SCIENTIFIC AND OTHER NOTES ON ESSENTIAL OILS. es) 
of such an article is affected more particularly by the disturbances and upheavals of 
warlike times, as the oil is used exclusively in the manufacture of articles de luxe. 
Under the pressure of stagnant demand and the necessity to realize existing stocks 
as far as possible, prices shrank to about -# 900.— per kilo (= abt. 25/- oz.) in the 
course of the autumn 1914 and experienced a further drop in the early spring of this 
year, when it was found that there were. still considerable parcels of good quality 
left unsold. In consequence of the cold weather, distillation only began in May 
this year, and was carried out under favourable conditions, as the rose plants had 
stood the winter well and but little damage by frost was noticed. The yield of the 
distillation is claimed to have been particularly abundant in the Karlovo district, having 
exceeded last year’s result by about one fifth; on the other hand it is said that in the 
Kazanlik and other districts the quantity of oil obtained did not reach last year’s output. 
Generally speaking the crop may be called a fair average one. That the position of 
the producers is not enviable this year in view of the general business stagnation, and 
that still further great sacrifices will be necessary before the receding tendency of the 
market has been brought to a standstill, goes without saying. The advent of peaceful 
times only will bring better conditions for those interested in the rose oil industry. 
Statistical material from divers sources about the 1915 crop are before us, but 
as,is usual the various statements differ so much one from another that neither of them 
can lay claim to absolute reliability. We only publish, therefore, the report of the 
German Consulate in Sofia which, at any rate, can be looked upon as absolutely impartial. 
The rose crop, so the report tells us*), and the distillation of the blossoms in Bulgaria 
began towards the end of May and lasted down to the beginning of July. Generally 
speaking the result was satisfactory. In the Stara-Zagora district an average of 200 kilos 
of red and 250 kilos of white rose petals were obtained for every 10 ares under culti- 
vation, in the Kazanlik district the average yield amounted 150 kilos. The blossoms 
were a little less rich in oil than in the preceding year. One muskal (equal to about 
1/g oz.) of oil was obtained on an average from 18 kilos of flowers in the Kazanlik 
district, and from 12 to 13 kilos in Stara-Zagora. According to official records the 
total yield of this year’s crop was as under in the various districts :— 
rose fields average yield yield of rose oil 
district (10 a.) of flowers rauskals 
DAEIOVO ere Se e+ ST BIGCS 4784520 281 442 
Philippople “20.00 9 4008 1 899 860 118 741 
Peseta BS 20282 456 310 38 025 
Pasasarichte si" 450 | 112500 7031 
Pazar ser Stel cree 2. 13:2 14 640 915 
stata-Zasota 8329224) =~ 38.5291 830 000 64.000 
WMAZaniies et Pale Ph = ae 300 000 
Thus the total production amounted to about 810154 muskals or 3888 kilos. 
P. Siedler”) reports on the properties of a rose oil which had been sent to him 
from Bulgaria as guaranteed pure. The oil was clear and of a yellowish colour. The 
first crystals began to form at 22°. The crystallization-point*) is therefore 22°. For 
1) Nachr. f. Hand., Ind. u. Landw. 1915, No. 75, p. 5. — 7) Pharm. Ztg. 60 (1915), 179. — %) Comp. 
Report April 1913, 90; footnote. 
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