Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1897-07-07
THE ROSE CROP.
Tho Manufacture q III, Altar Of Roses ii
Bulgaria.

,baeHcIlie the rose crop in southeastern
Europe Is now in progress. and In the re-.
Gions where roses are grown a. com
mercial product the rose harvest is as
much OF an event as the stra wberry crop
IN some parts of the United States. 1t is
estimated that from the middle Of May
uhtH the middle of July over three-quar-
ters OF q million of people. mostly women
ana girls, are employed in gathering the
roses, and the fact that this flower, gem
orally esteemed solely for its beauty,
should, by means of Its petals, furnish
employment and bread to 50 many peo-
pie is one of the most singular phenomena
Of our complicated civilization The
belle in Paris, London or New York
needs perfume. and the gazelle-eyed
daughters of the Gangcs, the jetty negro
women OF Egypt. the yelled wives Of the
tawny Arabs in Southern Algeria
French and Spanish peasant beauties in
Herault and Bouches-du-Rhone: Italian
siris OF Lombardy: maids not exactly of
Athens, but of Greece and its isles the
wives of turbaned Turks and shabby
capped Bulgarians, all contribute TO fill
the demand
The fair lady to whom the essence or
altar OF roses is only a delightful per-
fume has little idea of the labor neces-
sary to produce it. of its Importance to
the countries whore ii is made. or OF the
races OF people who, through its produce
ton, contribute to her pleasure Ii Is,
however, but one Illustration of the fact
is independent of the rest. Just as thou
sands Of men and women in Sumltra and
Borneo, in Ceylon and India, find the
means OF subsistence from the taste of
the civilized races for pepper, so men and
women earn bread in Asia and Africa be-
cause in France, England and America
fashionable people have a taste for IA rich
perfume.
The antiquity of the rose is so great
than all account of its origin has been
in "a II
writings earlier than the reign or Solo
mon, but the allusion to 1t then made is
such as TO indicate that the flower had
already long been known, for the essence
of roses was extensively used in Jerusa-
lem and Jades, during the reign of the
luxurious and much-married King In
ltgA pit the rose is depicted on Il number
ot very carly monuments, believed to date
from 5000 10 $500 b. c., and in the tomb of
an Egyptian princess, diSintorred a year
ago. in Southern Egypt, several herfnet-
icaliy sealed walls were found, which,
when opened. contained genuine altar of
roses, so that the modern claims for the
discovery of this delicious perfume are
vain. Rose water, or the essence of
roses, Is mentioned by Homer in the
Had Homer and Solomon were nearly
c0ntemporaneous Both the Greeks and
Hebrews probably borrowed the idea Of
its manufacture from the Egyptians and
these, for aught anybody can tell. may
have had ii from the Indians or from the
Chinese, for the latter claim for each OF
their discoveries and inventions a most
marvellous. not to say incredible. an
tiquity. The rose is one of those flowers
which by the people of every land are
taken for granted as SO well known Is 10
need no description and hardly mention.
Tor II Is a singular fact that every conti-
nent on the globe. with the solitary eN-
ception Of Australia. produces wild roses.
Even the frozen regions of the north.
whore the summer lasts but two or three
mouths and is at best season which
may be described as very late in the fail.
produce their wild roses and travellers
through Greenland. Kamschatka and
Northern Siberia found. in the proper
season, an abundance of blossoms, while
Che crews of whaling vessels which call
at Spitzbergen come off shore with bou-
quets Of the native Spitzbergen rose. All
wild roses are not of the same kind for
there are over 100G species of the wild
rose known to botanists, and the varie-
Ties are innumerabie.
AZ n commercial product the rose *
grown in many parts of the world. Not
only in the neighborhood of Paris, but
more extensively in the south Of France.
roses are cultivated for the purpose OF
manufacturing the altar and over So
00u.t0o pounds of rose leaves are annually
collected by the French for the purpose
OF making rose water or the altar of
rose. In Alglers and Tunis the rose was
formerly grown much more than at pres
Viz Affi Ltltf competition VI DlHSF PAGES
has become SO severe that the Algerians
and Tunisians are now turning their at
tentton 10 thu geranium, which in that
mild climate. producing its flower nearly
All the year, Is more profitable crop.
The valley of Damascus yields a fine
quality OF altar. and the Vale Of Cash
mere has for ages been famous, not only
for IT'S roses, but also for the quality Of
its product, In Northern ana Central IN
dla rose water and altar are maaufac-
tured. AT Ghazipur, near Benares. there
are miles upon miles of rose gardens
really fields. in which the rose Is CHlti-
waited for the flowers. In Italy and Sicily
roS,. culture Is practicetl for The sake Of
The product and during the last twenty
i've or thirty years the altar or essence
OF the rose mas become one Of the most
Important commercial resources Of al
;sar1. The rose fields of Roumelia are
found on The southern slopes Of the Bal
ktrs and the plains which descend to the
river Martha. There Is district in
Ruumeiia over i20 miles long by forty in
width which, by climate and soil is sim
GulaIly We'll adapted to the production Of
the rose, and almost the whole Of his
region Is given up To rose fields Tho
SOL Is a light loan. inclined 10 sandness
he drainage Is good, while the cold
winds from Central Russia are detected
by Fthe balkans. that here act as IL pro-
tec!ng barrier against icy lasts To
the south lie the Mediterranean and
Aegean seas, and the warm sou: horn
preeZe, laden with moisture, furnishes
abundant rains in spring and autumn
ana during the summer a humidity very
favorable to The growth Of the plant
The roses are known To botanists AZ the
Rosa Maschata. Il red rose, and are prop
a@ated by iaycring the shoots the layers
being placed in rows about six feet apart
IN three years the plants ara in fuil
bearing. and continue At their best for
ilve Years longer. when the quality as
The quantity of the product begins to de-
teriorate, the plants are rooted up and
others set out in their stead a rose
grower so manages his planting that
fresh supplies of plants are continually
cdIGinS on, consequently no portion of
his ground goes TO waste.
M mere charming spectacle is pre-
scented in he world than 4 Roumeian
rose field during picking season; me
azure SKY above, the gray Balkans clos~
ing the northern landscape, the plain
leading off to the Martha toward the
south and thousands Of acres covered
vita rose bushes in full bloom TX Is as
though the earth had suddenly burst into
blossom Everywhere through the fields
~ swarns and armies are the pickers,
men, women and children. boys ana girls,
49,. he rose harvest mast he quickly
gathered. ii 1T all ana the population
finds easy and well remunerated employ
men during the season. The time OF the.
harvest IS known for 400 or 800 miles in
every direction and whole families mi
CRATE from Bosnia, Servia, Northern Rul-
&aria, Albania and even from Greece,
Rnurnaula and Asia Minor to fake part