




THE ROSE. 17 

the south; and the flowers thus attain a luxuri- 
ance of perfume and growth peculiar to these 
favored regions. The center of the cultivation 
and distillation of the Rose is the town of 
Kazanlik, situated in the province of that name, 
and is watered by many mountain streams that 
furnish a suitable water for the distillation of the 
precious attar. The numerous villages of the 
province, inhabited by Turks and Christians 
employed in the cultivation of the Rose, all live 
in peace together and prosper; finding by ex- 
perience that it is better and more wise to work, 
than to waste time in religious and political 
quarrels. The great harvest commences May 
15th, and lasts until June 5th or 10th; the gather- 
ing is done in the morning before sun-rise, so ag 
to have the benefit of all the fresh perfume of 
the flowers, which might be drawn off by the 
heat of day. . Every Rose farmer has his own 
small, roughly constructed stills for producing 
the otto or attar immediately after picking the 
flowers; and thousands of industrious workers 
are thus occupied, earning in the single short 
period of twenty days the product of a year’s 
labor, cultivating and taking care of the grow- 


