152 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



lamp letting- the glass heat until it is possible to draw the stem fa 

 the funnel to a fine point — that is, to pull it out, to extend it until 

 the proportion desired is gained. 



This accomplished, the funnel, should be filled with ice and 

 then placed upon a retort stand. It is absolutely necessary that 

 the pointed end should then be placed in a small glass bottle, but 

 at no time must the point be permitted to touch the bottle itself. 

 After this has been done the stand and the funnel as arranged 

 should be placed in a greenhouse right among the flowers whose 

 odors it is desired to collect. 



Now comes the scientific features of the plan, the feature which 

 brings success — condensation. It is a well known fact that in every 

 greenhouse a vapor rises from the flowers. If you happen to be in 

 a greenhouse and the portion you are in is occupied by flowers with 

 strong perfume, just inhale the odor that comes from the glass 

 through which the sun's rays pass. You will notice that upon the 

 glass there is a mist just as is seen upon a window pane on a chilly 

 morning when you breathe upon it. This vapor has about it an 

 odor as distinct as the flowers themselves. If there happens to be a 

 variety of flowers, all of which emit perfume, the combination of 

 odors is an odd one. As a matter of fact the idea for some of the 

 most popular perfumes of the day has been gained in exactly this 

 fashion. 



The apparatus described is placed upon the retort stand in the 

 center of a group of flowers whose perfume it is desired to secure. 

 Gradually the vapor rises from the flowers, and in meeting the 

 colder surface of the funnel condenses into drops upon the outside 

 of the funnel. From the point of condensation it trickles down un- 

 til it drops into the bottle. In a surprising short time a large 

 amount of perfume is collected, and analysis thereof proves that 90 

 per cent of the contents of the bottle is perfume. The rest is water,. 



Strange to say, this essence of the flowers needs to be adulterated 

 with spirits of wine. Otherwise it would become sour and useless. 

 — New York Herald. 



Protection of Fkuit Trees From Mice.— Farmers care very 

 little for the depredations of field mice upon their grains, but these 

 small rodents sometimes do great injury to young fruit trees in 

 winter. They seldom gnaw the thick bark of older trees, but cases 

 are on record where a young orchard has been entirely destroyed 

 when planted near a meadow or level field frequented by these little 

 marauders. Coarse wrapping paper or a few layers of newspaper, 

 dipped in kerosene and tied about the base of a tree, also a few 

 pieces laid over the nearest roots, will repel the mice, and at the 

 same time prevent the ravages of boring beetles. Field mice, like 

 their cousins, the house mice, are easily trapped. A box trap set 

 near their nests and baited with corn meal will often catch half a 

 dozen at once. — [C. E. Allen. 



