14 
TROPICAL 
AeElCULTtTRIST. [July 1, im. 
packed ia tins or in bottles and aent to Earope. 
Bacb vessel should bear clearly written and exact 
information as to the weight of grease, the Quantity 
of flowers used in it, the time they remained in 
soak, (fee, so that the purchaser may have, besides 
his own tests, a reliable basis for the price he 
may give. 
In order to extract the essence from this grease 
or pomade, the latter is jnst melted and dropped 
by very small drops into the purest alcohol, in which 
it remains for ten or twelve days. The essence is 
then obtained by distillation. The resulting products 
are, on the one hand, the pure essence, and on the 
other, a quantity of grease which still contains 
enough scent to be good for pomade-making.' 
It has been already mentioned that certain flowers 
will not endure treatmeat with heat. Cold enAeurage\ 
may be carried out by mearss of special frames with 
glass bottoms. Lard has been mentioned, but 
mutton fat or any kind of grease will do, provided 
only that it is clean and perfectly free from smell. 
The process of distillation is well known, but it 
can only be applied to flowers whose perfume is not 
destroyed thereby, to leaves, roots, barks, stalks, 
Beads, resins, &c, 
J PERFUME-PLANTS. 
Orange (Citrus aurantium).— The orange is entitled 
to precedence. The commonest kind, the sweet orange, 
was introduced into New Caledonia from Tahiti, and 
grows luxuriantly. The oranges unfortunately cannot 
be utilised and rot on the ground. They would 
yield a wine which, when well madQ, is equal to 
Madeira, and fetches 2 to 3 francs a bottle in 
France. 
For perfumery the ' Bigaradier' orange is the best. 
Its fruit is not edible, but its flowers have a 
superior scent, Three kinds of essences are obtained 
from the orange tree : — 
(1) From the flowers. ' Neroli Portugal ' from the 
■1 sweet orange is worth 200 francs (£8) a kilo- 
gramme (2|lb.) ' Neroli bigarade' from bitter 
oranges is worth 500 francs (£20) per kilo- 
gramme. One thousand kilogrammes of flowers 
should yield 300 grammes of essence. 
(2) From the pericarp (orange-pec 1), this essen- 
. tial oil is worth 20 to 25 francs (16 to 20 
; shillings) the litre. Five kilogrammes of peel 
yield 312 grammes of essence. It also appears 
that 100 kilogrammes of orangesj in 100 litres 
of water yield 1 litre of essence. This result 
seems to have been obtained from dry peels, 
but it is better to use them green. The peels 
are rolled in a vessel whose interior is armed 
with needle points projecting 2 millimetres 
yra (1 line or 1-12 inch) from its interior surface. 
: The essence pours out and escapes by a hole 
■jj, in the bottom of the vessel. 
ji(3) From the leaves and small green fruits 
(called essence de petit grnin). 
The flower yields two perfectly distinct scents, 
according as the extraction has been by distillation 
or by maceration. In ordei' to scent a kilogramme 
of grease, 8 kilogrammes of flowers have to be used 
in 32 operations, that is to say, 250 grammes of 
flowers macerated at a time in the kilogramme 
of grease. The perfume thus obtained is far supe- 
rior to that got by distillation. Besides the orange 
there are various kinds of oitron. The esspnoe of 
oitron is worth 16 to 20 franca a kilogramme. 
^ What becomes ef the alcohol is not stated. 
Nor are the relative proportions of alcohol to the 
original grease and the final e3Beiaae.—{Transl.) 
f Is cold maceration meant ? The passage ia 
conoiM to obscurity.— (TransJ.) 
X Bo atkted, but dry peel aeem« to be meant.— 
{Trawl) 
^ergainot-^ {Citrus Limetta). — This comee mostly 
from Italy, 100 fruits yield about 85 grammes of 
essence worth 36 to 50 francs, For some years past a 
fungoid disease has afQicted the Italian citron trees 
and considerably raised the price of an essence that 
is the basis of many perfutaes. 
Eucahjpius citriodora. — The leaves yield on distil- 
ation a delicious essence resembling citron, I kilo- 
gramme aud 70U grammes distilled at Sydney gave 
11^ grammes of a pure and colourless essence. 
Cassie (Acacia Farnesiana). — This comes next to 
the oranges, because its pronounced odour of violets* 
has raised it to a most important place in perfu- 
mery, The plant is a native of India, but its intro- 
duction into New Caledonia has been a nuisance to 
farmers on account of the way it is spreading. It 
is cultivated in Algeria and in France. It is said 
that a hectare in fall production near Cannes brings 
in a gross revenue of 20,000 francs. This statement 
may need varification ; but it seems to be the case 
that in the department of Var the Acacia when 
five years old gives on the average 1 kilogramme 
of fresh flowers per plant per season, worth 4 to 
5 francs a kilogramme, and a hectare can carry 
5,000 plants. When dried in the shade, the flowers 
retain their perfume, 10 kilogrammes of fresh flowers 
yield 74 grammes of essence. Two kilogrammes of 
flowers will scent 1 kilogramme of grease. One 
person can gather 700 grammes of flowera in an 
hour. This pJant also yields a gum as good as gum 
arable. A plant two years old has yielded 60 gram- 
mes of gum, and a plant four years old 180 gram- 
mes. The bark and the pod are both rich in tannin. 
The flower will not bear distillation, enfieurage or 
maceration must be employed. 
The " black wattle" (Acacia decurrens) of Australia 
has a flower possessing the same odour, and the gum 
was quoted on the London Market in 1895 at 1,500 
francs for the ton. The flowers of Acacia Lebbeak 
( ? Albizzia Lebbeck.— TransZ.) and those of the 
false guaiacum (Acacia Bpirorbis) are as yet unknown 
in perfumery, and would seemingly be fit com- 
panions with the "Oassie."t 
Geranium capitatum grows exceedingly well 
in New Caledonia. The essence is worth 35 
to 40 francs a kilogramme. That made in Algiers 
ia worth more than the Indian variety. A kilo- 
gramme of leaves gives a gramme of essence. With 
two cuttings a hectare will produce about 40,000 
kilogrammes of leaves, and these will yield 36 to 
39 kilogrammes of an essence which resembles and 
frequently adulteraSss the essence of roses. 
Heliotropium Peruvianum, When carefully grown, 
this plant may become a considerable shrub and 
will go on flowering for half the year. It is one 
of the safest and most paying of plants. The 
essence may be obtained either by enflenrage or 
by maceration. In France a great deal of artificial 
heliotrope is used, but the natural extract will 
always fetoh its value, Good heliotrope pomade 
(genuine) is currently sold in London at 20 franoa 
the half kilo, (about £14 or ^15 a lb.) This per- 
fume may be also obtained by the agency of caroon 
sulphide. M. Piver obtained 6 kilogrammes of it 
from the plants growing on 1 hectare at a cost of 
3,000 francs, or 500 francs the kilogramme. Four 
grammes were sufficient to scent a kilogramme of 
promade. 
Jasminum grandiAormi. Grease or pomade scented 
with this fetches 7 to 15 franca according to quality. 
The flowers are worth 4 to 6 franoa the Kilo, at 
Cannes. A hectare of jasminum will yield about 2 
* This resemblance has never occurred to me 
though the smell ia delicious.— (TransZ.) > 
t The flower of Albizisia Lebbeck and odoratissima 
loses its delicious perfume and acquirea a stale one 
almost immediately it is gathered. It would have 
to go straight from the tree to the grease.— (T/ansf.) 
