Allied to the oil of geranium in odor are the products of the rose.
The Rose de Provence is the variety cultivated. It is grown on gentle
slopes facing the southeast. Young shoots are taken from a
five-year-old tree, and are planted in ground which has been well
broken up to a depth of three or four feet, in rows like vines. When
the young plant begins to branch out, the top of it is cut off about a
foot from the ground. During the first year the farmer picks off the
buds that appear, in order that the whole attention of the plant may
be taken up in developing its system. In the fourth or fifth year the
tree is in its full yielding condition. The flowering begins about
mid-April, and lasts through May to early June. On some days as many
as 150 tons of roses are gathered in the province of the Alpes
Maritimes.
The buds on the point of opening are picked in the early morning.
Scott says they are "sweetest washed with morning dew." The purchaser
may think otherwise where the dew has to be paid for.
The flowering season over, the trees are allowed to run wild. In
January they are pruned, and the branches left are entwined from tree
to tree all along the line, and form impenetrable fences.
A rose tree will live to a good age, but does not yield much after its
seventh year. At that period it is dug up and burned, and corn,
potatoes, or some other crop is grown on the land for twelve months or
more.
In the factory the petals are separated from the calyx, and are
distilled with water for the production of rose water and the otto.
For the production of the huile and pomade they are treated by
maceration. They are finished off, however, by the process of
enfleurage, in which the frames before alluded to are made use of. The
fat, or pomade, is spread on to the glass on both sides. The blossoms
are then lightly strewn on to the upper surface. A number of trays so
filled are placed one on the top of the other to a convenient height,
forming a tolerably air tight box. The next day the old flowers are
removed, and fresh ones are substituted for them. This is repeated
until the fat is sufficiently impregnated. From time to time the
surface of the absorbent is renewed by serrating it with a comb-like
instrument. This, of course, is necessary in order to give the hungry,
non-saturated lower layers a chance of doing their duty.
Where oil is the absorbent, the wired frames are used in connection
with cloths. The cloth acts as the holder of the oil, and the flowers
are spread upon it, and the process is conducted in the same way as
with the frames with glass.
From the pomade the extrait de rose is made in the same way as the
orange extrait.