West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1883-06-30
PsRFUMEs FROM FLOWERS.
Some eJ he FarOrttos and the Plants by
~hich they are SWppiicd.

oVON hoilulues are nhu6 ulEtCliy
from flowers and not OF cheese, coal
tar, and so on, as people have been
led to suppose said an up- town
chemist. Take the jessamine, for
instance. That's always a favorite,
and is used in the makeup OF many
perfumes. Two differeng specimens
oil the flowers are used, but the per
fume is made principally from the
Jasminum srandi6orum. In France
the cultivation OF this plant Tor the
psriumery trade is an important
industry, though the plant is some
what difficult to raise. Very hot
seasons are most favorable for it
the hotter the weather the richer
the perfume: Old ladies take to
lavender in any shape, and the Law
ender shrub produces powerful
volatile oil that is used not only in
periumery and for AAvoring dishes,
but In medicine also. Lavender pre-
duces three distinct oils known to the
trade. The poorest la commonly
called spike oil. Two other kinds
are distilled from species OF the
shrub which 10 common in England
and the French mountains. The En-
glish oil is the best worth ten times
as much ss the French. The viii
layers about Bedington and Yelling
ton, England, and other places at
one time raised the entire supply.
The supply is now growing less. and
consequently the price is going up,
and the business OF raising lavender
is paying enc. The English crop,
II you can call it crop, is gathered
in July and August. Then the flow
els ale in full bloom and do not re-
quire any cleaning or trimming
Boys and girls pick them, and flow
ere and stalks are distilled together,
every fity pounds giving about ten
ounces OF oil. The imported oil
n ostly comes from France, though
-reat deal comes from Algeria and
north Italy. Although the English
oil is the best, the foreign grades
probsbly sell better in England and
this country, ole reason being the
cheapness aud the fancy names the
French put on the bottles. Lavender
water finds an enormous sale among
BARRIERS, many OF whom make their
own decoctions out Of anything they
can get hold Of. Real lavender wa
ter is made from lavender oil, mixed
with rose and orange water. A
chssp kind is called essence d'aspic,
and is distilled from wild plant
and doctored with iurpentine and
csmphor.
Thyme is an o d-fashioned sort Of
q plant, but thymus vuIgari9, COM
mon in France, Greece, aud many
countries, give us valuable per-
iumery oil. Ia France they take
from it two entirely different ollie,
red and white, the gathering beirg
done In the summer months. In the
same locality the rosemary is Guilt
waited, and beinga popular perfume
ry,is in great demand at high price.
PdtchoulI comes from the oil of the
rogosteneon patchouli, plant col
lected by the natives OF the Malay
Islands. II is extrem sly powerful, a
little Of it going great ways when
the winds lsir. 1t is always in fash =
ion and is used with altar OF rose.
Ia after Of rose there is probably
more deception than in any other
perfume. Certain kinds come from
Turkey, done up in curious bottles,
and learned some time ago, on
good authority, that these bottles
and their contents were manufactnr-
ed in Connecticut town, and the
profile we're about IS cents on a dol
lar. Even in the E,st, where the
genuine altar Of rose is made, it is
adulterated with oil Of rose gera-
mum and the oil Of a grass found 10
India, and 30 great is the cheating
that the trade IN this grass alone is
an important one. The headqaar-
teis Of the trade are in Turkey. The
genuine thing comes from Turkey
and Bulgaria. Smyrna furnishes a
great deal. The natives Of the val
ley OF the Gauges also produce a
good deal for home consumption, and
some is France. Any one who
knows the business can tell the gen
uine article at glance. To be good
IL should CONCEAL al 55o Fahrenheit,
and in appearance the crystals should
be rich, clear and partly transparent.
II the bottom Of The bottle contains
q sediment, you may know that some
handler has sduItersted it with
psrsfhne wax, or spermaceti. The
rose from which this valuable oil is