This newspaper clipping offers Mrs. Beecher's instructions for reusing rose petals from old bouquets. Mrs. Beecher offered the advice, per the request of a reader, on how to make a room smell pleasant with rose petals. She admitted she knew no other method of making perfume, aside from the regular distilling method.

In addition to improving one's smell, perfume was also used to medically revive the faint, and to help cleanse infections. Common scents included rose, orange peel and cedar wood.