368 
Otto  of  Rose. 
j  Am..Tonr.  Pharm. 
\      July,  1881. 
little  of  this  product,  which  is  of  excellent  quality.  Tn  the  south  of  France 
rose  gardens  occupy  a  large  share  of  attention,  about  Grasse,  Cannes  and 
Nice;  they  chiefly  i^roduce  rose  water,  much  of  which  is  exported  to  Eng- 
land. The  essence  (otto)  obtained  by  the  distillation  of  the  Provence  rose 
{R.  provincialis)  has  a  characteristic  perfume,  arising,  it  is  believed,  from 
the  bees  trans]:»orting  the  pollen  of  the  orange  flowers  into  the  petals  of 
the  roses.  The  French  otto  is  richer  in  stearopten  than  the  Turkish, 
9  grams  crystallizing  in  a  liter  of  alcohol  at  the  same  temperature 
as  18  grams  of  the  Turkish.  The  best  preparations  are  made  at  Cannes 
and  CIrasse.  The  flowers  are  not  there  treated  for  the  otto,  but  are  sub- 
mitted to  a  process  of  maceration  in  fat  or  oil,  10  kilograms  of  roses  being 
required  to  impregnate  1  kilogram  of  fat.  The  price  of  the  roses  varies 
from  50  cents  to  1  franc  25  cents  per  kilogram. 
But  the  one  commercially  important  source  of  otto  of  roses  is  a  circum- 
scribed patch  of  ancient  Thrace  or  modern  Bulgaria,  stretching  along  the 
southern  slopes  of  the  central  Balkans,  and  approximately  included 
between  the  25th  and  26th  degree  of  east  longitude  and  the  42d  and  43d 
degree  of  north  latitude.    The  chief  rose  growing  districts  are  Philipi> 
opolis,  Cliirpan,  Giopcu,  Karadshah-Dagh,  Kojun-Tepe,  Eski-Sara,  Jeni- 
Sara,  Bazardshik,  and  the  centre  and  headquarters  of  the  industry,  Kaz- 
anlik  (Kisanlik),  situated  in  a  beautiful  undulating  plain,  in  the  valley  of 
the  Tunja,     The  productiveness  of  the  last-mentioned  district  may  be 
judged  from  the  fact  that,  of  the  one  hundred  and  twenty-three  Tliraciaii 
localities  carry  ing  on  the  x>rt'pa rat-ion  of  otto  in  1877 — they  numbered  one 
hundred  and  forty  in  1859 — forty-two  belong  to'  it.    The  only  2)lace  afford- 
ing otto  on  the  northern  side  of  the  Balkans  is  Travino.    Tlie  geological 
formation  throughout  is  syenite,  the  decomposition  of  which  has  provided 
a  soil  so  fertile  as  to  need  but  litte  manuring.    The  vegetation,  according 
to  Baur,  indicates  a  climate  differing  but  slightly  from  that  of  the  Black 
Forest,  the  average  summer  temperatures  being  stated  at  82°  F.  at  noon 
and  68°F.  in  the  evening.    The  rose  bushes  flourish  best  and  live  longest 
on  sandy,  sun-exposed  (south  and  southeast  aspect)  slopes.    The  flowers 
produced  by  those  growing  on   inclined  ground  are  dearer  and  more 
esteemed  than  any  raised  on  level  land,  being  50  per  cent,  richer  in  oil^ 
and  that  of  a  stronger  quality.    This  proves  the  advantage  of  thorough 
drainage.    On  the  other  hand,  plantations  at  high  altitudes  yield  less  oil, 
which  is  of  a  character  that  readily  congeals  from  an  insufficiency  of  sum- 
mer heat.    The  districts  lying  adjacent  to  and  in  the  mountains  are  some- 
times visited  by  hard  frosts,  which  destroy  or  greatly  reduce  the  crop. 
Floods  also  occasionally  do  considerable  damage.  The  bushes  are  attacked 
at  intervals  and  in  patches  by  a  blight  similar  to  that  which  injures  the 
vines  of  the  country. 
The  bushes  are  planted  in  hedge-like  rows  in  gardens  and  fields,  at  con- 
venient distances  apart,  for  the  gathering  of  the  crop.  They  are  seldom 
manured.  The  planting  takes  place  in  spring  and  autumn  ;  the  flow- 
ers attain  j^erfection  in  April  and  May,  and  the  harvest  lasts  from  May  till 
the  beginning  of  June.  The  expanded  flowers  are  gathered  before  sunrise, 
often  with  the  calyx  attached ;  such  as  are  not  required  for  immediate  dis- 
