The Pioche weekly record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1877-1900, 1895-01-17
ALTAR OF ROSES.
An Interesting Account of Great
Industry.
THE VARIETY OF ROSES RAISED.
Sixty Thousand Roses Required to Make
an Ounce of Attar-How 1t
Is Dist lied.

Of the manufacture OF altar
of roses, which, since the emancipation
of the Balkan Provinces, has become
a great industry in Bulgaria, and has
been taken up on large scale in Ger
many. We have all been accustomed
to connect the fabrication of altar of
roses with Persia and Syria, and, even
now, India and COnstantinople furnish
probably the largest markets for it; but
although the art of making it was dis
coverd in Persia, the manufacture has
now neary or quite died out, and the
center of the business is now the coun
try about Kazanlik, on the south slope
of the Balkans, close to the Shipka, or
Wild Rose Pass, famous i'll the history
of the Russo-Turkish war. The rose
growing belt is situated at an average
altitude Of thousand feet above the
sea, and extends to length of about
seventy miles, with an average breath
Of ten miles. On this ground are pro-
duced annually from five to six thou
sand million rose blossoms. The num-
Der of varieties cultivated is very small.
Ninety per cent of all the blossoms are
taken from bushy variety of the Rosa
Damascena, or damask rose, know to
our gardeners mainly as the ancestor
from which the infinite variety of
hybrid perpetual roses derive large
part of their blood. OF the remaining
ten per cent. part are gathered from
the white musk rose, which is fire.
quently planted as hedge around the
fields Of pink Damascena; while the
rest are furnished by a dark-red vari-
ETY. of Damascena. Other sorts of
roses have been tried, but some yield
no altar at all and others give an
essence having the perfume of violets,
or pineapples, or hyacinth. rather than
of roses; so that the growers have re-
turned to the original kind.
In order to obtain the precious per-
fume in the largest quantity, and in its
best condition, the flowers must be
cut while the dew is still ON them, and
every morning, during the season of
bloom, which lasts from about May 20
to June 20, troops of boys and girls
climb the mountain slopes, long before
sunrise, to gather the freshly opened
| flowers. The blossoms are thrown into
baskets, and1 taken Immediately to the
distillery, it being important to finish
the operation on the day that the flow
ers are gathered. AS the baskets are
received their contents are piled in cool,
dark storeroom' from which they are
taken for distillation. The stills are of
the simplest construction, of tined cop
per, each of about the capacity Of a bar
rel. About twenty-five pounds of roses
are put in each still, which is then
filled, about three-quarters,full of water.
The top Of the still is put on, and there
lighted. The worm is cooled with run
ming water, and in about forty five
minutes, when about one-fifth of the
contents Of the still has been drawn
over, the distillation is stopped, the still
emptied, and the process repeated with
a fresh charge, until all the morning S
crop of roses has been treated. The
product of this first distillation is rose
water, exactly like that which our
grandmothers manufactured in the
same way. To separate the altar, a
second distillation is necessary. The
rosewater is put again into the stills,
and about one-third its bulk of what is
called second rosewater" is drawn
over This is now highly perfumed
liquid, turbid with suspended globules
Of an oily substance, which is the pre-.
cious altar. To allow the altar to sep
arate, the distillate is put into bottles
with long necks, which gradually be.
come filled with the oily essence. Wher
the separation is complete, the altar is
removed with a spoon, which has 8
small hole in the bow. The water runl
off through this hole, leaving the oil
which is put into the we'll known orna
mental bottles for sale The altar sell
for about six dollars an ounce, so tina
the industry is remunerative, although
sixty thousand roses are required tt
make an ounce of altar. 1t is curiou
that the Bulgarian roses, although tn
mountain frosts make the crop rathe
precarious one, produce much NOR
essence than do the same roses else
where. After the war of 1878, tn
Turkish government, having lost it
Balkan province, and with it the ros
gardens. undertook to transfer the in
dustry to Asia Minor and planted grea
numbers Of rose bushes in the vicinit
of Broussa. The bushes grew and pre-
duced plenty Of flowers, but so littl
altar could be extracted from them tina
9 the experiment was abandoned. Tn
I, explanation appears to be that the rose
= for the full development of its perfume
requires cool climate; for within tn
last two years extensive plantation
have been made in the neighborhood {
Leipsic. and mandatory established
: which is said to treat now, during tn
:, season. three million roses day, o.
tracing from them about eight hui
, dred pounds of altar per year. TT
> distillery is placed in the middle of I'll
. rose garden, so that the flowers reac
: the stills within few minutes aft,
they are cut.
- - -.N%-
Friend-Are you superstitious2 L
Won helieye in siuusp Succaccful Mo