The true Democrat. [volume] (Bayou Sara [La.]) 1892-1928, 1896-09-19
A NEW INDUSTRY,
RAISING FLOWERS TO MAKE
PERFUNIERY IN THE SOUTH. =
Highlv Interesting Experiments III
North CaTolina-HoW Altar OF
Roses and Other Famous
Perfumes Avc Made. y
Y Il the so.callcl "thcrmal belts" OF

are being made in flower farming thai
must convince the most skeptical that
there is no product of the soil that
cannot be raised somewhere within
the limits OF the United States. It may
sound a Lille strange to some to hear
such professional as Professor Mas,
sey of the North Carolina Experiment
| Station say that the rich lands of the
coast counties OF his State can pro.
duce better lily bulbs tor general pur.
poses than can he grown in Bermuda.
It is we'll known that most O! our lily
bulbs come from Bermuda, our mar.
cissus from Southern England or the
Sciliy Islands, and the lily OF the val
ley pips from Holland; but here at
the experiment station in North Caro-
lima all of these imported bulbs are
being cultivated to demonstrate the
superiority of American grown bulbs.
But this is only the beginning Of
flower farming in this section TINT is
destined to spread and become one OF
the most Important industries in this
country. The question OF raising
flowers for manufacturing perfumery
has been agitated for some time in the
South, and Professor Massey has given
his advice and helped to forward every
effort in that direction. Some excel
lent extracts from the flowers have been
made and sold in the market. A po-
made distilled from tho tuberose flow
ers was made by o lady inSouth Caro-
lima, near Columbia. which sold for
Sll per pound in New York. A lead.
ing firm offered to take all similar 20.
mades that she could manufacture at
correspondingly high prices. At the
Atlanta Exhibition quite variety of
American perIumery made in the
Southern States was exhibited and at
tracted considerable attention.
Now efforts ore being made toward
manufacturing the famous ''atter Of
roses and the Gamask rose bush, the
Rosa Damascena OF the Balkans, has
been introduced in the ''thermal
BELTS" where every condition seems
favorable to its growth. This is the
rose from which ninety per cent. of
the after Of rose is made. It is the
ancestor from which the infinite var
iety Of hybrid perpetual roses derive
large part OF their blood. Other
sorts of roses have been tried for
distilling the celebrated perfume, but
only two others yield even faint
trace OF this essence. One of these is
the white musk rose and the other a
dark.eyed variety of Damascena, but
they do not contain more than one.
half the perfume found in the bushy
damask rose.
Although the greatest amount of at
tar OF roses is made in the Balkans and
at Leipsic, Francs is still the home of
most perfume flowers, and Grasse,
Cannes and Nice are famous for their
perfumes OF roses, yiolets, jasmine,
lavender and orange. The French
chemists have succeeded better than
any other in distilling from the flowers
the most delicate periumery. Their
methods OF extracting the perfumery
are supposed to be held secret and
guarded with jealous care, and the
difficulty in this country has been that
no one has given the attention to the
dlstllling part Of the business that the
occasion demands A French chemist
connected with one of the largest per-
fumery firms in France recently visit.
ed this country to make experiments
with our roses, and he claimed that
the flowers raised in tho South and IN
California yielded about twenty per
cent. more of the volatile oil than
similar flowers in his own country,
The report to his company was to de.
eide them as to the question OF trying
TO establish branch house in CHS !
country, and it IS rumored that ne
gotlations are already under way to
secure valuable flower land either in
the "thermal belts" along the Allan.
tic coast or i'll California.
Meanwhile, however, progress in
making American perfumery has al.
vanced to such point in the South
that many growers are actually plant.
ing extensive gardens for this pur-
pose. The damask roses of the
Italians have been planted not far
from Fayetteville, N. c., and they are
rapidly growing and producing large
crops. Experiments with the bios.
SONS have been made, and they have
yielded fair quantity of the after.
In their native home the roses are
threatened with frost at night, but
rarely injured, and it is supposed that
this cool night atmosphere develops
the precious altar. Now the ''thermal
belts along the Atlantic coast are ell
evated above the damp air Of the val.
leys. and are usually exempted from
the late spring frosts, but the nights
are very cool. The soil here is of the
right texture to produce the rose
pushes, and so far as experiments can
DO made everything seems to be in
i favor OF the new industry. This year