1276 



PERFUMERY GARDENING 



PERFUMERY GARDENING 



is not that of the flowers, an alteration taking place 

 during the distillation. Orange-flower water, consist- 

 ing of the condensed vapor of water with a little un- 

 changed oil adhering, affords the true odor of the 

 flowers. By maceration, likewise, the true floral fra- 

 grance is obtained. The abortive flowers which fall 

 from the trees are available for perfumery use, but the 

 flowers are also sometimes picked, presumably with a 

 better result. Besides the product of fruit and flowers, 

 the leaves and young twigs pruned from the sweet 

 and bitter oranges yield to distillation the oil of "petit 

 grain," of considerable though minor value. There is 

 no reason to doubt the perfumery capacity of American 

 orange groves. Indeed it has been asserted that the 

 orange flowers of Louisiana excel in sweetness those of 

 foreign parts. In Los Angeles, California, something 

 has been done towards utilizing the peel, and in Florida 

 a beginning has been made with both peel and flowers, 

 but for the most part these resources are at present 

 suffered to go to waste. 



The lemon verbena, Lippia citriodora (Fig. 1721), 

 may be mentioned in passing as furnishing an attrac- 

 tive perfume of the citrous order, and as available at 

 least in Florida and California. 



The perfumery products of the rose and its allies 

 merit next attention. The value of the importation of 

 attar of roses to say nothing of rose perfume in other 

 forms ^exceeds that of any single citrous perfume, and 

 at the same time the capacity of this country for pro- 

 ducing this and the other rose perfumes can scarcely 

 be called in question. The present supply of the 

 European and American markets is derived chiefly from 

 Turkey and from the perfumery region of the south of 

 France. The attar or otto of roses is produced most 

 largely in Bulgaria and other parts of European Turkey, 

 from the damask rose. It is obtained by distillation, 

 which is there conducted in a rude manner. In the 

 Grasse district (south of France), the rose water, ob- 

 tained as explained above, yields more profit than the 

 attar, which is regarded as a by-product of the distilla- 

 tion. But the rose perfume is here largely extracted 

 by maceration, finishing with enfleurage, processes 

 which secure the true rose odor, which is not repre- 

 sented by the attar or water. The pomade and its 

 alcoholic extract are perhaps the finest of rose prod- 

 ucts. The Provence rose is here employed, a hybrid 

 or variety of the hundred-leaf, Rosa centifolia, the 

 type to which the cabbage and moss roses belong. 

 Pictures of this rose present, not the well-known door- 

 yard variety with short and crowded petals forming a 

 flat disk without visible stamens, but a variety with 

 larger and looser petals of a deeper color, with stamens 

 in the middle. Both this and the damask rose are 

 spring bloomers, the latter yielding also a small crop in 

 the fall. 



The luxuriance of roses on the Pacific coast and 

 through the South invites experiments in those regions 

 to ascertain their perfumery worth. Affluent vegeta- 

 tion cannot be taken as sure proof of a rich perfumery 

 content, but this must be directly investigated by the 

 nostrils and better by experimental distillation. There 

 is practically no doubt, however, that in properly 

 chosen localities American roses can compete in sweet- 

 ness with the European. How far north the rose can 

 be utilized for perfume cannot be settled in advance of 

 experiment. The rose must have a hot sun, but the 

 June sun is hot far to the north ; and as at most only 

 two harvests are gathered each year the advantage of 

 the South may not be as great as might be supposed. 

 Still the presumption is that our coming rose industry 

 will be conducted in our warmer sections. The soil for 

 the rose must not be poor, but there is a possibility of 

 its being too rich for the best perfumery results. 

 While distillation seems to be practically confined to 

 the two roses mentioned above, other kinds whose odor 

 is attractive are available for treatment by the grease 

 processes. There appears to be little in the methods of 

 cultivating roses for this purpose which would not sug- 

 gest itself to an experienced gardener. It takes some 

 3,000 pounds of petals to yield a pound of oil, but that 

 pound should be worth at retail about ninety dollars, and 

 more if of extra quality. 

 The oil distilled from the green parts of the common 



rose geraniums, Pelargonium ciipitatiim (?) and P. Ka- 

 dula, resembles in fragrance the oil of roses and is largely 

 used as a substitute for it. Though generally not sold 

 at retail under its own name, it is in itself a legitimate 

 perfume, and its production should be undertaken in 

 this country only, however, in the South, where the 

 long season admits of three crops of leaves and where 

 the stumps with the soil heaped around them will sur- 

 vive the winter. The largest crop is to be had on rich 

 lowland, but the finest quality is produced on drier and 

 less fertile ground. In France, it is now grown mainly 

 on irrigated land, but the product has to be ameliorated 

 by the admixture of oil from drier locations. The rose 

 geranium is largely grown in Algeria, and in Spain, 

 Sicily, etc. , as well as in France. Geranium oil in turn 

 has its substitutes, among which the oil of lemon grass 

 from India is conspicuous. 



The European sweet violet, Viola odorata, affords 

 the finest example of a favorite type of odors quite 

 different from the citrine and the rose. The oil of the 

 violet itself is necessarily so expensive as to be little 

 used. The large amount of flowers required and the 

 amount of hand labor necessary for gathering such 

 small flowers, each growing on a separate stem, are 

 apparently insurmountable obstacles to the extensive 

 use of true oil of violet. Still it may be presumed that 

 there will permanently be a class of buyers willing to 

 pay the necessary cost of so choice a perfume. The 

 violet yields its full fragrance only southward, but it 

 must be grown in partial shade. When labor conditions 

 admit, true violet perfume may be produced in Cali- 

 fornia 'and in the South. An expert grower of violets 

 has even thought that they might be grown under glass 

 for this purpose. 



Of the same general type and in some wise a substi- 

 tute for violet perfume, is that of Acacia Farnesiana, 

 the "cassie" of the French, known in the South as 

 "opoponax." The small yellow balls of flowers are 

 treated by the grease processes, particularly macera- 

 tion. While not ranked as high as violet, the perfume 

 is in entirely good standing and produced in large 

 quantities. The flowers dried with proper care have a 

 market value for sachets. The opoponax 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 

 somewhat 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 

 species of Iris, formerly gathered wild and now culti- 

 vated near Florence and at other points in Italy. The 

 species are Iris Germanica (Fig. 1178), /. pallida, and 

 /. Florentina (Fig. 1721), the first of these being our 

 common 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 

 species is only a falsification, and in fact that the root 

 of /. Germanica causes serious inflammations. It is 

 certain that the first two are extensively grown ; but 

 /. Florentina alone appears to be much used for dis- 

 tillation. When cultivated the Iris is generally propa- 

 gated 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 but- 

 ter," but it is more largely xised in the form of an alco- 

 holic tincture or ground up for sachets. There is no 

 reason why orris root should not be grown in many 

 parts of this country, 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. 1392) can hardly be placed in 

 the perfumery class, but lavender, thyme and rosemary 

 could not easily be spared from the perfumer's re- 

 sources. Lavender is native on dry slopes in the Medi- 

 terranean region, and the oil is most largely produced 



