52 Report of Schimmel $ Co. April/October 1917. 



or in round figures about 165 Turkish pounds per kilo 1 ). A short time before the 

 war, it is said to have been 2500 francs per kilo. In July 1916, it was possible to buy 

 at Burdur in the retail trade at 20 piasters per miskal, corresponding to 415 piasters 

 per kilo. In Isparta, I was offered rose oil, in July 1916, at 1000 francs per kilo; in 

 Brussa, in December 1916, the product of Kazanlik roses at 25 piasters per miskal, 

 that of "hafis" roses at 20 piasters, and that of white roses at 40 piasters. Owing 

 to the low prices, many natives then bought 1000 and more miskals each, in order 

 to store these stocks for better times coming. May they be satisfied with their 

 speculation! 



The high prices, obtained so far for Anatolian rose oil, as compared with the 

 Bulgarian product, are chiefly due to the fact that adulterations were happily almost 

 unknown with it, whereas they flourish in Bulgaria. But in recent times, pedlars have 

 tried, in Anatolia, to introduce adulterants to the farmers, e. g. oil of geranium, which 

 was offered at from 300 to 400 piastres per oka and of which once 10 000 miskals 

 were confiscated by the inspector of the rose industry, i? a short while ago. It has been 

 motioned to prohibit officially the import of all such oils as are used or may be 

 suitable for faking otto of roses. 



In spite of the still existing "purity" of the Anatolian rose oils, which it is to be 

 hoped will survive in future, and of their excellent quality, their price seems compara- 

 tively too high, especially if the production be further increased, in order to compete 

 successfully with the rose oils of other origin. Exaggerated prices, besides, tend to 

 induce consumers to use cheaper synthetic substitutes, which would diminish the 

 possibilities of selling the genuine otto of roses. It is interesting, therefore, to in- 

 vestigate how high the costs of production are and at what prices the farmers are 

 able to produce under normal and healthy conditions. 



Let us suppose that 1 donum yields on an average 300 okas of red Kazanlik roses, 

 for which, in normal times, 1 to l 1 / 2 piastre was paid per oka. ^Sometimes, the price 

 went up to 2 or even 3 piasters. It is remarkable that there is no normal price, i.e. 

 that the price never depends upon the crop and on the quality of the petals, but is 

 always fixed after the distillation is over and the oil sold in accordance with the price 

 obtained for the oil. Last year, it was only 1 /i piaster per oka in Isparta, 1 piaster per 

 3 okas in Burdur, and in Uluburlu even as low as V 8 piaster per oka, owing to bad 

 trade and in spite of the scanty crop. 



The yield in petals, under normal conditions, represents an average value of 300 

 to 450 piastres per donum or 3270 to 4910 piasters per hectare. Taking into con- 

 sideration the comparatively low expenses for laying out the rose gardens and keeping 

 them in order, the profit is rather high and the farmers may well be satisfied with 

 it. It is acceptable even if the crop is inferior or if the price sinks to V 2 piaster per 

 oka of petals 2 ). 



x ) The former chaos of currency: gold, silver, bad piastres, and so on, has fortunalely been replaced by 

 the decimal system according to the financial Act of April 1916: 1 Turkish pound = 100 piastres. 1 piastre 

 has 40 paras. The rate of exchange in times of peace was about 18 s. 2 d. 



2 ) For the sake of comparison, the returns of some other branches of agriculture are given hereafter, 

 as per official statistics for the sandjak of Denislu: — 



wheat: . . . 1329 (1913) from 25000 donums = 120000 killehs (of 22 okas), price per killeh = 20 piasters 

 1330 (1914) „ 45000 „ == 130000 „ „ „ „ = 28 



i. e. on an average per donum 3.6 killehs at 24 piasters = 86.4 piasters, 

 barley: . . . 1329 from 26250 donums = 208000 killehs (of 18 okas), price per killeh = 10 piasters 

 1330 „ 36000 „ = 215000 „ „ „ „ = 12 



i.e. on an average per donum 7 killehs at 11 piasters = 77 piasters. 



