St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1904-12-10
LAND OF SWEET FLOWERS.
Townships in India Where Altar and
Rosewater Are Distilled
Every Day.

old associations. Ghazipur is just such
a township, says writer in OUTLOOK
It is SO miles to the northwest of the me-
ropolis, high on the riverside, built
here and there on the brick-red ruins,
some of the old walls and structures
still remaining intact. It is Moham-
medan town mostly, the name Ghazlpur
signifying the city OF the Martyrs.
The town is sparsely populated, having
large fields and pastures, large mosques
in every stage Of decay, big tanks half
dry, and gardens ancient and medieval,
growing wild, but still inclosed IN
crumbling walls. In the fnterspaoes OF
the extensive meadows dividing groups
of population they cultivate roses and
one or two other flowers, the roses al
ways predominating. No less than
1000 acres are under cultivation, yield
ing daily about 100000 roses per acre.
The cultivators are almost all OF them
Hindus, men, women, boys, girls, who
stir very early in the morning before the
FIRST CLEAN of sunshine has dried drop
of dew on the petals of the flowers.
The first and most significant thing
you find on entering the plantation OF
morning is the wonderful good humor
and remarkable courtesy Of the people.
There is no gloom of the fatalist on their
faces, there is no evil-smelling squalor
or pauperism about them. Pleasure and
enthusiasm mark their movements Is
it the adaptation that is natural between
trade and temperament, or is it the very
genius of the Hindus of all classes? Why
should the civilization of free and
wealthy races teach us wants which
they do not care to supply, and which
we, hard workers as we are, cannot find
the means to remove? Leave us alone
with our humble cheerfulness, that is
enough. These cultivators strive to ex-
plain every detail of their work in their
simple, rude patois,. and make liberal
presents of their rosebuds The plants
stand in long rows in light, loamy soil;
they are not MANFRED, but kept scrup-
lously clean and plentifully watered
from the open wells that lie in their
midst. Practically the harvest time is
the two spring months. If the wind
ksteadily blows from the west, the flower
unfolds it's petals slowly and econom-
ically, and yields the right amount Of
| altar Essential oiD. But of the east
wind makes its unwelcome visit, the
flowers open premature in large masses.
nor is the yield Of altar up to the mark.
The cultivator has little trouble with
the plants, which would stand on the
ground for years; he has only to keep
out the weeds and pump out the water.
Ny host, one of the first men at Ghazi-
pur, was a manufacturer of rosewater
| and altar. was sometimes invited to
| witness the processes. The distillation.
| like the gathering of the fields, must
commence very early in the morning, be-
fore the sun is in the sky, and when
| everything is in pureness and GOODNESS.
| The lady of the house really presides
over the operation; the gentlemen only
supervises. She has to dress in we'll
washed white garments, and seat her
| self on low stool before the immense
boiling pot, which is plastered up to
| the neck with a thick coating of clean,
finely ground earth. A glowing hot fire
| of dry, plentiful fuel, free from smoke OF
dirt of every kind burns underneath.
| On all important occasions, when any
responsible work has to begin, the Hin
| du instinctively assumes solemn GER
emonial mood, as If there is Presence
to be propitiated. Roses and religion
in fact, flowers of all kinds, have neces-
sary relation to the Hindu mind, and he
! hesitates to tread upon-nay. even tc
touch with his foot-a bright blooming
flower, as If 1t had life and mission!
Fully 1000 roses. are crammed and
crushed into the boiling pot in an almost
sacrifcial spirit, while We all silently
stand around, and the heavy lid is
pressed down and pasted round .thickly
and firmly. It seems like a massacre
of the innocents, but the fragrant steam
soon makes its way through the complf.
Gated tubes of the still into another huge
| Dot immersed in cold water. All day the
distillation goes on; the next day anoth.
er thousand roses are put in the already
| distilled water; the day after another
| thousand again. After this third dis
tillation is concluded. the real Ghazipu1
rosewater is bottled and sent to the mar
ket. II, instead of the rosewater, altar
the essential oil of roses, has to be ex
tracted, the thrice-distilled water is ex
posed over night in shallow, wide-facet
basins, and by the morning the cream
in very thin crust, floats on the surface
At the very break Of day it is gathered
carefully with soft, downy feather am
the scanty golden semifuid is stored il
crystal phial. 1t is a CHASTITY sight a
the close of day to look at the colorles
lump cast out of the boiling pot-that i
the only remnant Of the thousands o
bright, beautiful roses crushed into it
But their beauty, sweetness, life and u.s.
are now changed into new, higher ant
more ethereal forms for larger and bet
ter use. Sacrifice, hard. hot, cruel sacri
flce, is the only process by which morta
virtue can ever be rerpetuated in i'm
mortal life.
Useful Dog.
A blacksmith in the west had forg
| 80 1r IN, h.