The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1885-12-31
HAWAIIAN PERFUMES.
A Fragrant Industry that Promises
Good Results.

A suggestion was recently made by a
local contemporary to the effect that the
manufacture of perfumes is an industry
that might be proftably established in
these Islands. The idea is certainly
good one, and might be acted upon TO
great advantage. Large sums of money
are expended annually by agents of the
great European and American perfume
manufacturers in the purchase of essen
| tial oils and leaves OF fragrant plants and
! flowers. There is no reason why this in
/ dustry should not be developed in the
! Hawaiian Islands, which might indeed
! become the land of perfume, as it now is
| practically styled the rainbow land. z
| a beginning has been made in this direc-
tion by Benson & Smith. the well-known
chemists and druggists OF Honolulu,
whose Male Cologne and Eucalyptus
toilet vinegar have won general favor.
But this is only beginning. Vast pos
sibilities are ahead of intelligent applica-
ton in this field OF enterprise. The
! growth of flowers and fragrant plants
CODALlCllI1 ll5CiL W Jul
and children, and there could be no
more pleasing occupation than tending
to rose farm, or field of lavender or
mignonette, for example. Essential oils
are obtained by distillation, but many
of the more delicate perfumes are OBJ
tanned by the process of eufeurage and
maceration, as practiced in the Valley of
the Var, in the South of France, for cen
turtles While a flower lives it yields
fragrance; kill the flower and its fra
the breath of flowers, SO to speak, by
condensation has only recently been
made public. Ii living flower be placed
near to grease, animal fat, butter or oil,
these bodies absorb the odor given Off
by the blossom, and become fragrant
themselves. In this way most of the
delicate perfumes may be secured.
A recent writer on the subject says
that some idea of the magnitude of the
business of raising fragrant scented
flowers for their perfume alone may be
estimated from the fact that Europe and
British India consume 10000 gallons of
handkerchief perfume yearly; that the
English revenue from French eau-de-
Cologne is $40,O 900 annually and that the
total revenue of England from other inn
J ported perfumes is estimated at $500, 900
each year. There is one perfume dis
tillery at Cannes, France, which uses
yearly about 100000 pounds of acacia
flowers, 10000 pounds of rare flower
leaves, $4,000 pounds of jasmine bios
SONS and 100000 pounds of tube rose
blossoms, together with an immense
quantity of material used for perfumes.
| The authority from which the above is
taken adds that the colony of Victoria,
Australia, is a noted place for the pro-
duction of perfume yielding plants, but
: it is excelled by New Zealand, and there
is no reason to doubt that the Hawaiian
Islands would at least equal, if they did
not excel the latter, in the production OF
fragrant plants such as roses, mignonette,
sweet verbena, jasmine, violets, rose
laYendar, acacia, heliotrope, rosemary,
wallfower, laurel, orange, lemon, sweet
scented geraniums and other varieties
! that might he named. The geographical
!, position of these Islands is in their favor,
and now that steamer communication is
rapid and certain there is no reason why
J they should not become the resort OF
: purchasing agents of the great perfumery
establishments of the world, as Bulgaria
and other countries less favored by ma
ture now are.
To give an idea of the productiveness
of flowers, it is calculated that an acre OF
jasmine plants, $4,000 in number, will
produce 5000 flowers, worth 81 $50; an
acre of rose trees, 10000 in number, will
yield 1000 pounds of flowers, worth
1915; 100 orange trees, growing on an
acre, will yield at ten years, 1000 pounds
of flowers, worth $3.50; an acre of violets
producing 10000 pounds of flowers, is
worth $500; an acre of acacia trees at
three years old will produce 800 pounds
; of flowers worth $3.50; an acre of gera-
MUM plants will yield about 1000 ounces
of distilled otto worth 800; and an acre
of lavender will give over $500 flowers
for distillation worth 81 800.
: These are the figures of production as
: they apply to the preparation of per-
fumes, but of course it ould pay better to
cultivate orange trees for fruit. Doubtless
flower farming to be successful involves
incessant care, delicate handling and ex-
perience; but as everything has a be-
) ginning, there is no reason why start
should not be made here on q small
scale. The demand for perfumery is
steadily on the increase, and from the
lack of flowers, chemists in New York
and elsewhere are making imitation per
fumes, which do not last to meet the
growing demand. Messrs. Benson &
Smith having begun the manufacture OF
perfumes at Honolulu would doubtless
extend their operations if they could
rely upon supply of scent yielding
plants, but as it is they deserve credit
for what they have accomplished.
Steamship city of sydney.
The steamship City of Sydney is due