1 Dxc., 1897.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 483 
General Notes. 
SCENT FARMS. 
AN INDUSTRY '10 BE. 
In our last issue we drew attention to the possibilities of scent-farming, 
pointing out how, by the help of the children on a farm, the scent of lavender 
and tuberoses could be gathered in its crude form and made a source of 
revenue. Mr. George Stacey, writing under the above heading to the Journal 
of the Bureau of Agriculture of Western Australia, says :— 
“ Hyery new means for the production of wealth in a young country 
is a step towards its assured and lasting prosperity. . 5 
“Tn this vast territory there should, in the future, spring up numerous 
little industries, one of which will undoubtedly be the making of scents from 
many of the innumerable perfumed flowers that deck the face of the land at 
this season. ‘ake our almost ‘national’ flower, the ‘sweet boronia.’ Can 
any perfume more delicate be conceived ? Or one more lasting? In the days 
tocome . . . . scent farms will be established, and the fragrance of the 
fairy bells caught and preserved.” : 
Mr. Stacey then describes the method of doing so:—‘* Distillation being 
only suitable to strong scents like neroli, it is advisable to follow the French 
system adopted with such delicate flowers as the violet. The requirements are 
simple, and consist only of a frame formed of four pieces of wood 18 inches 
long and 1 inch square on the ends, rabbeted to half-an-inch, so that an end 
section is like the letter L. These four pieces must be mortised into a wooden 
base at such a distance that the angle of each is one foot distant from that of 
its neighbour. Particular care must be taken that these corner-posts are 
absolutely vertical, for the next thing is to slide into each pair a piece of glass 
18 inches long, and, in the case of one pair, 12 inches wide, and in that of the 
other 11finches. These being placed in position form the sides of a deep glass 
box, the bottom being formed by a piece of glass 12 inches square laid on the 
wooden base and between the angles of the four corner-posts; «couple of dozen 
pieces of glass 11} by 114 inches complete the mechanical equipment.” 
Now itis necessary to prepare about a dozen pounds of pure lard. This 
is done by boiling in pure water and using absolutely clean vessels. The 
operation is repeated three or four times with different water each time, and 
the purified grease should then be packed away in an earthenware vessel. The 
scentmaker’s equipment now lacks nothing but the flowers to be treated ; and 
the boys and girls of the family need be early risers, for ‘sweet boronia’” 
pours out her fragrance with the rest of “ Nature’s fairies with scented breath” 
in homage to the sun’s glorious majesty. Daybreak must therefore see the 
younglings afield, where, with light and nimble fingers, they may gather the 
blossom-laden spray. Nor use viclence, boys and girls, for the home of the 
sweet fay, who by night from Nature’s store distils such fragrance, is worthy 
of reverent and gentle touch. 
When the load of blossoms has arrived it is necessary to separate them 
from their stems. ‘his is best done by means of a ‘“‘heckle,” or comb, made 
by driving fine nails through a piece of wood at a distance of about an eighth 
of an inch from one another, thus forming a sort of comb, which is set at the 
end of a table. The sprays, shaken free of dew, are drawn through. The 
blossoms thus detached from their stems have a certain amount of foliage 
amongst them which must be separated by means of a sieve of such measure- 
ment as will allow the passage of the leaves, but not of the flowers. Now one 
side of the glass box is withdrawn, and one by one the squares of glass receive 
I 
