38 Report of Schimmel § Co. 1921. 



In view of the scarcity of the Bulgarian oil of rose we have in the last two years 

 much expanded our plantations so that we hope to be able to satisfy a growing demand 

 for our rose essences on a natural basis. We have at the present time 13.5 ha. under 

 rose cultivation and, provided the weather be moderately-favourable within the next 

 two months, we think we may rely upon a good harvest. 



We may take this opportunity to draw attention also to our artificial rose oil. 



On page 50 of our last Report we mentioned that the industry of oil of rose is 

 no longer considered profitable in Bulgaria, and that consequently the cultivation of the 

 roses is diminishing. Some exact figures as to the development and the present position 

 of the industry in Bulgaria we take from a report of consul G. H. Kemper 1 ) in Sophia. 



According to this report the production of oil of rose in Bulgaria culminated 

 during the years 1900 to 1912 when more than 20000 acres 2 ) of roses were under 

 cultivation yielding on an average about 126800 oz. of oil of rose. In this period 

 a number of works were erected and equipped with modern distillation plants. 

 During the three wars which Bulgaria carried on in the last decade, the production 

 of oil of rose diminished more and more, and at present only 15000 acres are still 

 supposed to be planted with roses. In each of the years 1917 and 1918, 85000 oz., 

 and in 1919, 52000 oz. of rose oil were produced, and a further reduction is to be 

 predicted for 1920. By the beginning of March 1920 some 50000 oz. of oil of rose 

 of a value of 500000 dollars were stored in Bulgaria. 



Rose Oil, French. — Up till the year 1911 the Rosa damascena, Mill., ("rose de 

 mai") was, according to ). de Lorgues 3 ), the only kind of rose which was cultivated 

 in France for the perfume industry. At present, however, the oil is gained from "garden 

 roses" which bear abundant flowers in spring 4 ). Among these are to be counted: — 

 Rose Brunner, Rose Vanhoutte, Paul Neyron, Souvenir de la Malmaison, Marechal Niel, 

 la France, Gloire Lyonnaise and Gabriel Luizet. As the cultivation of these garden 

 roses is less expensive than that of the Rose de mai, the distillers are able to sell 

 the products of the former at a reduced price. All these kinds of roses yield satis 

 factory results when the oils are extracted by means of solvents. On the other hand, 

 the properties of the distilled oils vary much according to the nature of the flower 

 and the mode of its treatment. The oil distilled from the Rose de mai had the following 

 constants: — m. p. 25.5°; d 0.870 to 0.880; « — 3°; the oil of the Rose Nabonand: — 

 m. p. 18°; d 320 0.8537; a— 2°; sap. v. 42; the oil of the Rose Vanhoutte:— m. p. 

 frequently above 26°. A product prepared by Gattefosse from a mixture of these 

 varieties: — m. p. 23 to 26°; d 0.862 to 0.867; n 1.4600 to 1.4638; geraniol 35 to 37 per cent; 

 citronellol 36 to 48 per cent. 



Rose Oil, Indian. — Great exertions appear to be made in India to foster the 

 decadent industry of oil of rose. In Siktara, a village near Hathras, manifold experi- 

 ments have been made in this direction, on which we have a paper by ). P. Srivastava 

 and D. N. Sinha 5 ). At this place the Rosa damascena was cultivated, and it was found 

 that they could easily reap 1200 lbs. o"r rose flowers per year per acre by contrast to 

 the usual Indian crops of 500 to 600 lbs. per acre. The experiments further demonstrated 





!) Americ. Journ. Pharm. 92 (1920), 428. — 2 ) 1 acre = 40 ares. — 3 ) According to other reports Rosa 

 centifolia, L., is the species which is chiefly utilised in Southern France for the manufacture of rose water and 

 rose pomatum ; cf. Gildemeister and Hoffmann, The Volatile Oils, vol. II., p. 552. — 4 ) Chemist and Dritgyist 

 93 (1920), 1629. - B ) Perfnm. Record 12 (1921), 14. 





