Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-09-02
PERFUMES FROM THE GARDEN
The Use of Flowers to Make Indi.
vidual Scents.

From the London Standard.
Scent making represents a favorite gar
den hobby Of the moment Few per-
fumes nowadays are made OF a single
flower. There may be a predominating
smell of verbena or Of carnations. but
probably four or five different blossoms
have gone to make up the result and the
interest In making the extract at home
lies in allying one to another. expert
menting with new combinations and
aromas much as a chef toys with heros
sauce.
To make the essential oils which are
the foundation Of all is the first matter.
Once a row Of bright golden, green and
cOlorless oils has been secured the work
becomes a matter Of leisure, for expert
mentatiOn and original trials. There are
several methods of extracting the essen
tial oil from the flowers. One of the
simplest scent-making plants" Is that Of
a series OF shallow trays such as amateur
photographers use in toning and fixing
negatives. These should be of the same
size. SO that they may At one into the
other. Sheets Of cotton wool must be cut
the exact size of the trays, one for each.
These are saturated with pure olive oil.
The flowers. picked on a fine day after
the early morning dew has dried, must
be denuded OF all but the sweet smelling
portion. This entails cutting away not
only leaves and stalks, but much Of the
pistil and calyx, everything In fact being
removed with a sharp pair Of scis-
sors with the exception Of the petals.
A pad OF wool is then laid at the bottom
Of one OF the dishes and the petals are
arranged on the top with tin layer
Of cotton wool. Another tray on top Is
filled in the same manner, the same be-
ing repeated until a pyramid Of half a
dozen or more has been built up.
They are then left until the next day
to infuse in large box. a square biscuit
tin answering the purpose excellently
IL the lid is tight fitting. The next day
the flowers are gently removed and a
fresh set substituted. the same variety
Of blossoms being chosen in each case,
as the oil at this stage should not be
mixed.
This process is repeated every day for
a week. a little fresh oil being sprinkled
over the wool II the weather is warm
and it tends to dry up. At the end Of
proceedings begins. The saturated cot
ton wool sheets have now become i'm
pregnated with the perfume. All that
remains to be done is to collect each
precious drop. squeezing the sheets In
turn until the essential oil has all been
collected.
So as to lose as little as possible the
best method of obtaining the oil is to
squeeze 1t over the mouth OF . filter
straight into the bottles. eacn of which
tie and must not be touched for some
time. The liquid is little muddy at
first and should clear itself slowly. When
transparent 1t can be last OF all decanted
into clean bottles and Is ready for mix
ing and combining.
A much quicker way but by no means
so thorough is that Of crushing the
flower heads In a mortar. adding blanched
and chopped almonds to the petals in the
proportion OF half the amount OF almonds
by weight Of the petals. The oil after
day or two will ooze out from the paste.
which must be squeezed In a fine piece of
muslin. the drops being collected in a
bottle.
In addition to the flower essential oils
there are several stock perfumes which,
although they may be made at home to a
great extent, are far more easily obtain
ed from a chemist. This will save a
great deal Of trouble, such essences as
musk. ambergris. oil of cloves and other
foundation aromas being troublesome TO
make and Offering no advantages over the
professionally extracted scent. A few
drops OF these are often used to make
the perfume permanent. although to add
too much is a great mistake and pro-
duces a common and overpowering scent.