1276 
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 ill 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 
wim 1 ....... i'l. 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. 
a\!ii'. .1 1 i il lim.ii 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 ii-i if ti. 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 
PERFUMERY GARDENING 
rose geraniums, pelargonium capitatum ( !) and P. ra- 
ditla, 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), i. 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 used 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 
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 
