The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1899-07-05
MONEY In FLOWERS
FOR PERFUME.


fumes" said an expert of the Depart
ment OF Agriculture the other day.
1T is light and easy work; the arpa-
ratus required is not At all expensive e.
and the processes involved are com
paratively simple. The making of
altar OF roses, for example. is not the
least difficult or arduous. while there
is always a market demand for The ar
ticle. Indeed. the pure stuff = almost
impossible TO get, owing to the Gus
tomary adulteration OF the foreign
product.
THE women and children OF many
family in this country might cara
quite a little harvest of dollars by the
home manufacture of altar of roses. c.
which the United States imports about
$4,000 worth annually. There is lao
great trouble in growing the flowers.
inasmuch as the roses always pre-
ferred for this purpose are coma. on.
rather than fancy varieties. which.
while less beautiful. perhaps. than the
delicately bred dollhouse kinds. bloom
more freely and have much more per-
fume. This means that their petals
contain a greater quantity OF the es-
sential oil which contributes the deli
cious smell, and this oil is the So
called altar, formerly priced in ORR
entail countries at it's weight in lila
monds. You may buy il now at 81 an
ounce. but it is sure to be falsified to
"A largo nj nF nj
You may remember that IL was a
| woman. the favorite of an Eastern
harem, who first discovered altar OF
! roses. through her garden had been
made TO flow an artificial stream of
| rose water. and she noticed one day
that oily drops fioated upon its sur
| face. Through sheer idleness. she
| gathered some of them in her hand.
| smelled them, and experienced an al
together new delight. These drops
were of the oil, or altar. OF rose. and
/ hence originated a manufacture which
| now has its principal center in Bulga-
| ria-a region the climate OF which. on
the southern slope OF the Balkans. is
not particularly different from that OF
wide areas in the United States.
In fact our climate and soil over
extensive regions appear to be excel
lently adapted for rose growing. while
as l have said. the preparation of the
altar can be accomplished without
great outlay or much preliminary ex-
perience. The main question To be
settled in advance by the intending
grower is whether in a given place the
flowers will bloom rapidly enough and
be rich enough in oil to compete with
the foreign product. What is chiefly
required is plenty of suns heat. and OF
this there is no lack over a large part
of the United States. The most IA
nous rose farming districts of Europe
do not appear to possess any climatic
advantages over what we can furnish
The american sun is powerful agent
in summer, even as far north as Can
ada.
For the production of altar of rose:
hardly any apparatus is required eN'
cept a simple still, which costs very
little. Probably the most important
: difficulty in the way of the American
: manufacturer lies in the wholesale
, adulteration of the European altar
J which, on that account is sold so low
in the market as To seriously antago
nize competition. Nevertheless. pure
rose altar is now being made on {;
considerable scale in SaXony. and /:
| nOluluS It's OWN III Jlt mar htls at
though that country is not nearly 81
well adapted for rose culture rs tbs
United States. Especially in th'
Southern States and in California
where roses bloom in extravagant lux
uriance, it may be expected that th'
altar, which is our principal perfum
= cry import at present, will be pro
duced before long in great quantities
perhaps rivaling the foreign article.
The oil of rose geranium is largel!
employed TO adulterate altar OF roses
but ii is used also as a legitimate per
fumery material, agreeable even IT no
= equal to true oil of rose. y grea; dea
of it is imported into this country ever!
year, being derived from three we'll
known species of the plant, one o
which is the common rose geranium
of our windows and gardens. Thes
geraniums are grown for the perfum
market on an immense scale in South
ern Europe. in Corsica and in Algiers
the plants being harvested a little be
fore the opening OF the flowers. whei
the lemon-like odor which they at frs
possess gives place to- the odor OF rose
ITO get the odorifeTous essential oil
the entire plant is put into the still
and sometimes rose-petalS are adde
TO improve the quality. There can b
no doubt that the rose geranium ma
be grown profitably for perfume u
properly-chosen areas in the coast bel
of the South and in Southern CalifoT
mia. where an oil of geranium can b
produced equal TO the best French art
icle.
;. 1T seems likely that vio!ets may b
grown for perfumery in thIs countr!
though only in the warmer region!
Their culture for general purposes ma
already been highly developed in Ca
ifornia, where sometimes they ar
"a grown in the shade of great oaks. BU
C where purposes of perfumery are take
y into view. it must be considered ths
s the cost of growing and OF gathering 5
N small flower in the quantities r.
10 quired for the extraction of its odor
in -