PERFUME FARMS IN NEW ZEALAND.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1483, 15 February 1887, Page 3

PERFUME FARMS IN NEW ZEALAND.

(By G. Girling Batcher In the Weekly Press.) The paragraph from the Herald quoted m a repent issue of the Press has opened up a question of very considerable importtt'ba to the farmers and landholders of Hi fa Zealand, and mast have given rlae to a certain amount of thought and Inquiry, as ia evinced by the lett r signed '* Agrioola" In your issue of the 22 ad Inst, Having recently visited the distriots |q Europe wHlob »r« the boad'Centre of

Pet fame Farming, both m Fiance and "»uglftnd, 1 think your raaders may feel tutor, sted m h>.anng particulars of this industry m ao far as it bears practically <" 'he interests of the landholder here. lony menlion that my object m vißitiog he fliwer farms m Eui ope was to obtain he requiaire knowledge of the various orooesses by which the essential oils nr )ttoa are obtainad. m order that I mL'h; he enabled to utilise a farm m the olony >o belter advantage th*u fa possible wiih "he present rate for trdinary agricultural produce. The reiu't of the inveßtig.v I-mo I carried ot: tn a thoroughly practical manner for some considerable time was aatiafact< vy i 1 the extrema. I had oppottunlties whiUt working (more especially m h> perfume districts m the South of Fi*nuej to i ■■• form myself thoroughly of the very luora- ' tive nature of the business to all parties concerned, the grower, factor, agent, and finally the manufacturing perfumer io London cr Paris, and, having spoken openly to the experts of my intention io • stablish a perfume farm In New Zetland, I was assured that after the south of Franoe do country possssjes a climate so suitable m every way to maet the requirements of the pjtfame farmer. In Wurope this industry has its chief seat m Franoe, m the district surrounding Nice. Cannes, and Gr&Bse, the Utter a small town about twelve miles north of Cannes, at the foot of the Estrelle Mountains In this district the whole of thn laud ia devoted to the culture <>f flowers of various kinds to be osed m the manufacture of see ta, and a more beautiful country it is imponsible t-> conoelve, both m iraelf and from the thousands of acres of flowers stretching? as far as one can see, and also from the eqnisite perfumes that permea'.e the atmosphere for miles round ; m f ict, this district is one of the " Hntiß " of the sunny south, and vas' numbers of visitors, more especially from the United States, and many from Northern Europe, deviate from the beaten track of tourists to inspect the fltwtr farms, and if possible the manufactories. These later, however are somewhat difficult of accasa, unlesa the visitor jb provided with credentials from one of the wall-known firme, such as Rimmt'l or Pieaee and. Lubin, there being many secrets connected with the distillation, and more especially with the other processes which aroused m obtaining the beet extracts or ottos, which have been handei down aa part of the p-oprietorehip of the businea3, and ate not shown except under exceptional circumatatjc-^e. t-ome idea of the commercial importuned of (he industry m this district may be gathered from the statistics iatued conic years ago by M. Herman, m whoao large estalishment at Cannes I was enab'ed to atudy m Auguet of laßt year. In the year 1879 this gentleman us<d In his factory UO.OOOibs of oraug" flowers, 12 OOOibs of oaasle (A<u cia fan • itnn), hyre known as ono ( f the wattloa, 14,000 bs t f rose p Mala 32 f ooolba o" j »amine bloßsoms, 20.0.~0.b8 of violets, 8,01 0 ba of tuberoses, besides nuoaeroud odorou3 plants, as rosemary, mint, thyme, etc , m larger pop <rtion. In fact., this trade is the st iple industry of a very large district, atd as the difficulties of vine culture increase, bo will the cultivation of fl >wers for ecentbdvance and ihe supply more nearly equal the de mand— a st^te' of things which has never been the cisc of late yoarß. so greatly has . the taete for scent m various forms increase J iv ihe large cities of Europe. There are many ct'oumstanoes, such as climatic it flaonce, soil, water, eto, whioh point to New Zo»)and as the c >lony of all moßt suited to this n> w and profitable industry. It cannot ba denied that m the present uta-e of prices for agricultural produce, acme crops more luce t ye would be adeßtdera urn, and it is f^r this reason that I should like to ace this aulj j ot disenssed, aud light thrown on' it. A few figures wiU, perhaps, help me to demonstrate this. The blossoms of the jasmine (jaaminum odoratissimuro) are eagerly bought op by the t'rtchors from the cottagers, who grow 6mall plots of this, largest and most Btrougly ecented variety, at from two or three francs the kilogramme; this is calculated to yield an average orop of about £40 ao acre. Roses at a much smaller price, vis. ]£d per lb, and about 7000 plants, such as are grown of the old Provence cabbage roae, »o the acre at four years old, will yield 50C0.b m weight of rose petals, or, say, £30 per acre per annum,