THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST.  [Julv  i,  1895. 
If  the  identical  distillecl  water  is  employed  several 
times  over,  it  increases  the  output  of  oil/  The  tem- 
perature of  the  steam  must  not  be  too  great,  or 
the  essential  oil  is  liable  to  be  injured.  Time;  about 
three  hours.  The  falls  bottom  containing  the  stewed 
leaves  is  hoisted  out  and  the  mashed  mass  is  used  as 
a fertiliser. 
SOME  OK  THE  ELEMENTS  OF  SUCCESS: 
When  layin  g out  a flower  farm  for  the  manufac'.ure 
of  perfumery,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  one 
important  rule  to  financial  success  is  the  means  to 
obtain  low-priced  labor, — such  as  women’s  and  child- 
ren’s help,  who  can  do  the  work  quite  as  well  as 
the  higher-priced  male.  It  would  not  do  at  all 
to  pay  5s.  to  6s.  a day  to  men  to  collect  roses  or 
jasmine  flowers.  It  is  also  an  error  to  attempt  to 
cultivate  too  many  species  of  perfume  flowers.  Select 
only  those  which  are  peculiarly  suited  to  your  earih 
and  position,  and  adapted  to  affairs  climatological. 
A well-established  truth  it  is  that  these  conditions 
enhance  consideiably  the  value  of  the  outputs  of 
various  flowers. 
No;  it  won’t  pay  in  flower-farming  to  employ  the 
labor  of  men  (except  in  the  more  technical  featuresj 
when  boy  and  girl  labor  can  be  uti'ised  and  the 
work  done  just  as  well.  One  of  the  open  secrets  of  the 
success  of  the  Southern  French  is  that  they  have 
always  utilised  the  labor  of  the  young — and  even 
old  women — in  picking  flowei’s,  because  they  do  it 
quicker  and  better  and  cheaper  than  men. 
Make  flower-growing  serve  your  ends  by  using  it 
as  a staff,— not  as  a crutch.  Thus,  — never  entirely 
rely  upon  it  for  a living.  Run  it  along  with  some- 
thing else.  If  you  have  a family  of  children  whose 
work  you  can  have,  you  are  pretty  certain  to  be 
successful. 
WH.tT  IT  DOES  NOT  lUY  TO  CULTIV.Vl'E  : 
The  perfume-making  business  of  the  present  time 
is  not  what  it  was  like  in  times  gone  by,  and  this 
data  about  it  in  different  encyclopaedias  is  almost  quite 
out-of-date.  The  progress  of  the  science  of  chemistry 
has  been  so  quick  in  recent  years,  that  many  aromas 
hitherto  taken  from  flowers,  are  now  manufactured  by 
chemical  combinations  and  adult  rations,  by  manu- 
facturing druggists.  Examples:  the  fragrance  of  the 
simple  violet,  and  its  notable  modest  odor,  is  now  gotten 
by  chemical  process.  Attempts  have  even  been  made 
to  obtain  it  from  the  urine  of  diabetic  patients.  The 
flower  heliotrope  has  lost  its  fame  as  a commercial 
perfume  plant : chemists  have  learned  how  . to  turn 
out  from  other  sources  an  artificial  article  which  is 
an  exact  substitute,— the  product  quite  surpassing— 
it  is  given  out  (in  quality,  consistency,  and  likeabiliiy, 
to  the  real  thing  of  nature)— the  odor  forced  from 
the  flower  itself.  Even  the  household  lilac  has  not 
been  permitted  to  retain  the  exclusive  privilege  of 
its  aroma-breathing  characteristics;  for  the  man  of 
the  pestle  and  mortar  obtains  its  chemical-’,— chiefly 
the.se  artificial  scents  are  obtained,  synthetically, 
from  vefrica  coal-tar.  Don’t  be  alarmed  by  the  p ogress 
of  science.  Many  secrets  there  are,  which  clieniists 
cannot  imitate. 
rllOC  ESSES  EXTIt.VCTION  ! 
Re.sides  distilling,  there  are  four  methods  for  ex- 
tracting scents  from  flowers.  They  are  : expression, 
maceration,  absorption,  and  themethyl-chloride  process. 
Expression  is  only  adopted  where  the  substance  treated 
is  very  liberal  in  its  native  or  essential  oil,  such  as 
the  peel  of  the  orange  or  citron.  By  maceration  is 
meant  the  placing  of  the  flowers  in  fat  made  liquid 
(just  wa  in) ; allowed  to  remain  therein  about  three 
(lays  (no  need  to  keep  it  warm),  and  then  warmed 
sufficientiv  to  allow  the  fat  to  drain  from  the  ex- 
hausted flowers,  and,  after  squeezing  out  what  fa,t 
remains  with  these,  they  are  thrown  oti  to  the  ferti- 
lising heap.  Fr.  sh  flowers  are  added  to  the  fat 
(the  Kbsoihing  (|ualities  of  which  are  well-known), 
and  after  8 or  b such  changes,  the  fat  is  found 
sufficiently  perfumed.  It  is  then  treated  with  alcohol, 
and  yields  its  perfume  to  that  agent,  which  becomes 
the  perfume  ar  iclo  of  commerce.  The  fat,  if  pro- 
perly cleaned,  can  be  used  over  and  over  again. 
The  heat  of  maceration,  however,  is  rather  injurious 
to  the  delicacy  of  the  perfume. 
The  absorption  process  (usually  known  by  the 
French  name  of  cvjleurofie)  consists  in  the  flowers 
being  laid  on  frames  of  cold  fat,  which  is  subse- 
quently treated  as  in  maceration.  Cotton  rags  soaked 
in  olive  oil  are  also  used,  then  the  oil  squeezed  out 
and  treated.  The  methyl-chloride  process  is  a chemical 
treatment  to  be  best  studied  in  text-books  and  con- 
sidered;— the  distillation  proce.^s  is  best,— but  study  all 
the  law  before  building  a still. 
ATT.\R  OF  ROSES. 
Nature  has  many  flow’ers.  Gold  is  heavy,  but  roses 
are  not,  yet  the  essential  oil  of  roses  is  worth  more 
than  gold — weight  for  weight.  Of  all  botanical 
growths,  the  otto  (same  as  attar)  of  roses  finds  the 
readiest  market.  It  is  always  in  demand.  Like  the 
most  precious  of  auriferous  metals, — too  much  cannot 
be  obtained.  In  a fairly  prosperous  y<  ar,  liOO  pounds’ 
weight  of  roses  will  yieltl  1 ounce  of  attar,  or  oil, 
and  a lot  of  fragrant  and  saleable  rose-water.  The 
petals  are  place  I in  a still,  the  vapor  volatises 
the  attar,  and  both  steam  and  oil  ascend,  wind 
their  way  through  the  spiral  condenser,  and  pass  out 
of  the  other  extremity  into  the  receving  base. 
The  correct  kinds  of  rose  to  grow  are  the  centifolia, 
or  chou,  rose  (rarely  seen  Antipodes-w’ards).  and  the 
rose  of  France,— also  called  rose  de  Grasse  after 
the  celebrated  flower  and  perfume-producing  region 
of  France, — a place  twice  visited  by  the  present 
writer,  in  1891  and  1892.  An  acre  of  land  under  first- 
class  cultivation  will  yield  at  least  1,500  pounds  of 
rose-petals;  and  this  will  give  5 ounces  of  attar, 
worth  from  35s.  to  -17s.  each  ou-  ce ; and  there  w ill 
also  be  some  100  gallons  of  rose-water,  valued  at  3s. 
to  4s.  per  gallon. 
The  roses  are  best  put  into  the  still  while  quite 
fresh  and  crisp — the  gathering  taking  place  in  the 
morning  after  tlie  dew  has  disappeared.  If  it  is 
desired  to  ko  p them  21  hours  before  use,  sprinklet 
them  with  fiiK“  salt,  to  retain  their  fragra'  co. 
WHAT  THE  PERFUME  STILL  IS  LIKE  : 
This  is  a very  simple  arrangement.  Any  intelligent 
person — whether  a mechanic  or  not — can  construct 
one  with  the  partial  aid  of  a blacksmith.  A roughly- 
made,  plant  consists  as  follows  : A metallic  tank  of 
about  100  gallons’  capacity,  the  interior  fixed  with 
a holed  fa'se  bottom  about  9 ii  dies  from  the 
base,  and  set  in  brickwork  (although  this  is  not 
absolutely  necessary),  with  a fire-retort  under.  A 
funnel  ab'ut  1 foot  diam.,  at  its  createit  extent,  with 
a river  to  enter  and  a flange  to  support  it,  is  fitted 
like  a saucepan-lid  over  a similar  hole  in  the  head 
of  the  tank.  A pipe  of  2 inches  diam.,  a continua- 
tion if  the  funnel,  continues  like  a spiral  worm 
around  the  interior  woodwoik  of  a barrel  filled  with 
cold  water, — the  end  emanating  near  the  base,  like 
a faucet.  Thus  the  apparatus  is  complete. 
Steaming  or  distillation  of  flowers  is  the  method 
employed  in  the  fabrication  of  neroli,  rose,  lavender, 
etc.,  oils;  also  of  various  other  growths.  '^I’he  work 
of  distilling  is  quite  simple;  and  never  necessitates 
any  great  degree  of  experience, — i.c..  the  fat  and  the 
oil  methods, — both  quite  easy  to  learn. 
But  the  greatest  art  in  peifuinery  consists  in 
adulteration, — the  knowledge  how  to  blend  cheap  with 
valuable  essentials.  It  requires  years  of  learning, 
and  is  a professional  secret.  Like  painting,  it  is 
not  easily  learnt.  But  the  grower  does  not  need  these 
secrets.  Those  are  for  the  manufacturing  chemist. 
SOME  RESULTS  PER  ACRE  : 
The  bitter-orange  blossom  will  yield  80  oz.,  of 
essential  oil  per  acre,  which  at  15s.,  to  £1  per  oz., 
means  £60  to  ,£80  per  acre.  The  acre  of  jasmine 
will  bring  in  .£20  to  .£30.  Roses  from  £70  to  £90 
per  acre  (the  attar  is  cxceedin>>ly  limited,  or  pro- 
bably the  sum  per  acre  would  be  higher).  'The 
oz.,  is  worth  from  £2  to  ,£3.  even  the  prolific  oil- 
iroducing  true  lavendtr,  brings  60s.,  per  pound, 
’eppormint  yields  up  to  30  pounds  of  oil  per  acre, 
which  at  :30s.,  per  pound,  means  a return  of  £15 
per  acre.  And  so  on  with  the  other  essential  oils, 
all  of  w hich  .are  moat  valuable.  Conqiare  the  figures, 
ye  struggling  farmers,  with  yr.iir  present  low  returns 
for  growing  corn  or  market  produce,  bitudy  the 
