PERFUMES OP THE ROSE. 49 



are sent to Amsterdam and Constantinople. In Fiance, the 

 Provins Rose is extensively cultivated near the town of Provins, 

 about 60 miles south-east of Paris, and also at Fontenay aux 

 Roses, near Paris, for the manufacture of rose-water, or for 

 exportation in a dried state. The petals of the Provins Rose 

 {Rosa gallica) are the only ones that are said to gain additional 

 fragrance in drying ; all the other varieties losing in this process 

 more or less of their perfume. A French writer states, that 

 apothecaries employ both pale and red roses ; the pale give the 

 most perfume, while the red keep the longest. 



Loudon states, that " the petals of roses ought always to be 

 gathered as soon as the flower is fully expanded ; and the gath- 

 ering should never be deferred until it has begun to fade ; be- 

 cause, in the latter case, the petals are not only discolored, but 

 weakened in their perfume and their medical properties. They 

 should be immediately separated from the calyx, and the claws 

 of the petals pinched off; they are then dried in the shade, if the 

 weather is dry and Avarm, or by a stove in a room, if the season 

 is humid ; care being taken, in either case, not to spread them on 

 the ground, but on a platform raised two or three feet above it. 

 The drying should be conducted expeditiously, because it has 

 been found that slowly dried petals do not exhale near so much 

 odor as those which have been dried quickly ; which is also the 

 case with hay, sweet herbs, and odoriferous vegetables generally. 

 After the petals are dried, they are free from any sand, dust, or 

 eggs of insects, which may adhere to them, by shaking them and 

 rubbing them gently in a fine seive. After this the petals are put 

 into close vessels, from which the air is excluded, and which are 

 kept in a dry, airy situation. 



" As it is extremely difficult to free the rose-petals entirely from 

 the eggs of insects, they are taken out of these vessels two or three 

 times a year, placed in selves, rubbed, cleaned, and replaced." 



I have been careful to give the details of the above process, 

 because it may be useful to those who embark extensively in 

 the cultivation of roses, for the exportation of petals in a dried in 

 state. Judging from facts in vegetable physiology, we should 



5 



