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JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
roots, fruits, or seeds, there are a few purely chemical perfumes, 
such as nitrobenzol, attar of mirbane (or false almond), vanillin 
(or methyl-protocatechnic aldehyde), coumarin (or coumaric 
anhydride), and a few others, such as “ hemerocalle,” “bro- 
melia,” “ aubepin,” &c., not as yet much used or sold. 
Tielman and Hermann, in Germany, first made “ vanillin ” from 
pine-tree sawdust; and Dr. C. R. Alder Wright afterwards made 
it from crude opium. The chemical “ vanillin ” is forty times 
stronger than the natural product, and is worth about 28s. per 
oz. Coumarin (Tonquin-bean odour) is also now made chemi¬ 
cally, and costs about 9s. per oz. 
Market Value of Sweet Foliage. 
To come to trade matters, I believe a good business could be 
done in hardy, fragrant, and durable foliage as opposed to 
flowers. I am told that there is always a good demand for all 
kinds of sweet pot herbs in our great city markets, either fresh 
or as dried; and I can well believe the statement that the supply 
of good foliage or greenery falls short of the demand, although 
there are generally plenty of flowers. The cook, the doctor and 
druggist, and the makers of wines, liqueurs, and cordials, and 
floral decorators owe much, and might owe much more, to fragrant 
foliage and to agreeably flavoured herbs. In Elizabeth’s days 
the “herb woman” was a necessary addition to the servants of 
the fine old country houses, and there is some reminiscence of 
her and her duties lingering around the English Court to-day. 
I believe all pleasant odours are harmless, and very often 
they are actually beneficial. On the other hand, whilst many 
disagreeable odours may be harmless, but few of them do us any 
good, and some of them carry the germs of dire disease, and 
often prove a scourge to the human race. Beau Brummell used 
to insist that no man of fashion in his day should use perfumes, 
but that he should send his linen to be washed and dried on 
Hampstead Heath. 
Flower or Scent Farms. 
There are scent-producing flower farms in several of our 
British colonies, in South Africa, in Australia, and Colonel 
Talbot has obtained some success in Jamaica. The finest 
Peppermint, Lavender, and Thyme, &c. has for many years 
been grown at Mitcham, in Surrey, and there is plenty of land 
