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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 187, 9 August 1877, Page 4

The following, takeu from the British Mail of May last, referring to ' tbe town of Kesanlik which was recently telegraphed as being occupied by the Russians, will be read with: interest : — •' The most favorable'cpuotry for the production of the most highlyscented roses, from which oVto'bf roses '! is distilled, is the middle portion of European Tarkey, at the base of the Bonthern elope of the Balkan Mountains, where the roses are grown in iocalitfea where they are protected against, all wimla except itpm ;the south; and the flowers thus attain a luxuriance in perfume and in grow.th, as well as iv size, of Which l kliose who haye not visited these regions can hardly form any idea. The town of Kesanlik, situated in the province of that name, is the centre of the field of cultivation and distillation of the rose-leaves. The leaves are gathered ail over the province, whjch is forty miles long, and is well watered by the river Thunga and : the many mountain streams which "discharge into the same, furnishing the water necessary tor cultivation. To give an idea of the extent which this industry has attained, we ne^d only say that there are in that province one hundred and twenty-eight different villages of which the inhabitants are all employed in the culture of the beautiful flowers. The great harvest com- : mences about M«y 15, and lasts until June 5 ; the gathering is done daily in the morning before sunrise, and the distillation is finished before noon so as to have the benefit of the freshness of the flowers, which is at once driven off by the heat of the day. Experience has shewn tlint for every ounce ot otto of roses, 30001b5., of rose leaves are required." A correspondent of the Wellington Argus who has been much troubled of late with rats, which threatened to eat him out of house and home, having tried traps, gins, cats, terriers without diminishing the number of his unwelcome guests,' lately hit upon a novel an'J efficacious mode of riddiug himself of their presence. It is a wellknbwn fact that these auimnls are passionately fond bf the smell of oil of atnber. This our friend became cognisautof, and resolved/ with the aid of ad ingenious device of his owd, to clear the house of his foes by its means. His plan was a f triumph o! mind and' mechanical ingenuity. Haying first dug a hole in his garden, he Buuk a large water-butt to ihe level <j>f Ihe grouod, filling it with water t<s within niue or ten inches of. the tojCThU was to ba (ha receptacle for the bodies of his victims. Communicating with this, «ho lower end resting on the ed-je of tbe burrel, was a zinc tox tapering throughout its length of five feet from oue loot, square at the entrance to -about 3 x 4 iuclies at its narrower extremity; by me^us of au eudless bras." chain, couuecteti with an endless, but simple, system of mechanism, a sponge dipped in oil of amber was made to pass through tha tube in tbe direction of tbe wiitnr ; when the eager rats following the templing b*it would be lured to the watei's edge aud fall iuto th« saure ho cleverly laid for them. As many as 49 rats have beeu found in t!ie tub of a morning; and our informant has to bury the carcases of many who hrtd domiciled themselves on hie neighbor. The new iuvcntioo,,w6 hear, will be patbutod under the name of the... '•Cat Supersedor," not the least feature ot the invention being its cheapness, as by a simple contrivaaoe the rats are umde to supply the uecessary momentum to tho oiied bait by their own weight and avidity in seizing it. : °