1 Juty, 1899.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. et Je 43 
Attar of roses is obtained from the flowers of Rosa centifolia provincialis. 
It is obtained by simple distillation by the Christian inhabitants (chiefly) of the 
Balkan States in Turkey in Europe, in Turkey in Asia, and in Bulgaria. The 
process is simple, and the writer will be elad to describe it to anyone who thinks 
of giving the matter a practical trial, as the industry is eminently suited to the 
conditions which prevail in Queensland. 
The following extract is from the splendid book by Mr. G. W. S. Piesse, 
the celebrated perfumer of London, called “The Art of Perfumery,” published 
by Longmans and Co. :— 
“The following is a summary of the production of otto (attar) in 
Roumelia previous to the Russia-'Turkish war of 1877-78 :— 
Kezanlik at ve =r on DTS Ge, 
Guenpsa oe eh ds ayy TOS 
Karaja-Bogh .., ee he .. 6,144 ,, 
Tchirpan ay + ey cn ASEYT 5, 
Koyoun-Tepe oD ou aio ASSES, 
Pazardzik a ae a LARD 2, 
Yeni-Zaaghra aj wet acy hy PA 5, 
Zaaghra oi a ors fee DOSEEe 
55,520 oz. 
This estimate is based on the average production of the last ten years, but in 
1866 it reached 96,000 oz., and in 1872 fell to 27,000 oz. As tothe commercial 
value of the otto (attar), it may be fairly estimated, when pure, at from 25s. to 
30s. per oz. In round numbers we may therefore say that the rose farms of 
Roumelia are worth £70,000 to £80,000 per annum. “That rose and other farms 
(for perfumes) can be established in Fiji, Queensland, and at Swan River, I have 
little doubt; and to landowners there I commend the figures recorded.” 
In Cashmere the rose is also largely and profitably cultivated for the attar; the 
cultivation is carried out by the parents of the family, the work of the children 
being to collect the roses for distillation. In this charming valley, where the 
attar of roses is superior to that produced in any other part of the world, it is 
found that from 600 to 700 Ib. of the leaves are required to produce 1 oz. of 
attar. England is also in the field in the growth of roses for perfumery pur- 
poses, numbers of people near Mitcham, in Surrey, earning a good livelihood by 
their cultivation, and during the season sacks full of roses are regularly sent to 
London, where the perfumers pickle them with salt, which enables them to be 
kept for any length of time. They are then employed in the manufacture of 
rose-water, a quite simple process. There is no reason why pickled roses should 
not become an object of export from this colony, as it is found that those from 
the South of France are much superior to the English ones for the manufacture 
of rose-water. A pound of rose petals makes about 1 Ib. of rose-water. 
The rose may be traced from very humble beginnings, until we find it the 
thing of beauty which makes lovely our gardens, and is so beloved by rich and 
poor that a distinct blank would be left in our lives if it were removed. As the 
varied races of mankind may be traced from the cave-dwelling Iberian, through 
successive ages of improvement and increasing culture, to the refined Parisian, 
so ean we follow the rose. And here we must ask, before we answer the 
question, ‘ How do you prune roses?” “ What kind of a rose do you mean ?” 
Because there are roses and roses, and, especially in the matter of pruning, 
what will be good for one may be very bad for another. And even in the same 
general class, there are certain roses which seem to have caught a strain of some 
peculiarity from a remote ancestor, which makes it differ from its fellows of the 
same class, and its physique and peculiarities have to be taken into account if 
you would succeed with it. ie 
It was calculated in 1898 that up to that time about 6,400 different varieties 
of roses of some degree of merit had been produced by the horticultural trade 
so that the min ‘“ who knows every rose you show him” must needs haye a lon 
