54 Report of Schimmel § Co. 1922. 



d 15Q 0.8974; [«] D — 4.5°; n D20 o 1.4750; soluble in 2 vols. 80 per cent, alcohol; acid v. 0; 

 sap. v. 37.27; sap. v. after acet. 100.3. Its principal constituents are camphene, linalool, 

 a terpene alcohol and its ester 1 ). 



Orris-root Oil. — The last crop of Florentine orris-root is estimated by competent 

 people at from 250000 to 300000 kilos, a very unfavourable, result. The high costs 

 of labour do not induce anybody to having the roots dug up, the less so as there 

 are considerable stocks from last year, owing to the sluggish demand. As these old 

 stocks are said to amount to about 300000 kilos, there would be 300000 to 350 000 (?) kilos 

 available, altogether i. e. about the same quantity as has been obtained in an average 

 crop of the last ten years. As there is very little business, the dealers try to make 

 the consumers believe that there will be a rise, but it seems rather doubtful whether 

 they will succeed in the long run. 



Our two qualities of orris-root oil are in good demand, which proves that they 

 have maintained their leading position in perfumery, in spite of the manifold impedi- 

 ments of the post-war times. 



Whereas in Italy, and especially in the province of Florence, Iris germanica, L. 

 and Iris pallida, Lam., are cultivated above all, in France Iris florentina, L. = Iris alba 

 is grown almost exclusively, though on a smaller scale. Some few iris plantations are 

 said to be found in the departments of Var and Bouches-du-Rhone, according to 

 A. Roulet 2 ). The largest plantation exists in the department of Ain, where the plant 

 was cultivated already in 1835. It covers from 10 to 30 hectares, according to the 

 year. Pellissier 2 ) says that the cultivation is restricted to the small communities of 

 Anglefort and Corbonod, comprising a distance of 10 to 15 kilometres on the right 

 bank of the Rhone. The iris, which adapts itself to every calcareous soil, if not too 

 fresh and too moist, thrives best on good alluvial soil. In Ain the plant is cultivated 

 on tilled, calcareous steppe-land. Very rich soil does not suit the iris, nor should 

 stable manure be given, as it influences the aroma of the rhizomes unfavourably. 

 Artificial nitrogenous fertilizers do not seem to have any effect on the development 

 of the plant, whereas potash compounds favour the aroma and the growth of the 

 rhizomes. Others recommend on the contrary 15000 to 20000 kilos of stable manure 

 or 8 to 10000 kilos of oil cake per hectare after the second or third rotation of crops. 



Planting takes place already towards the end of August, for which purpose the 

 young shoots of two-year-old rhizomes are kept. They have no swelling yet, but roots, 

 and are planted 25 to 30 cm. apart in every direction and 10 cm. deep. Sometimes 

 they are first kept in a nursery and planted out in the following autumn. 



The. best remedy against "iris rot" 3 ), it is said, is to improve the soil, in case it 

 should be too damp, and to disinfect it with carbon sulphide (200 grams per square metre). 



In the department of Ain, the rhizomes are collected already in the second year, 

 from August to October; in Tuscany, in spring of the third year. The rhizomes are 

 not, as in Italy, first soaked in water, but cleaned and freed from the black skin by 

 women and children. Sometimes the rhizomes are cut in pieces, 5 to 10 cm. long 

 and 3 cm. thick. After having been soaked in water for 24 hours, they are spread 

 on bast mats and dried in the sun or in a moderately warm stove. The yield of a 

 two year old plantation comes up to from 5 to 6000 kilos of dry rhizomes on an 

 average, corresponding to from 10 to 12000 kilos of fresh rhizomes. 



l ) Details are not given in the abstract. — 2 ) Parfmn. modernelS (1920), 154. — s ) Cf. Report October 1915, 65. 



