10 THE ROSE GARDEN. 



beegah. The additional expense for cultivation would be about rupees 8.8; so 

 that for rupees 38 . 8, you have, for the season, one beegah of 1000 Rose-trees. 



" If the season is good, this beegah of 1000 Rose-trees should yield one 

 lac of Roses. Purchases of Roses are always made at so much per lac. 

 The price of course varies according to the year, and will average from 40 to 70 

 rupees. 



" The Rose-trees come into flower at the beginning of March, and contimie so 

 through April. 



"In the morning early the flowers are plucked by numbers of men, women, 

 and children, and are conveyed in large bags to the several contracting parties for 

 distillation. The cultivators themselves very rarely manufacture. 



" There is such a variety of Rose-water manufactured, and so much that bears 

 the name which is nothing more than a mixture of sandal-oil, that it is impossible 

 to lay down the plan which is adopted. The best Rose-water, however, may be 

 computed as bearing the proportion of 1000 Roses to a seer* of water : this, 

 perhaps, may be considered as the best procurable. From 1000 Roses most 

 generally a seer and a half of Rose-water is distilled ; and perhaps from this even 

 the Attar has been removed. 



" To procure the Attar, the Roses are put into the still, and the water passes 

 over gradually, as in the Rose-water process. After the whole has come over, the 

 Rose-water is placed in a large metal basin, which is covered with wetted muslin, 

 tied over to prevent insects or dust getting into it : this vessel is let into the 

 ground about two feet, which has been previously wetted with water, and it is 

 allowed to remain quiet during the whole night. The Attar is always made at 

 the beginning of the season, when the nights are cool : in the morning, early, the 

 little film of Attar, which is formed upon the surface of the Rose-water during the 

 night, is removed by means of a feather, and it is then carefully placed in a small 

 phial ; and day after day, as the collection is made, it is placed for a short period 

 in the sun ; and after a sufficient cpiantity has been procured, it is poured off 

 clear, and of the colour of amber, into small phials. Pure Attar-, when it has 

 been removed only three or four days, has a pale greenish hue : by keeping, it 

 soon loses this, and in a few weeks' time becomes of a pale yellow. 



" From one lac of Roses it is generally calculated that 180 grains, or one 

 tolah,f of Attar can be procured : more than this can be obtained if the Roses 

 are full sized, and the nights cold to allow of the congelation. 



" The Attar purchased in the bazaar is generally adulterated, mixed with 

 sandal-oil or sweet-oil. Not even the richest native will give the price at which 

 the purest Attar alone can be obtained ; and the purest Attar that is made is sold 

 to Europeans. During the past year it has been selling from 80 to 90 rupees 

 the tolah : the year before it might have been purchased for 50 rupees. 



"At the commencement of the Rose season, people from all parts come to 



* A seer is two pounds trov. t A tolah is seven pennyweights. 



