-^ FLOWERS AND THEIR SOUL 179 



surely the most innocent. It should be encour- 

 aged in every possible way; beds of fragrant 

 flowers should be in every garden for the delec- 

 tation of both children and adults. 



They can be made a source of profit, too. A 

 young Southern woman I have heard of derived 

 from her home-made perfumes a larger income 

 than she ever made as a teacher. Early in the 

 morning she picked the blossoms of roses, tube- 

 roses, wild violets, or crabs, placed them between 

 layers of cotton wool soaked with olive oil, 

 changing the blossoms daily for a week, and 

 then squeezing the oil, mixed with a little oil of 

 cloves to make the fragrance permanent, into 

 the mouth of a filter over a bottle. ^ 



The demand for these perfumes greatly ex- 

 ceeded the supply, for there are thousands of 

 persons who know — what the ancients of Bible 

 days already knew — that fragrance is exhila- 

 rating, antiseptic, hygienic. A little vial of per- 

 fumery from the garden, or a visit to the garden 

 itself, is worth more for refreshing the jaded 

 mind than highballs, tea, or coffee. 



A SYMPHONY OF LILY PERFUMES 



Luther Burbank is, I feel sure, indebted to 

 his passion for fragrant flowers for much of the 



' Interesting details on this subject may be found in Bulletin 195 

 of the U. S. Bureau of Plant Industry, entitled "The Production 

 of Volatile Oils and Perfumery Plants in the United States." See 

 also "Perfume Making" in Black's Gardening Dictionary. 



