THE MAKING OF POT-POURRI 177 



air ; the function of the bay salt is to retain moisture 

 and to resist corruption. 



In making Pot-pourri by the lazier and less 

 effective dry process, it is the drying of the Rose 

 petals that requires the most care. The Roses must 

 be picked quite dry, the petals pulled apart and 

 laid thinly on sheets of paper in an airy room till 

 absolutely dry. They must then smell quite sweet, 

 without the least taint of mustiness ; any batch 

 so tamted must be thrown away. The Lavender 

 and Sweet Geranium that will form the greater part 

 of the rest of the bulk must also be carefully dried, 

 but in their case the drying is much easier. For 

 a quantity equal to two-thirds of a bushel the spice 

 mixture would be — Cloves, Mace, Cinnamon, 2 oz. 

 each ; Coriander, Allspice, Gum Styrax, Gum Benzoin, 

 ^ oz. each; Violet Powder, | lb. The spices and 

 gums should be in powder or finely crushed. 



For any kind of Pot-pourri I am always on the 

 lookout for sweet materials such as shavings or 

 sawdust of Sandalwood or Sweet Cedar ; all ingredients 

 that have an enduring fragrance are good and wel- 

 come. I do not use any special sort of Rose petals, 

 but all or any that are in full blow and in good 

 condition. One of the recipes quoted says " it ought 

 to be the single Apothecary Rose." I do not know 

 what the Apothecary Rose is, and as I have asked 

 a trusty friend, who is a learned scholar and a 

 careful botanist, and who has made a special study 



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