 15 feet, with branches 6 feet long and a stem as thick as 
a man’s wrist. The season of flowering is from October to January 
or February, according to the presence or absence of frost. The 
blossoms are successive, some being ready for plucking while others 
are scarcely formed, which is a great advantage to the cultivator, 
as he can thus manipulate his harvest by degrees. The flowers 
are gathered twice a week, in the daytime, and are brought to 
the factories in the evening. Each full-grown tree will produce 
two lbs. weight of flowers. The perfume is extracted by the 
processes of maceration and enfleurage. 
It has been noticed that the seeds and root-bark of these sweet- 
scented Acacias, when chewed, taste and smell execrably of garlic. 
The association of the violet odour and the odour of garlic has 
been remarked in other plants, such as the Tritelia uniflora, and 
is very curious. It is probable that the peculiar odorous principle 
of many vegetable substances is newly formed during fermentation 
(instantly or after a time) of the saccharine juices of the plants, 
either by natural or artificial means. At all events it is a fact 
that very small quantities of the blossoms of the violet, elder, 
linden, or cowslip, added to a fermenting liquid, are sufficient to 
communicate a very strong taste and smell, which the addition of 
the water distilled from a quantity a hundred times greater would 
not effect. This fact is made use of in Bavaria in brewing various 
kinds of beer, distinguished by different flavours, which are given 
by allowing small quantities of the herbs and blossoms of particular 
plants to ferment along with the wort. Wines are also artificially 
flavoured in the same way, notably the German “ May-wine ” or 
**Maitrank,” sprigs of Asperula odorata being put into the fer- 
menting vat. The multiplication of odours by fermentation and 
their production from plants not originally containing them will 
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