PERESKIA 



BldO, DC. Fip. rtlffl, Vol. I. Stems stouter, more sue- 

 culcut, lc5s Irnr.liini': Ivs. often 5 iu. loug by bait' as 



wicU-: spill- FMiinnly solitary in the axils, 



lati-r nior. 1- ii;iight: fls. purple, 1^-2 in. 



Iiriiail: fr.J: . : : ,■ i liaped. New Granada, Brazil. 

 B.M. J47t. i.ut. 111. JLVi_'7. 



subulita, Muebl. Stem 2 ft. or less high, below half 

 wood, above fleshy and branching: Ivs. persisting a few 

 years, dark green, shiny, as thick as a pencil, about 3 

 in. long, half <*ylindri«*a! and ending in a spine: areol» 

 felted, ill tli.' yi.iiim- I'laiii wiili a few hair-bristles 

 later with ■_'-! strai-lit. iial.- yrll.,« spines 3-4 in. long. 

 Chile. — Call l.r usiil as si.ick fi.r K|.iphyllum. 



spathulita, Utto. Si.ui ui.ii-lit, with few horizontal, 

 spatulate, shiny gniii lia\.s: ihe diffuse areola; at 

 first somewhat woolly. laicr f.lii ri, above with a bunch 

 of short bristles, below with l-J yellowish white, straight 

 spines. Mex. Katharine Bbandegee. 



PERFUMERY GARDENING. The perfumes of the 



market are derivi'.l in part from animal secretions 

 (musk, i-iveti, ill part fn.iii artificial chemical com- 

 pounds, anil in [lari . aii.l . I, :> i'\ . 1 1 -iiii the class of vege- 

 table |)rodii.t~ li..,-, , il oils. "Synthetic" 



perfect artili.ial r.pr- "I n. 1 1 .ii - ..I organic compounds 

 used in perfumery. If it were possible iu all cases and 

 with perfect success to compound these substances the 

 production of floral perfumes would soon be at an end, 

 as the chemical process would be sure to be cheaper 

 than the horticultural. But nature knows how to add 

 some touches which the chemist's art cannot imitate, 

 and even where synthetic manufacture is possible, the 

 result is in general regarded as a cheaper substitute. 

 At till' same time, sentimental reasons count consider- 

 ably ill favor of the natural perfume, and considering, 

 further, that some perfumes cannot be imitated chemi- 

 i-ally. there is no present cause to apprehend the ex- 

 tinction, or. in view of increasing demand, even the 

 decline, of the industry of producing natural perfumery 



The essential oils used in perfumery are secreted in 

 different parts of the plant. The flowers are naturally 

 thought of first, l-.eini.' tl,,- seat of the fra-raiaa- of th".- 



than by the corollas. In rose geranium, thyme, winter- 

 green and patchouli the foliage is the fragrant part. A 

 number of essences are derived from woods, as those 

 of sandalwood, red cedar and rhodium. The oil of sweet 

 birch comes partly from the wood, but mainly from the 

 inner bark, and the same is true of sassafras. In the 

 case of the latter, however, the roots only are used; in 

 the case of the former the young tops. Several herba- 

 ceous roots also furnish oils, as orris root, Canada 

 snakeroot and sweet flag. The rinds of the orange and 

 other citrous fruits contain important perfumery oils, 

 and the oil of bitter almonds comes from the fermented 



The staiidard ninlM,,!, ,1 .• t ti-i in g essential oils are 

 fmir. iiaiiiely, the ii . ' I means (chiefly ex- 



pression), liistillaii' : or inflowering, and 



niacendinii. Kxpr.s-, ,,i ,,p|„,ii- i., be applied only to 

 the rinds of the citrous fruits. These are placed under 

 pressure in a screw press, or sections turned wrong side 

 out are squeezed in the fingers, the oil being taken up 

 with a .sponge, or the fruit is rubbed in a cup lined with 

 spikes (ecuelle & piqver), the oil collecting in a hollow- 

 handle. An ^cuelle on a larger scale in the shape of a 

 hollow drum has also been used. 



In distillation, the oil-bearing material is heated with 

 water or subjected to li.>t st,.nTti, an.l 'l.e oil, hi.i..._- vola- 

 tile, passes off witti tl:.. si..;,tM 'Ct ii >'..ii!.l i..- l..st 



iftbevaporwen^no, ., .,! i,.,,,l,i,. ...,.,,:,. ;.' .„.,, 



by passing it thr..UL-l. . . .r , . , ' ,. , nt 



of pipe kept cool b\ ,i tl'-.'. .i ■ iii i I i (. ' i -. <! 



steam and oil fall in'to a "Florentim- la i ij n m. :, n .--,1 

 with a spout coming out at the base Imt li-im.- to ili.. 

 level of the top, so that the heavier li.|iii.l. -..i,„inii, s 

 ter, alone will enter it an. I can l.r 



PERFUMERY GARDENING 



127 



poured off separately. After the water and oil have 

 mainly separated, the water will still contain enough 

 oil to make it highly fragrant, and in this state it goes 

 to market as rosewater, orange-flower water, etc., or is 

 returned to the still to be redistilled with the next 



The remaining two nieili...ls .1. i . n.l ,,i, ii,, i.,ct that 



grease has the power oi al.-..]i ,,iis. In 



enfleuraije the grease, witln.m li. . ; .i.l over 



both surfaces of panes oi l!,i-- i i . ... j lames 

 (cA.(s.vixi. s.. that tlic> .■ u, i.. , I . . , . . ,, :,uother 

 Withspac, , lM.t«,.,.n. In 'I,. . ,.,, . ,. |.|,, , . ihrflow- 

 ers, the .-iLai-.- I., in- 1 . I . . ii . i ■ . ji.-ase is 



sufllcientlx iinpr.-nat. .i, -, I i . . -i, -i u m . - a ■ ] ...made." 



"Extracts "are made by dii;estiiig the jioinade in alcohol, 

 which has a still stronger attraction for the perfume 

 than has the grease. The alcohol must first be deodor- 

 ized to save perverting the floral perfume, and is then 

 known ns"C..los;ne spirit." The grease used in this 

 and the next pi'.iciss, moreover, must be freed from all 

 corruptii.i. iiiatti 1 l.y a special process. Tallow and 

 lard, .•..niinonl) nii\((l, and sometimes the fat of the 

 deer ami other animals, are employed. 



In niacertition the pomade is produced by immersing 

 repeated charges of the flowers in melted grease or fine 

 olive oil. 



In recent times various chemical processes for ex- 

 tracting perfumery have been tried, apparently with 

 some practical success; but they have not yet sup- 

 planted the old methods. Carbon bisulfid and pe- 

 troleum ether are among the solvents employed. These 

 methods would be less easily practiced by beginners 

 and amateurs than the ordinary ones. 



The art of distilling is not only not difficult to learn, 

 but is already in practice in this country in the case of 

 peppermint, sweet birch, .sassafras, eucalyptus, etc. 

 More ctire and better apparatus would be required for 

 distilling- fo^. s an.l oth. i- ilowers, but the process is 

 essentially tin- s, , x,.,- ,|,, the grease processes in- 

 volve any ditli.-iiltns \\liicti may not be overcome by 

 the apiilicafiou of a little American ingenuity and 

 capital. In fact, the production of the raw materials 

 of perfumery might proceed almost at once, so far as 

 the difficulty of the processes is concerned. But can 

 we trrow the requisite plants? 



That ni.iiiy of the standard perfumery plants will 

 \'vi'\\ in this country needs no proof, and there is no 

 r. ason t(. doubt that their fragrance in properly chosen 

 looalitie-s will equal that of the same plants in the 

 European centers. In general, success in this line 

 must be looked for only southward, even in dealing 

 with hardy plants, though there may be exceptions to 

 this rule. Cool trade-winds and fogs at flowering time 

 are to be shunned. The natural conditions in Florida 

 seem not very different from those of the south of 

 France, the great center of perfumery farming in 

 Europe, and in fact the feasibility of successful per- 

 fumery farming in Florida has been demonstrated by 

 actiial trial. California has also been the scene of ex- 

 periments, some of them seeming to promise success 

 as soon as economic conditions admit. A large terri- 

 tory between these two points is available for some 

 lines of the indu.stry. 



Among the particular plants to be noticed, the citrous 

 fruits deserve a leading place. Nearly or quite all of 

 the trees of this group, including the sweet, the bitter or 

 Seville, and the bergamot oranges, the sweet and sour 

 limes, the lemon, the citron, and the shaddock, contain 

 valuable perfumes either in the peel of their fruit, or in 

 their flowers, or in their leaves, or in more than one 

 of these. Of the fruit oils, that of lemon is imported 

 into this country in largest quantity, followed by oil of 

 bergamot, oil of orange bitter and sweet, oil of limes 

 and "cedrat" or citron oil, the last two in very small 

 quantities, but the cedrat at a very high price. These 

 oils are extracted by expression, the distilled being 

 inferior, though it is asserted that when the "rag," or 

 inner soft layer, is removed, the distilled oil equals 

 the other. The oil of the bitter orange is superior to 

 that of the sweet; the oil of bergamot is far more val- 

 uai.l.. than either, but can rarely be had in an unadul- 

 t. rat. .1 st.,tr. The flowers of the orange treated by 

 distillation vieId"neroli." The scent of neroli, however. 



