i6o HOW TO GROW ROSES 



This operation, usually falling upon the eldest member of the 

 family, is carried out with a solemnity befitting its importance. 

 What this must mean to the peasants is better understood 

 when we reahze how feather-hght rose-petals are, and that 

 150 pounds (2,400 ounces) of them ordinarily yield less than 

 one ounce of the essence of the rose. 



It is not to be marveled at, therefore, that it is expensive, 

 not alone for the above reason, but also because of its importance 

 in the fabrication of the finest perfumes. It has, furthermore, 

 the valuable quality of increasing and fixing other perfumes, 

 just as the rose itself has the quality of developing in those 

 who work with it qualities of fine moral character. 



Rose-Beads 



For the following formula the author is indebted to a good 

 friend of his from New York State, whose experience in making 

 rose-beads is far more extensive than his own. 



* 'Gather the petals of roses — even newly fallen ones will do 

 — ^till you have, say, half a peck. Grind these through a meat- 

 chopper till they become pulp. In order to have the beads jet- 

 black when finished, place this pulp in an iron pan, or, lacking 

 that, mix in a teaspoonful of ground copperas (ferrous sulphate), 

 and stir thoroughly; the mixture will soon become brown. Set 

 it now in the sun or a warm oven till it gets black. After this, 

 put all through the meat-chopper again till it becomes like 

 putty, and then form the beads. They can be made any shape 

 you like, — round, square, hexagonal, etc., — but form them 

 twice the size you wish to have them when finished. Rolling 

 them into little balls with the hand will make smooth beads. 

 If you wish them figured, the butt-end of a steel writing-pen is 

 a convenient tool, to be used, of course, when the beads are still 

 soft. When properly formed, transfix them to a board with a 

 pin, then keep them hot and dry, and in two or three days they 

 will become small and hard, and may be strung through the 

 hole left when the pin is removed." 



A European authority gives us a slightly diff"erent formula, 

 and recommends using a mortar instead of the more prosaic 

 and modern meat-chopper. 



