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The u^ctiiod of cultivating Saffron being fcmeVvhat 

 turious, I thought it not improper to infert in thU 

 place an abllraft of it, as it was prcfented to the Royal 

 Society hy Dr. James Douglals. 

 As Saffron grows at prefent moll: plentifully in Cam* 

 bridgefhire, and has gro\^m formerly in feveral other 

 tounties of Enghnd, the method of culture does nCt, 

 I believe, vary much in any of them, and therefore I 

 judge it fufHeient to fet down here the obfervations 

 which I employed proper perfons, in dift'erent feafons, 

 to make, in the years 1723, 1724, 1725, and 1728, 

 up and down all that large tract of ground that lies 

 between Saffron- Walden and Cambridge, in a circle 



about ten miles diameten 



In that county Saffron has been cultivated, and there- 

 fore it may be reafonably expeded, that the inhabi- 

 tants thereof are more thoroughly acquainted with it 

 than they are any where elfe* 



I ffrall begin with the choice and preparation of the 

 ground. The greatcft part of the trati:!: already men- 

 tioned is an open level country, with few inclofures -, 

 and the cuftom there is, as in moft other places, to 

 crop two years, and let the land be fallow the third. 

 Saffron is generally planted upon fallow ground, and, 

 all other things being alike, they prefer that which 

 has borne Barley the year before- 

 7'he Saffron grounds are feldom above three acres, 

 or lefs than one ; and in choofing, the principal thing 

 they have regard to is, that they be well expofed, the 

 foil not poor, nor a very ftiff clay, but a temperate 

 dry mould, fuch as commonly lies upon chalk, and 

 is of an Hazel colour ; though if every thing elfe 

 ahfwers, the colour of the mould is pretty much 



neglefted. 



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.:' J* 



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The ground being made choice of, abotit Lady-Day, 

 or the beginning of April, it mull be carefully plough- 

 ed, the fMrrows being drawn much clofer together, 

 ami deeper, if the foil will allow it, than is done for 

 any kind of corn-, and accordingly, the charge is 



-t-l . J1|i Jf * - --v - 



' . greater- 



'" About five weeks after, during any "time in the 



c month of May, they lay between twenty and thirty 



*, loads of dung upon each acre, and having fpread it 



with great care, they plough it in as before. The 

 \l.. fliorteft rotten durig is the beft ; and the farmers, who 

 " have the convcniency of making it, Ipare no pains to 

 . , make it good, being fure of a proportionable price 



for it. 



other fide, ^nd digging as before, covers the root^ 

 lad fet, and makes the fame room for the fetters to 

 place a new row, at the fame diftance from the firft 

 that they are from one another. Thus they o-q on 

 till a whole ridge, containing commonly one rod, is 

 planted ; and the only nicety in digging >s, to leave 

 fome part of the firft itratum of earth untouched^ to 

 lie*undcr the roots, and, in fetting, to place the roots 

 diredly upon their bottom. ■ 



What fort of roots arc to be preferred fliall be fhewn 

 under the fourth head, but it mud be obferved in this 

 place, that formerly, when roots were very dear, they 

 did not plant them {o thick as they do now •, and that 

 they have always fome regard to thefize of the roots, 

 . placing the krgeft at a greater diftance than the fmail 

 ones. 



The quantity of roots planted in an acrey Is generally 

 khout 16 quarters, or 128 bufliels, which, accord- 

 ing to the diftances left between them, as before af- 

 figned^ and fuppofing all to be an inch in diameter 

 . one with another, ought to amount to 392,040 in 

 number. 



From the time that the roots are planted, till about 

 the beginning of September, or fometimes later, 

 there is no more labour aboiit them ; but as they then 

 begin to fpife, and are ready to Ihew themf<;;lvcs 

 above ground (which is known by digging a few out 

 of the earth,) the ground muft be carefully pared 

 with a fharp hoe, and the weeds, &c. raked into the 

 furrows, otherwife they would hinder the growth of 

 the plants. 



In fome time after appear the Saffron Sowers, and 



this leads us to the third branch of oar p^cfentme- 



. thod- The flowers are gathered as well before as after 



i they are full blown, and the moft proper time for 



this is early in the morning. The owners of the Saf- 



r. fron get together a fufficient number of hands, who 



'. place themfelves m'diffa*erift'parts of the field, who 



pull off" the whole flowers, and throw them handful 



by handful into a balket, and fo continue till all the 



flowers are gathered, which happens commonly about 



ten Of eleven o'clock. 



^ r' ^-^ -^.^v^ * 



Having then carried home all they have got, they 

 imn>€diately Ipread them upon a large table, and faU 

 to picking out the filamenta ftyli, or chives, and to- 

 gether with them a pretty long proportion of the %- 

 lus itfelf, or ftring to which they are joined ; thereft 



a 



About Midfummer they plough a third time, I of the flower they throw away as ufelefs. The next 



and between every fixteen feet and an half, or pole J morning they return into the field again, w^hetheritbc 



in breadth, they leave a broad furrow or trench, which I wet or dry weather, and fo on daily, even on Sun- 



fcrves both as a boundary to the feveral parcels, when I days, till the whole crop be gathered. 



there are feveral proprietors to one incbfure, and to I The chives being alt picked out of the flowers, the 



throw the weeds in at the proper feafon. 



next labour about them is to dry them on the kiln. 



To this head likewife belongs the fencing of the I The kiln is built upon a thick plank (that it may be 



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grounds, becaufe moft commonly, though not always, 



that is done before they plant. The fences confift of 



what they call dead hedges^ or hurdles, to keep out 



not only cattle of all forts, but efpecially hares, which 



would otherwife feed on the Saflfron leaves during the 

 winter. ...:.•.. .■- , 



- About the weather wc need not only obferve, that 

 the hotteft fummers are certainly the beft, and there- 

 i with, if there be gentle Ihowers from time to time, 

 * they can hardly mifs of a plentiful crop, if the ex- 

 treme cold, fnow, or rain of the foregoing winter 

 have not prejudiced the heads, .' 

 The next general part of the culture of Saffron is, 

 planting, or fetting the roots; the only inftrument 

 ufed for which is a narrow fpade, commonly termed a 

 fpit ftiovcl. ,:';:; . , • . .. . 



The time of planting is commonly in the month of 

 July, a litde fooncr or later, according as the weather 

 anfwer. The method is this : one man with his fpit 

 ' ftiovel raifes between three and four inches of earth, 

 and throws it before him about fix or more inches ; 

 twoperfonss gcnerallv women, following with heads, 

 place them in the fartheft edge of the trench he 

 makes, at three inches diftance from each other, or 

 thereabouts i as foon as the digger or fpitter has gone 



once the breadth of the ridge, he begins again at the 



moved from place to place) ftJj^rted by four Ihort 

 legs ; the outfitde confi:fts of eight pieces of weed 

 about three inches thick, in form of a quadrangular 

 frame, about twelve inches fquare at the bottom on 

 ihe irffide,^ arid tWenty-two inches at top, which is 

 likewife equal to the perpendicular height of it. On 

 the forefide is left a hole about eight inches fquare, 

 and four inches above the plank^ through which the 

 fire is put in ; over all the reft laths ^re laid pretty 

 thick, clofe to one another, and nailed to the frame' 

 already mentioned,and then are plaiftered over on both 

 fides, as are alfo the planks at bottom very thick, to 

 fcrve for a hearth. Over the mouth, or wideft part, 

 goes a haircloth, fixed to the fides of the kiln, and 

 likewife to two rpUers, or moveable pieces of wood, 

 which arc turned by wedges or fcrews, in order to 

 ftretch the cbth. Inftead of the hair cloth, many 

 people now ufe a net-work, or iron wire, with which 

 it is obferved that the Saffron dries fooner, and with 



lefs quantity of fuel ; but the difficulty in preferving 



the Saffron from burning, makes the hair cloth be 



preferred by the niceft judges in drying. 

 The kiln is placed in a light part of the houfe, and 

 they begin by laying five or fix fheets of white paper 

 on the hair cloth, upon which they fpread the wet 



Saffron between two and three inches thick ^ this tbey 



cover 



k 1 



