Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1913-02-17


Persia, Tunis and France. but for home
consumption only. All the altar used in
Europe and America is exported from
Constantinople 1t Is manufactured
mainly on the southern slopes of ,ne
Balkans in the province of Rumelia and
conveyed to Constantinople, where it is
exported all over the world.
The altar produced in 4sumelia is made
By distillation from the Rosa Damascina,
Albright red rose, not very fun as
flower, which blooms in May and June.
Nothing is prettier than those rose farms
stretched on tie slopes Of the Balkans.
The rose trees are about six feet in height
and are planted In even rows When they
are in bloom the whole farm LOOKS as it.
it were tipped with tongues of rose col
ored flames, which sway softly IN tie pn4
dulating southern breezes. The.s rose
tnees are rather delicate and havts 10 be
tended very carefully from the autumn. to
the time of gathering. When the flowers
are in fun bloom they are plucked at sun
rise. but only in such quantities as can
be distilled on the day they are gathered
sAlnumber Of stills as q rule stand on
rough stone hearths by the side of each
other, and If possible close to a brook in
the shadetof the trees 1t does sound a
bit like Omar Khayyam, and as mat
ter of fact the whole composition of the
rose distillery taken as picture is rath-
err Omar Khayyamesque
The retorts are heated on a wood fire
Formerly, under the Turkish rule peas
ants were permitted to fell the amount of
wood they needed in tho forests without
needing to pay for it. Now that they
must buy it, the price of the perfume has
gone up.
The stills hold from % to 50 pounds of
roses, which are covered with double the
quantity of water and boiled for about
30 minutes. The distilled liquid is then
collected in the bottle that stands at the
mouth of the cooling tube and the altar
of roses, which separates from the water.
appears on the surface, where it is
skinned with a spoon. The distilled
water is used for distfllation over and
over again until 1t becomes at last '.thof-
oughIy saturated with the roses and is
sold It's rose water, which enters into
trade largely at Constantinople The
0rientais use 1t 81 their cooisery and CON-
fectionHry in great quantities
The altar must be totally freed from
timed both on the inside and outside.
The great trouble for the dealer in altar
is the old old trick of aduiteration
Some time back the adulterants consisted
of alcohol and spermaceti These are
rarely resorted to in these days because
of easy detection. But Gil of geranium is
used very frequently by the wholesale
dealers in ConstantinopIe. In moderate
quantities it is impossible to detect It,
for they distill the geraHlum oil with rose
leaves previous TO mixing up.
In spite of the fact that the culture of
roses is sometimes preearious and that it
requires about four tons of rose leaves to
obtain one pound of altar, one can mag
inc TO what advantage American manu-
faeture could carry this industry. The
work is SO light that family of a few
children and their parents could easily
work rose distllery. The climate of
the South is very favorable for that sort
of undertaking.
NJ. +. Melon has tried to introduce the
altar industry into Australia. and he
writes in the Journal of Agriculture o.
Victoria, Australia, with a view to induce
others to try it. He advises those who
would try this industry to use the PROV
ence rose
In the time of distillation quick WORK
Is necessary. The blooms must be gath
cred early in the morning. The flowers
must be taken off before they are fully
expanded and only the petals used to oh
tain good results. After plpcking the
flowers must be taken direct to the still
and not exposed to the sun rays or rain
or moisture of any kind. Delay in uls-
tillation must be avoided as much as pos
sibie- the flowers must be treated within
"A hours from the time of gathering and
great care must be taken not TO submit
the roses to rough treatment The pace
eff distllation had better be free from all
odors save that of the flowers or the at
tar will be tainted by whatever otner
odor there may be about A good supply
OF cold water is necessary to feed the
cooler, and where a running stream is
not available, it must be supplied from a
ell or tank by pumping. This water,
used over and over again, makes in the
end excellent rose water, There are
many growers of roses on the Mediterra- I
mean, by the way, who make rose water
and sell it at a great profit They simply
distiH the roses once without going to
the trouble of extracting the oil. I
The sense of SMELL the love of exquisite
odors Is refinement of taste people of
the oceident do not Understand as well
as those of the Orient. The Hindus know
it as no other people on earth know it.
Enter their temples and the first sense
that is touched is that of smell. And,
strangely enough, YOU Immediately feel a
spiritual reaction. You forget the hard
and the ugly things; your spirit worships
beauty.
Balzac and De Maupassant describe the
subtle witcheries of perfumes. And ply
sicians now declare that there is nothing
so healthful as a faint odor of flowers
and if that is impossible then q good per
fume used sparingly. The reason for it is
not only because the sensation of inhal-
ing pleasing odor increases the depth
of each breath and expands the lungs.
but 1t imparts glow of joyousness. a
holiday feeling, benefcent to the mind
and body.-Springfleld Republican. /
IcE5ERGs HEAT WATER.