226 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
£ J UNE, 
find that the plants of temperate regions, with 
their leaves so admirably arranged to resist 
drouth, in their wild state grow upon barren 
rocks, on old walls, and on sandy plains, where 
plants with ordinary foliage would soon perish. 
The point to which we would direct these re¬ 
marks is this: that plants so well provided to 
exist, and even flourish under natural condi¬ 
tions unfavorable to growth, will do so equally 
well in the hot and dry artificial climate that 
we make in our houses. There would be much 
more cultivation of plants in rooms, if people 
in houses heated by furnaces and stoves, 
would not persist in their attempts to grow 
roses, carnations, and camellias, which, nine 
cases in ten, end in disappointment. The 
thick-leaved plants afford variety and beauty of 
foliage, and many of them are pleasing, and 
others really brilliant when in bloom. We do 
not say that we should prefer these to roses and 
carnations, but that success with these is pre¬ 
ferable to failure with the others. The merits 
of some genera of this family have been set 
forth in our columns by Mr. Chas. H. Hovey, of 
Cambridgeport, Mass., whose article in August 
last on Sempervivums, and that in June last on 
Echeverias, gives an account of the most de¬ 
sirable species in these genera. We may men¬ 
tion that the large Echeveria retusa floribunda, 
then figured, has proved an admirable winter¬ 
flowering species, and a most brilliant house- 
plant. Among the Sedums, or Stone-crops, 
are white, pink, and yellow-flowered species, 
with great diversity of habit, excellent hardy 
border-plants, and some specially useful for 
basket-culture ; nearly all are summer-flower¬ 
ing, but the Japanese S. Sisboldii is a fine house- 
plant, whether the plain-leaved, or its variegated 
form. Turning to the genus Crassula, which 
gives its name to the family, we find the species, 
being mostly African, are not hardy, but they 
furnish a number of capital house-plants, all 
with great powers of resisting the effects of dry 
air. Crassula coccinea is a very old house-plant, 
but it would be difficult to find a more brilliant 
cluster of scarlet flowers than it bears; this is 
sometimes called Rochea ; Crassula lactca, in 
the catalogues incorrectly as C. perfoliata, pro¬ 
duces pyramidal clusters of small pure white 
flowers, and is grown by some florists to sup¬ 
ply cut flowers. Crassula cordata is a remark¬ 
ably free flowering species, which has less com¬ 
pact clusters than the one last named, and its 
flowers are slightly purplish, and very neat; the 
engraving (p. 225) shows the flowers and foli¬ 
age of the natural size; it has kept in flower 
with us all winter. This plant seems bent on 
propagating itself; wherever a stem touches 
the ground it takes root, and if kept in a moist 
atmosphere, rootlets are thrown out from the 
stem into the air; more than this, there is often 
produced in the place of a flower a minute bud, 
which, if allowed to remain, develops several 
little leaves, and finally drops, and if it falls 
upon the earth, takes root. All of the tender 
plants of this family may be used as border 
plants in summer, where their often striking 
form and color of foliage will be attractive; 
some, such as the Echeverias, are used in form¬ 
ing ornamental designs, but this requires a 
greater number of plants than most persons can 
afford. Our principal object is to call the at¬ 
tention of those who are unable to grow other 
house-plants, to the variety offered by these of 
the Crassula family; a collection of Echeverias, 
Semperviums, Crassulas, and Rocheas, is beau¬ 
tiful for the foliage alone, and besides this, 
many have exceedingly showy flowers, and 
present a strong claim to popular favor. 
Tender Climbing Roses. 
Nothing in the horticulture of the southern 
states is more likely to strike the traveler from 
the north than the profusion of climbing roses. 
Lamarque and other climbers, which he has 
seen in his colder climate attaining perfection 
only under glass, there festoon the houses in 
both city and country, and for the greater part 
of the year produce a wealth of the choicest 
flowers. With proper management these tender 
climbers may be made to give much better 
satisfaction in northern localities than they 
usually do, and all rose-growers will be thank¬ 
ful for the following bit of experience from 
B. Shaw, Esq., Williamsport, Pa., who says: 
“ I have planted around a bay-window, under 
which there are three cellar windows, ‘ La¬ 
marque,’ ‘ Mareclial Niel,’ and ‘ Gloire de Dijon.’ 
The plants are too large to bury, some of them 
being 18 feet high, and I protect them in the 
following manner: When it is time to bury 
other tender roses, I take out the cellar win¬ 
dows and bend down the roses (which are 
planted directly in front of them), and draw 
them into the cellar; I then take strips of cloth 
or leather and tack the rose-stems to the under 
side of the floor timbers; this puts them entire¬ 
ly out of the way, and at the same time pro¬ 
tects them from being broken. To protect the 
root, and at the same time to close up the win¬ 
dow, I make a box as large, or larger, than the 
cellar window, using the sash out of the cellar 
window for one end of the box; this will give 
light in the cellar almost as well as though it 
had not been moved; the other end and one 
side of the box are left open; the open end 
comes next to the house, with the open side on 
the ground; this will entirely close up the win¬ 
dow, but not exclude the light. I then bank 
up on either side of the box with manure, to 
keep the earth from freezing. In this way any 
of the tenderest climbing roses may be grown 
as well as in a warm climate, and if any one 
doubts whether it pays or not, to take this 
little extra trouble, let him come and see a 
“Lamarque” or a “Gloire de Dijon,” from 
twelve to eighteen feet high, in full bloom, and 
I think he will be satisfied that it more than 
pays.” [This is well worth trying.— Ed.] 
Attar of Roses. 
The following account of the sources and pre¬ 
paration of the perfume, known as Attar of Roses, 
we gather from a most reliable recent work on 
plant products, the Pharmacographia of Fliiekiger 
and Ilanbury. It was unknown to the Greeks and 
Romans. The Rose-oil of Dioscorides was a fatty 
oil, perhaps oil of olives, in which roses had been 
steeped. The first knowledge we have of the distil¬ 
lation of roses came from Persia, by way of Con¬ 
stantinople, towards the close of the 13th century. 
But the earliest mention we have of the attar is by 
Ksempfer, very much later. Kiempfer speaks with 
admiration of the rose gardens he saw at Shiraz, in 
1683-4, and says that the water distilled from them 
is exported to other parts of Persia, as well as to 
all India ; and he adds, as a singular fact, that there 
separates from it a certain fat, like butter, called 
EEttr gyl, of the most exquisite odor, and more 
valuable even than gold. It was not until the 17th 
century that the oil of roses was known, and sold 
very sparingly by the apothecaries of Italy and 
Germany. It was scarcely known in English com¬ 
merce until the commencement of this century. 
The chief locality for attar of rose, at least for 
that which comes to Europe and America, is a small 
tract in Asiatic Turkey, on the southern side of the 
Balkan Mountains, in the province of Rumelia. 
The Damask Rose (Rosa Damascena) is the species 
used, mainly, if not exclusively. The flowers are 
gathered before sunrise, and are always distilled on 
the same day. Those that are not taken directly to 
the still, are spread out in cellars. The still is of 
copper, of the simplest description, to which a 
straight tin tube is added, cooled by traversing a 
tub fed by a stream of water. The roses are thrown 
in whole, 25 to 50 pounds to a charge, with an ade¬ 
quate supply of water. The runnings are received 
in glass flasks, which are kept for a day or two at a 
temperature not lower than 60° Fahrenheit, by 
which time most of the oil, bright and fluid, will 
have risen to the surface. From this it is skimmed 
off by means of a small tin funnel, with a long han¬ 
dle and a fine orifice. The yield of the attar from 
the rose-water does not exceed 0.04 per cent. A 
large part of the rose-water used in England, is 
made in the south east of France, at Cannes and 
Nice; where also a little rose-oil is produced, of a 
fine quality, commanding a high price. 
Corn (Maize) from Egypt. —“ Some 23 years 
ago, Dr. Abbot, of Egyptian antiquity fame, pre¬ 
sented my father, the late Dr. John W. Francis, 
with some grains of corn which he had himself 
taken out of a mummy. They were planted in our 
garden in Bond St., and well do I remember the 
deep interest expressed by the many visitors who 
watched with anxiety the growth of grain that had 
been concealed for 3,000 years. In due course of 
time an ear appeared and ripened on the stalk. It 
resembled in many respects the Virginia com of the 
present day. This being the case, and it having 
been [ffars/] proved that corn existed in Egypt be¬ 
fore the discovery of America,” etc.The above 
is copied out of a very queer pamphlet, jHst pub¬ 
lished, entitled “ Curious Facts concerning Man 
and Nature,” by a New York Physician. When 
the author has been in Egypt, and seen how inge¬ 
nious and active the people are in putting up 
“mummy grain” and other articles, for which both 
maize and dowra are conveniently at hand, he may 
be less confident about the existence of maize in 
Ancient Egypt, and the germination of any sort of 
grain 3,000 years old. A. G. 
-— — - 
Paris-Green in the Field, the Orchard, 
and in the Garden. 
That persons have been injured while using Paris- 
green, we have no doubt. That any injury has re¬ 
sulted from the eating of potatoes, fruits, or other 
products of plants to which this poison has been 
applied, we do not believe. We do not say that it is 
impossible that this can happen, but we do say that 
tons and tons of Paris-green have been used in va¬ 
rious parts of the country, to kill the potato-bug 
and other insects, and there has come to our knowl¬ 
edge no instance of injury resulting from eating the 
products of the plants thus treated, nor any analy¬ 
sis, showing the presence of arsenic in these plants 
or their products. Did we know or suspect that 
the slightest inj ury might occur in this manner, we 
should at once discountenance the use of the poi¬ 
son. It is necessary that the very deadly character 
of this poison should be known in order to insure 
care in its use. No person with scratched or cut 
hands should apply it, and whoever uses it should 
avoid handling it, avoid breathing the dust, and 
everywhere and all the time keep in mind the abso¬ 
lutely dangerous character of the article. It should 
be stored out of reach as carefully as gunpowder, 
and its application should not be entrusted to a 
careless or an ignorant person. There are two 
methods of applying it: in the dry state, diluted 
with some dry powder, and in the liquid state, sus¬ 
pended in water. There are various qualities of 
Paris-green in the market; the best makers, to their 
shame be it said, make several brands; in other 
words, adulterate it at the factory. There is no 
ready test which one can apply to ascertain the 
purity of the article, and the only way is to buy of 
