MANUFACTURE  OF  OTTO  OF  ROSES. 
69 
single  metical,  whilst  in  the  previous  one  they  delivered  a  pretty 
considerable  quantity. 
In  the  district  of  Jeni  Sagra  the  rose  plant  has  been  subject 
to  a  blight,  similar  to  that  of  the  vine  so  often  mentioned  of  late 
years  ;  the  same,  however,  has  for  the  present  only  shown  itself 
to  any  extent  in  the  village  of  Ekistsche,  where  it  has  destroyed 
seven-eighths  of  the  crop,  but  it  is  feared  that  it  will  spread  in 
the  ensuing  years. 
But,  nevertheless,  that  which  has  been  spoilt  by  the  unfa- 
vorable circumstances  above  named,  has  been  amply  made  up 
by  the  cold  and  wet  weather  during  the  distilling  period  ;  only 
in  the  last  fourteen  days  have  we  had  great  heat  with  little 
rain. 
It  is  calculated  that  on  the  average  twelve  occas  of  leaves 
yield  one  metical ;  some  days  in  the  previous  year  seventeen 
occas  would  only  furnish  one  metical,  but  this  year  the  average 
can  be  taken  at  ten  to  eleven  occas,  and  cases  are  known  to  us 
where,  on  a  very  cold  day,  eight  to  nine  occas,  and  even  seven 
occas  of  leaves,  yielded  one  metical. 
The  period  for  distilling  lasts  in  each  place  usually  14  days, 
and  it  is  reckoned  that  in  this  time  one  still  produces  about  120 
meticals,  but  we  know  that  in  this  year  in  many  villages  it  may 
be  computed  at  least  170  meticals  ;  it  is  true  that  this  is  only 
the  case  in  the  villages  lying  in  the  lowlands,  whilst  in  the 
mountains  the  result  is  beyond  all  expectation  bad  ;  the  night- 
frosts  and  floods  have  destroyed  more  than  the  half  of  the  rose 
plants,  and  during  the  distillation  the  want  of  leaves  was  much 
felt,  so  that,  for  instance  at  Hadschar,  only  about  6000  meticals 
were  procured  from  66  stills,  and  the  like  was  the  case  in  the 
other  villages  similarly  situated.  These  places  were  also  unfor- 
tunate in  the  weather  during  the  time  of  distilling ;  the  harvest 
is  always  four  to  six  weeks  later  in  the  mountains  than  the  low- 
lands, and  Hadschar  and  Rachmanlo,  for  instance,  have  only 
completed  their  distillation  two  days  ago.  The  weather  was, 
however,  the  last  fortnight  fine  and  dry. 
If  we  take  all  the  places  together,  we  think  we  are  right  in 
computing  the  average  of  this  year's  yield  at  135  meticals  of  oil 
to  every  still ;  the  total  amount  therefore  of  otto  of  roses  pro- 
duced this  year  would  be  about  338,000  meticals,  whereas  in  the 
