Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1883-07-20


None hear me sound of thy departing car,
only vast silence Ike strong black sea
Ellen H.pLtns.
PEIFUMES FROM FLOWERS.
How the Pcrfumers Got in thcir Littio
"Good perfumes are made directly from
flowers, and not out OF cheese, coal tar,
and so on, as people have been led to sup
pose" said an uptown chemist to a New
York Sun reporter "Tuke the jassa-
mine, for instance. That's always fa-
yorite, and is used in the makeup of
many perfumes. Two different speci-
mems of the flower are used, but the per-
fume is made principally from the Jas
n,insm grandiRorun,. In France the
cultivation of this plant for the perfum-
cry trade is an important industry, though
the plant is somewhat difficult to raise.
Very hot seasons are most favorable for
1.-THE hotter the weather the richer the
perfume Old ladies take to lavender in
any shape, and the lavender shrub pro-
duces powerful volatile oil that is used
not only i'll perfumery and for havoring
dishes, but in medicine also. Lavender
produces three distinct oils known to the
trade. The poorest is commonly called
spike oil. Two other kinds are distilled
from species Of the shrub which is COM
mon in England and the French noun
tains. The English oil is the best-worth
ten times MS much as the French. The
villagers about ledington and Yelling
ton, England, and other places at one
time raised the entire supply. The sup
ply is now growing less, and consequently
the price is going up, and the business OF
raising lavender is paying one. The
English crop. if you can call it crop, is
gathered in July and August. Then the
flowers are i'll full bloom, and do not re-
quire any cleaning or trimming.
Boys and girls pick them, and flowers
and stalks are distilled together, every
fifty pounds giving about tea ounces OF
oil. The imported oil mostly comes from
France, though great deal comes from
Algeria and north Italy. Although the
English oil is the best, tho foreign grades
probably sell better in England and this
country, one reason being the cheaPness
and 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 water is made from lavender oil
mixed with rose and orange water. A
cheap kind is called essence d'aspic, and
is distilled from wild plant and doctored
with turpeptine and camphor.
Thyme is an old-fashioned sort Of a
plant, but Mynlus ru,yaris, common i'll
France, Greece and many countries, gives
lis valuable perfumery oil. In France
they take from it two entirely different
oils, red and white, the gathering being
done in the summer months. In the same
localities the Rosemary is cultivated, and
being popular perfumery, is Ill grea
demand ut high price. Patchouli come'
from the oil of the rOgOstcncOn pdfch0uh
plant collected by the natives of the
Malay islands. 1t is extremely powerful
little of it going great ways when th'
winds fair 1t is always in fashion, ant
is used with altar of rose.
In altar of rose there is probably NOR
deception than in my other perfume
Certain kinds come from Turkey. dom
up in curious bottles, and l learned some
time ago, ON good authority, that thes
bottles and their contents were manufac
tiired in II Connecticut town, and the pro
fits were about 75 cents on dollar. Evel
in the East, where the genuine altar o
rose is made, it is adulterated with oil o
rose geranium and the oil of a gras
found in India, and 80 great is the CHEAT
ing that the trade in this grass alone is al
important one. The headquarters of tn
trade are in Turkey. The genuine thin
comes from Turkey and Bulgaria. Smyl
ma furnishes II great deal. The native
of the valley of the Ganges also produc
good deal for home consumption, an
some is produced iu France.
Any one who knows the business ca
tell the genuine article at glance. L
be good it should CONCEAL at So ; Fahrel
heit, and in appearance the crystal
should be rich, clear and partly transpi
rent. III the bottom of the bottle col
tains sediment, you may know thu
some handler has adulterated it with pa
afiine wax, or spermaceti. The roi
from which this valuable oil is taken
the rosa Damascena, and rose water
made from decoction of the leaves
the same plant. The petals of rosa Ga
iica, grown in Asia Minor and variol
parts of England and Europe, are grea
ly valued, and the leaves also bring
high price. The same deception is fouI
in these, those imported from France b
ing often dyed with some aniline.
drop of ammonia, however, detects d
fraud.
The funereal tuberose produces a po'
erful perfume, but the violet is most c
teemed for its claste odor. The piO
OdOrata is the one we llse, and in Fran
its cultivation gives employment to hu
dreds of men, women and children. Il
harvest of violets is from February
April.
Verbena was at one time favorite p'
fume. IT comes from the lemon gri
plant, common at Singapore. In Pro
ence the cultivation of the rose geranir
IL m important business. From Il
plant also comes the famous essence
African geranium, valued as an adult
ant for altar of rose, it being nearly
expensive, 1000 pounds of the raw n
terial producing only two pounds OF
essence.
Mgnonette is liked as perfume, O
is variously initiated. Begamot also
its admirers. Tho latter is an oil tax
not from flower, but from the fruit
the lemon-like citrus Jerganiia.
Sicily the trees are cultivated in gr
numbers. The fruit is picked when gre
about 200 producing six ounces of {
Most of the oil il shipped from Paler
and Messina.
One of the most popular perfumes
heliotrope, but it does not come from
flower of that name, as one might 81
pose, but is N lde from combustion
violet and vanilla. The beautiful liIy