The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-11-27
THE ORRIS PLANT
NEW IN VIRGINIA
Demonstrations Made in
LoulsaC ountyM ayLead
to a Mighty Industry.
TRIBUTE TO ITALY
NOW TO VIRGINIA
A Louisa County Man Trying to
Show How We Can Grow
Our Own Perfumes and
Make Piles Of Money
Out of the New
Industry.
BY FRANK s. wooDsoS,
Industrial Editor.

BY FRANK s. wOoDsOS
Industrial Editor.
have talked a good deal in this sec
ton about the diversified interests of
virginia and the South, and believe
not few of my readers will bear tes-
timony that 1 have often claimed that
there Is nothing that is profitable to
produce that cannot be we'll produced
In some part of Virginia and the South.
of course, mean anything that can
grow under sun that is good all the
year around-a sun that shines when
1t is most needed and that hides it's
mead when we require a little thing
like snow storm or a good, lively
frost to drive away the fevers and ali
of the other things that are calculated
to make life a little irksome. Such a
sun Will not admit of oranges, lemons.
bananas and some other fruits of like
character, but, 1t makes peanuts and
potatoes and berries and corn and
wheat and tobacco and apples and
peaches and strawberries and whole
lot of other things that bring money.
and heap of it.
New Things Under the sun
And every day am finding out some
thing new that the good old soil of
virginia can bring. Last summer !
told in this Industrial Section about
the cultivation of ginseng: about how
some people away up yonder in High
land county are making a good thing
growing the mysterious thing. To-day
l am giving the readers of the Indus
trial Section the benefit of "a charming.
story from my friend, Will Hundley,,
up at Altavista. who tells me how an
over-sensftive Christian brother, or
brother with an oyer-sensitive con-
science, has demonstrated that ginseng,
can be probably grown in Campbell
county and as for that matter, In any
county in the State that has the right
kind of soil and the right kind of ma
teriaI with which to make the artificial
shade required. etc: but Hundley's
story, which is in another column,
speaks for itself, and it is well worth
the attention of Virginia farmers and
gardeners.
And right upon the top of all this
here comes a friend from Louisa county
who tells me that he has actually DEM
onstrated that Old Virginia is in
fine position to rob sunny Italy of much
of its revenue and to turn that revenue
to the enrichment of Virginia farm
ers. And how? Simply by growing
plant that is within itself little gold
mine. the orris root. about which the
women folks know a great deal more
tirely new story, for there was made
at the State Fair last fall an exhibit
of orris the like of which was never
before seen in this country.
May Become Great Industry.
This show was an exhibit of orris
plants and products made by Charles
A. Gitchell, an imported Virginia farm
er. imported ten or dozen years ago,
from somewhere up In New England
4 too ,a-v
close to the historic courthouse OF that
historic county.
The orris industry is entirely new to
Virginia, and most naturally the exhib
1t made by Gitchell at the State Fair
created something of stir around and
about the Farm Products Building, as
1t has still been creating stir among
farmers and druggists and soapmak-
ers and perfumers and other folks who
know about orris and know how much
1t costs to get the same from italy
The exhibit was particularly admired
by the women, who seemed to know the
uses Of orris much better than did the
men. have been taking some time
myself to read up on orrls ana II IL
be a fact, as seems to have been DEM
onstrated by this man Gitchell. thab
Virginia can grow 1t as we'll as Italy.
why say let Virginia get right into
the perfumed light of new INDUSTRY
that maybe promises thousands upon
thousands of new dollars that wete
never before dreamed of.
What Is Orris:
The orris plant is a beautiful olive
green iris There are of this species
Of plants 500 varieties. more or less
Some Of them bloom under the snow
some of them grow In the water. Inc
flowers of some of them emit an lHdeli-
BILE liquid dye Some OF them nave
an exquisite perfume when IN hloom.
The dried root of one of them possesses
a permanent and lasting fragrance.
Orris is the commercial name FOR
this dried root. Perfumers and manu-
facturers of perfumed specialties use
It powdered and fgranulated as the base
OF their products, 1t enters INTO every
face powder, sachet powder, tooth pow
der. violet % owder and every other per-
fumed powder and perrumed soaps, IL
lis made into tinctures used Tor WASH
ing clothes, for dry shampoos and IN
every perfumed speciality. Is 70
perfumed powders What animal niusR
1t to liquid perfumes, It imparts 10
them the quality of permanehce OF the,
perfume
Where II Flonrishes.
The seat of the foreign orris indus
try is around Florence and Verona, IN
Italy. from whence most Of the orrls
comes. The orris known as Fioren-
tine is the best that comes from itasy.
IT is secured from fields near Florence,
and its quality is the result OF care
ful plant selection for a long period OF
time. OF climatic conditions and 10
the methods employed IN drying and
curing 1t fer the market,
In 1909 Mr.. Gitchell carefully gath-B
cred all the facts and points resaresins
the cultivation and preparation OF tho
dried root for market in Italy and
secured a SELECTED Stock OF plants Tor
his farm In I.e,lsa.
During the Intervening years inc
plants have been tested for hardness.
continued on Third Page,)