66 
THE  FLOWER  FARMS  OF  FRANCE. 
the  handkerchief  and  the  toilet ;  such  as  Lubin's  well-known 
"Extraits  pour  le  mouchoir."  Their  preparation  is  the  most 
curious  and  interesting  feature  of  the  Grasse  establishments. 
The  pomade  "body,"  which  is  prepared  in  winter,  is  composed 
of  one  part  of  beef-suet  and  two  parts  of  beef-lard  (except  for 
jasmine  and  tuberose,  which  is  mainly  lard,  hardened  by  mutton 
or  veal  suet),  thoroughly  hashed,  washed  in  several  waters,  and, 
among  the  best  manufacturers,  washed  several  times  in  rose 
water  to  deprive  it  of  all  unpleasant  odor,  then  carefully  melted 
and  stored  away  in  huge  tin  cans,  in  airy,  cool  vaults,  for  use  in 
the  season  of  flowers.  Another  preparation,  called  "  corps  dur," 
or  hard  body,  is  made  of  beef- tallow  only,  and  is  used  in  the 
manufacture  of  stick  pomatums.  For  the  oils,  the  inodorous 
virgin  olive  oil  is  used,  expressed  from  olives  just  before  their 
maturity. 
The  busy  operations  of  the  year  commence  with  the  rose 
season. 
There  are  two  processes  for  impregnating  the  pomade  body 
and  the  oils  with  the  floral  odors — one  by  infusion  and  macera- 
tion, the  other  by  what  is  termed  "enfleurage."  The  first  is 
employed  for  the  strong,  less  volatile  odors  of  the  rose,  orange, 
and  acacia;  the  latter  for  the  sensitive,  ethereal  perfumes  of  the 
jasmine,  tuberose;  jonquil,  and  all  the  bulbous  plants,  which  will 
not  endure  the  application  of  even  a  moderate  degree  of  heat. 
And,  first,  by  infusion.  About  100  kilogrammes  (220  lbs.)  are 
put  into  a  tin  planished  copper  vessel,  placed  in  a  copper  water- 
bath,  melted  at  a  low  temperature,  and  charged,  at  daybreak, 
with  a  certain  quantity  of  the  freshly-gathered  flowers,  which 
are  stirred  constantly  during  the  day  or  night,  the  mass  being 
kept  only  warm  enough  to  maintain  a  semi-fluid  state.  About 
midnight  it  is  removed  from  the  fire,  poured  into  strong  bags, 
made  of  fish  cord,  and  subjected  to  heavy  pressure  in  large  per- 
forated iron  cylinders,  standing  vertically  upon  marble  bed 
plates,  which  are  gently  warmed,  to  prevent  the  congelation  of 
the  exuding  mass.  Next  morning  fresh  leaves  are  added,  and 
the  process  repeated  daily,  until  the  desired  strength  of  perfume 
is  attained ;  the  pomade  is  then  poured  into  cylindrical  tin  boxes, 
and  sealed  up  for  shipment. 
