Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1877-07-04
ALTAR OF ROSE.
How the Precious Liquid is Distilled
by the Turks.
From Bakers Turkey.

From Bakers Turkey.
Twas always under the impression that
altar of rose was made in large quantities
in Persia as we'll as in Turkey, f0r I re-
member purchasing it in Bushire, many
years ago, under the idea that it was q
product of that country; but my host
informed me that | was mistaken, and
that the district south Of Balkan was the
only part of the world where it has vet
been produced. The whole house was
redolent with the scent of the rose; but
although the aroma is very penetrative
in consequence OF the subtle character of
the essential oil, it is not at all oyer
powering, even when the nose is applied
to an unsupported bottle of the fluid.
My host opened cupboard which con-
tanned thirty large glass bottles of the
altar, and told me that [ was looking at
Ell, 600 worth Of oil! The flowers which
produce it have the appearance of our
common dog rose, and are Of the varieties
known as Rosa Damascena, r. tSemper-
virens, and h. Moschat0 The last named
affords the chief ingredient of the altar.
The natives themselves know very little
about the varieties, and are only con-
cerned with the profits they can make
out of the oil. The plant is cultivated
by the farmers in every village of the
district, and requires sand soil on slop-
ing ground, exposed to the rays of the
sun. The greatest care is bestowed upon
it's cultivation and the harvesting of the
crop. Laying down rose garden may
be done either in Spring or Autumn,
upon ground which has been well cleaned
and plowed. Young rose shoots are torn
off the larger plants SO as to carry with
them portion of the roots, and these are
laid almost horizontally in trenches about
a foot deep and five feet apart, SO as to
form a future hedge; they are then
covered with earth and manure, and
trodden carefully down. Under favor
able circumstances the shoots will appear
at the end of six months, when they
should be earthed up, and the plants will
be more than a foot high at the end of
the year. At the end of the second year
they yield few flowers, but it is not until
the third year that any profit can be
made out of them. They are in full
bearing at five years, at a height of
years when the plants cease to
flower. They require earthing up
four times year, and should be
MANFRED every second year; but
although the manure increases the guam
tity of the oil, it interferes with the
quality. No pruning is required, except
to cut off all dead branches. Very Sc
we're cold will kill the plants, and those
of the whole district were destroyed in
this way in the year 1910. Hoar-frost,
foggy and misty weather are also in
furious to the crops, and hot tempera-
ture during the process of distilation in
terferes with the yield of oil; harvest
commences in May, and lasts for about
twenty days. The farmer counts the
buds on his plants, and calculates the
number which will probably blossom
daily, which he makes divisor for the
whole, and thus gets at the number of
days his harvest will last. The flowers
should be gathered before the morning
dew is off them, and then Immediately
be distilled. Herein lies the difficulty,
because it is impossible to judge, even
pproximately, of the rapidity with
which all the buds will blossom; conse-
quently, unless very large staff is kept,
so as to pick all the blossoms of heavy
crop in the short space of time that is
available, and unless large number of
alembics are ready to distill them, great
portion of the crop, if there is a rapid
blossoming, may be wasted. When the
temperature during harvest is cold and
damp the poisoning is gradual, but
when it is hot and sunny it is rapid.
The alembec consists of a convex copper
boiler, narrowed at the top to neck,
which carries the head piece, or condens-
ing-tube, (Which is straight and slopes
downward through vessel containing
cold water, until it meets the receiver.
The boilers are made to contain, when
full about 24O pounds of water, but only
three fourths Of that amount is poured
in, and % pounds of blossoms are added.
Distillation goes on until the turbid-
looking rosewater which is produced
equals in weight the amount Of blossoms
in the boiler, namely, Is pounds The
boiler is then removed and cleansed, and
the process is repeated with fresh bios
sons The turbid fluid is again dis
titled, and this timethere appears upon
the double-distilled rosewater an oleagin-
Gus and yellowish liquid floating
upon the surface, and this is the cele-
brated altar of rose. 1t is SKINNED by
means of a funnel-shaped spoon with
small aperture at the bottom, SO as to
allow of the escape of the water, but not
of the oil. 1t appeared to me that some
of the precious fluid must be wasted by
the clumsy skimming process. [ there
fore suggested to my host that, as the at
tar was extremely volatile, it might
easily be distilled off the surface of the
water, and purer fluid would be OBJ
tanned without waste. He said he
should give the idea trial The yield
of altar varies greatly, but on an average
it takes 4, 1000 pounds of rose blossoms to
make one pound of oil. The best quality
of altar varies in price from II to Is
piastres the miscal, or from los. i'd. to
los, 10d. per ounce; while inferior quail
tiles realize from II to Is piastres the
miscal. The mode adopted for testing
the purity Of the different qualities Of
these oils is toput the essence into TASKS,
which are afterward immersed in water