2550 PERFUMERY-GARDENING 



PERFUMERY-GARDENING 



quantities. The flowers, dried with proper care, have a 

 market value for sachets. The opopanax tree grows 

 freely in Florida, is apparently native in Texas, and is 

 suited to the climate of Arizona and southern Cali- 

 fornia. The labor of picking the flowers would be some- 

 what expensive. Several other acacias are eligible for 

 perfumery use. 



To the same group belongs the perfume of orris- or 

 iris-root. It is afforded by the rootstocks of three spe- 

 cies of iris, formerly gathered wild and now cultivated 

 near Florence and at other points in Italy. The species 

 are Iris germanica (Fig. 1968, Vol. Ill), /. pallida, and I. 

 florentina (Fig. 2868), the first of these being our com- 

 mon garden iris, with deep blue flowers, the second a 

 paler-flowered species, the third having white flowers. 

 High authority affirms that the use of the first two spe- 

 cies is only a falsification, and, in fact, that the root of 

 7. germanica causes serious inflammations. It is certain 

 that the first two are extensively grown; but 7. floren- 

 tina alone appears to be much used for distillation. 

 When cultivated, the iris is generally propagated by 

 root-division, the cuttings being placed for the first 

 year in a nursery, afterward set in rows a foot apart. 

 It is grown in stony dry soils on hillsides or mountains. 

 The crop is gathered once in two or three years. The 

 cuticle is scraped from the root, which after being dried 

 in the sun is stored in a dry place for the development 

 of its fragrance. This is wanting in the fresh root, and 

 does not reach its maximum under three years. When 

 distilled, the root yields "orris butter," but it is more 

 largely used in the form of an alcoholic tincture or 

 ground up for sachets. There is no reason why orris- 

 root should not be grown in many parts of this coun- 

 try, but the returns at present are not large. 



Another important group of perfumery plants con- 

 sists of several members of the mint family. Pepper- 

 mint and spearmint (Fig. 2359, Vol. IV) can hardly be 

 placed in the perfumery class, but lavender, thyme, and 

 rosemary could not easily be spared from the per- 

 fumer's resources. Lavender is native on dry slopes in 

 the Mediterranean region, and the oil is most largely 

 produced in the region of the maritime Alps. The plant 

 has been introduced, however, into some of the southern 

 counties of England (Mitcham and Hitchin being the 

 centers), and found to produce there an oil which has 

 commonly been regarded as far superior to the French, 

 and at any rate is different in kind (see Menthd). The 

 English lavender is grown in light and well-drained 

 calcareous soils. In well-drained ground, lavender will 

 bear some cold, especially if protected, but profit can- 

 not be looked for far north. Lavender of the French 

 type may be expected to succeed in California out of 

 the reach of the trade-winds, and may perhaps not 

 require irrigation. There are shallow calcareous soils 

 in the ''black belt" of the Gulf States which might per- 

 haps yield an oil like the English, and the same may be 

 true of some tracts northward on the Pacific slope. 

 Lavender is treated by distillation, and it is said in 

 England that direct contact with the water yields better 

 results than the application of dry steam. (See, also, 

 Lavandida.) 



Thyme (chiefly the garden thyme, Thymus vulgaris) 

 furnishes a perfume particularly suited to soaps and 

 imported into this country in large quantities. Rose- 

 mary has a stimulating property and is an essential 

 ingredient in Cologne water. Both of these could quite 

 possibly be grown, say in California, but might not be 

 able to compete well with the spontaneous product of 

 Europe. 



Some notice should be taken, too, of the rather hum- 

 ble group of odorous plants belonging to the parsley 

 family, including anise, caraway, and fennel. Not only 

 are the oils of these three (chiefly anise) largely imported 

 but also their seeds (chiefly caraway). Caraway runs 

 wild northerly, fennel has established itself on the lower 

 Potomac, and anise could doubtless be grown, but 



there is no reason to expect large profits from these 

 plants. 



There are several plants deserving consideration 

 which do not fall into any of these groups. One is the 

 jasmine (Jasminum grandiflorum and J . Sambac) 

 (Fig. 2868). This furnishes almost the only odor which 

 cannot be imitated by combinations of others. The 

 oil of jasmine is very valuable. The plants can be 

 grown in our warmest regions. The tuberose furnishes 

 another choice perfume and has been very successfully 

 grown for the purpose in Florida and South Carolina. 

 (See Polianthes.) The heliotrope (Fig. 1801, Vol. Ill), 

 jonquil (Fig. 2448, Vol. IV), and mignonette are also to 

 be named. Of a quite different scent from any of these 

 is the oil of bitter almond, so important for fine soaps. 

 This so-called oil is a poisonous compound formed in 

 the process of fermenting the cake of the kernels from 

 which the fixed oil has been expressed. Its production 

 should be considered in our almond-growing regions, 

 especially California. 



Several tropical grasses of the genus Cymbopogon, 

 including Cymbopogon Schoenanthus, which yields the 

 previously mentioned lemon-grass oil, are of easy cul- 

 ture in Florida and the Gulf States generally, and 

 doubtless will be largely used in the future for the pro- 

 duction of fragrant oils having a wide range of useful- 

 ness, especially in the form of combinations for scent- 

 ing soaps. Those best known are vetiver, Vetiveria 

 zizanioides, citronella, C. Nardus and the true lemon- 

 grass, C. dtratus, not possessing the geranium-like odor 

 found in C. Schoenanthus. With the exception of veti- 

 ver, which contains the fragrant principle in the roots, 

 the leaves and flowering parts of the Cymbopogon 

 grasses are used for distillation. 



Of our native growths there are some which are 

 already utilized as the source of scenting materials. The 

 root of sassafras is or has been distilled in Pennsylvania, 

 Maryland, and Virginia, and in other northern states, 

 and sparingly southward. Wintergreen, Gaultheria pro- 

 cumbens, is distilled in small quantity in several eastern 

 states, but has very largely given place to sweet or 

 cherry birch, Betula lento,, which yields a similar oil with 

 less expense. The wood of the red cedar, Juniperus 

 virginiana, has long been distilled in Germany, and 

 latterly in this country. It furnishes a finer cedar-of- 

 Lebanon perfume than the cedar of Lebanon itself. 



Three native plants representing respectively the 

 thyme-like and citrine odors, widely known as weeds 

 but amenable to cultivation over a great extent of 

 country, are wild bergamot, Monarda punctata, moun- 

 tain mint, Pycnanthemum albescens and Canada flea- 

 bane, Erigeron canadense. The first two yield oils use- 

 ful for soaps as well as for the production of thymol, 

 now a valued medicament, while the latter contains a 

 high percentage of limonene that may largely displace 

 turpentine in the manufacture of agreeable varnishes 

 for inside uses. 



The root of the wild ginger or Canada snakeroot, 

 Asarwn canadense, yields a fragrant oil quoted in 

 market reports, and said to be used especially for 

 strengthening other perfumes. The sweet goldenrod, 

 Solidago odora, furnishes an oil which has a market 

 standing. The rich odor of the yellow jessamine of 

 the South has been successfully extracted in Florida. 

 The common market perfume of magnolia is doubtless 

 mostly or entirely an imitation, and the same is proba- 

 bly true of Clethra alnifolia perfume. The great mag- 

 nolia, Magnolia grandiflora, abounds in the South, but 

 its flowers might be difficult to secure in quantity. 

 Clethra is abundant enough in the Atlantic Coast 

 region, but some difficulty might be experienced with it 

 owing to the fact that only a part of the flowers in the 

 raceme open at one time. The flowers of the swamp 

 magnolia or sweet bay, Magnolia virginiana or M. 

 glauca (Fig. 2298, Vol. IV), should be tried. The spice 

 bush, Benzoin xstivale, affords several scents. The sweet 



