Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1877-02-15
OTTO OF ROSES.
Three Thousand Psunds Of caves
10 one Ounoe OF Perfume.


The most delicious of all per-
fumed essences is obtained by the
simple distillation of rose leaves.
In our climate roses are not suffi-
GENTLY highly scented to produce
the properly odoriferous essence of
oil; and all hal the druggists can.
produce from rose leaves is rose
water, which in fact, is water slight
ly impregnated with the essence of
oil, which is, to a small degree,
soluble in it. The most favorable
country for the production Of the
most highly scented roses is the
middle portion of European Tur-
key, at the base of the southern
slope of the Balkan mountains,
where the roses are grown locali-
ties where they ere protected against
all winds except those from the
south (; and the flowers thus attain
a lu%xuriance in perfume and growth
as well as in size, of which those
who have not visited these regions
can hardly form an idea. The town
of Kezanlik, situated in the pro-
vince Of that name, is the center
of the field of cultivation and dis
tillation of the rose leaves.
The leaves are gathered all over
the province, which is forty miles
long, and is watered by the river
Thungha and the many mountain
streams which discharge into the
same, furnishing the water neces-
sary for the distillation. To give
an idea of the extent which this
industry has attained, we need only
say that there are in this province
l2S different villages, Of which the
inhabitants are all employed in the
culture Of the beautiful flowers.
They all live in peace together,
Turks and Christians, and they
prosper, having become wise by ex-
perience, finding that it is better
to work than to waste time in re-
ligious or political q~uarrels. AL
most all the country is occupied by
rose plantations, and only "a COM
paratiyely small portion is devoted
to raising rye and barley, for the
subsistence of the inhabitants and
their cattle. The rose grows best
on those parts of the slopes where
the sun shines most, and which is
the least northern in exposure. A
light soil is best; and the planting
is done during the spring and au-
tumn, in parallel bitches three
inches deep and five feet apart. In
these bitches shoots from old trees
are laid; they mnst, however, not
be cut from the tree, but torn off,
so that each shoot has some portion
of the root or bark of the root adj
herent. They are then covered
with earth mixed with a little man
ure. If the land is horizontal, and
a mountain stream can be diverted
SO as to inundate it, this is done to
hasten the growth; at the end of
six months, shoots are seen coming
up all along the burrows, and at the
end of one year these shoots are
three or four feet high, forming
regular hedges.
At the end of the second year,
roses appear, but not in sufficient
abundance for them to be gathered.
The gathering is commenced in the
third year, after which they pro-
duce largely, the hedges being, at
the end Of five years, SIX feet high.
The bushes produce flowers until
fifteen years old, when the field is
worn out, and must be plowed up.
They do not prune the rose bushes
at all as we do, but they cut off
every year, in the late fall or win
ter, the dead branches. The great
harvest commences about May Is,
and lasts until June 8 or 10; the
gathering is done daily in the NOR
ming before sunrise, and the distil-
latiOn is finished before twelve M,
SO as to have the benefit of all the
freshness of the flowers, which is at
once driven off by the heat Of the
day. In hot seasons the roses open
more rapidly, and the crop may last
but for ten days 4; but in wet, cool
seasons the progress is slower, and
the crop may last for twenty-five
days; but then the daily harvest is
smaller in proportion, SO that the
final result is about the same.
However, cool, slow weather is pre-
ferred, as it eases the daily labor.
The stills l5ed are of the rough
est kind, and small; they hold from
200 to 240 pints of water and are
carried to the rose-bushes to be
filled. To twenty pounds of rose
leaves, 160 pints Of water are added;
and the whole is distilled at a gen
tie heat until twenty pounds of
water are distilled off. This guam
THY contains nearly all the perfume
of the leaves, which are thrown
away with the remaining water;
and the still is again filled with
twenty pounds of leaves and 100
pints of water. This operation is
repeated until all the leaves have
been used. The water thus dis,
TILED off is a strong rose water; and
| the result NJ piOht mr. ton distillo.