November, 1910 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



111 



to retain the odor indefinitely. One may 

 distill with water any number of kinds of 

 flowers, and with the essential oil properly 

 bottled, blended perfumes can then be made. 

 A few drops of several kinds of oil are 

 poured into a bottle containing a certain 

 amount of alcohol, and when shaken thor- 

 oughly one has a delicious fragrance for 

 home use. For instance, eau de cologne 

 is made by pouring into a glass bottle a pint 

 of alcohol, and adding half a drachm of 

 homemade attar of rosemary and twenty 

 drops each of the attar of orange peel, 

 lemon peel, and bergamot peel. The dis- 

 tillation of these fruit peels is another de- 

 sirable home industry. Cut up fresh orange 

 or lemon peel and place it in water in the 

 tin can, and heat as for use in flower leaves. 

 The essential oil of these peels will then be 

 gradually distilled into the other receptacle. 

 Skim off the globules, and confine in corked 

 bottles. 



Besides distillation, we have the process 

 of absorption, which anyone can do at 

 home with little trouble and expense. It 

 is slightly more complicated, but it will ex- 

 tract the perfume of more delicate flowers, 

 such as the violets, with greater success. 

 This process consists of covering two large 

 shallow pans or soup plates with a layer of 

 melted suet. The layer should be half an 

 inch or more thick. When the fat has 

 hardened, gather the violets, jasmine, or 

 tuberose flowers, and cover the suet thickly 

 with them. Then place one plate over the 

 other, and force down firmly. Wrap the 

 plates tightly in paper, so that the perfume 

 will all be retained. In twenty-four hours 

 the suet will have absorbed nearly all the 

 perfume. Then quickly remove the dead 

 petals, and replace with more fresh ones. 

 Repeat this operation for several days or 

 even for a week, so as to secure a strong 

 supply of odors. When enough petals 

 have been robbed of their odor, remove 

 the top plate and cut the suet into small 

 pieces, and drop them into a wide-mouthed 

 bottle or glass jar containing alcohol. The 

 transference should be made as quickly as 

 possible, and with least exposure to the air. 

 Then close the bottle or jar, and seal with 

 paraffin to make air tight. As the suet 

 absorbed the fragrance of the petals, so 

 will the alcohol rob the suet of its concen- 

 trated extract. Every day the bottle should 

 be shaken a little, and in a fortnight the 

 alcohol should be poured off through a 

 strainer into bottles and corked. 



Besides making the liquid perfumes, one 

 should consider sachet powders and per- 

 fumed pastes. These have their use in 

 every household. A rose paste is made by 

 steeping rose leaves in water and pound- 

 ing wnth a mortar until reduced to a paste. 

 This maceration should be thorough, and 

 can be done with an ordinary rolling pin. 

 Now add a drop or two of your home- 

 made attar of rose, and permit the paste 

 to dry in an air-tight receptacle. The paste 

 will grow quite hard, and can then be cut 

 into any shape desired. A piece placed in a 

 drawer will scent the place for a long time. 

 If the pieces not in use are kept air-tight 

 they will retain fragrance indefinitely, and 

 will always be ready for instant use. Laid 

 in linen and clothes presses, they add that 

 subtle fragrance to the fabrics which so 

 many like. 



.Sachet powders are as numerous and as 

 varied in fragrance as colognes. One may 

 compound them out of flower petals, spices. 

 and perfumes to suit individual preferences. 

 The art of making sachets is very simple 

 and inexpensive. If we add to these attars 

 and essential oils such simple articles, 

 purchasable at any drug store, as iris root, 

 musk, and cochineal ("the last for coloring 

 only), and such spices as cloves, cinnamon. 



This Bungalow is Lined, Roof and Walls, with 





CABOT'S SHEATHING QUILT 



and the owner says . 



"Experience has more than justified this method. The second story 

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 the rooms are warm and comfonable in the coldest, winter weather.'' 



The cost was $20 for the whole house, and for this 

 $20 the owner gets warmth and comfort and reduced 

 coal bills as long as the housestands. Can you make 

 a better investment? Quilt is not a mere building 

 paper. It is a heat-proof and cold-proof insulator. 



Send for sample and catalog. Free, 



SAMU[L CABOT, Inc., 131 Milk Street, Boston, Mass. 



^Sv' jdBS^^BEHByx 



Agents at all Central Points. 





The Fire Risk 



YOUR risk of loss by fire should be reduced to 

 a minimum by telling your agent that you 

 want a policy in a company that, in a hun- 

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 name and send it to the agent or broker who places 

 your insurance. It will be notice to him that when 

 your insurance expires, you want him to get you 

 a policy in the Hartford. 



Name_ 



Address 



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Three Hundred and Twenty Pages Three Hundred and Forty Illustrations 



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