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C R O 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



C R O 



morning. The owners of the Saffron get together a sufficient 

 number of hands, who place themselves in different parts of 

 the field, pull off the whole flowers, and throw them handful 

 by handful into a basket, till they are all gathered. As soon 

 as they have carried them home, they immediately spread 

 them out upon a large table, and fall to picking out the 

 stigmas, together with a considerable part of the style itself; 

 the rest of the flower they throw away as useless. The stig- 

 mas being all picked out of the flowers, the next labour is to 

 dry them on the kiln, which is built upon a thick plank, 

 supported by four short legs, that it may be moved from 

 place to place ; the outside consists of eight pieces of wood 

 about eight inches thick, in the form of a quadrangular 

 frame, about twelve inches square at the bottom on the in- 

 side, and twenty-two inches at top, which is likewise equal to 

 the perpendicular height of it : a hole about eight inches 

 square is left in the front, about four inches above the plank, 

 through which the fire is put in ; over all the rest are laid 

 laths close to each other, nailed to the frame already de- 

 scribed, and then plastered over very thickly on both sides, 

 as are also the planks at the bottom, which serve for a hearth : 

 over the mouth or widest part is placed a hair-cloth, fixed to 

 the sides of the kiln, and also to two rollers, or moveable 

 pieces of wood, which are turned by screws, in order to 

 stretch the cloth : instead of which many persons now use a 

 net-work or iron-wire, with which, it is observed, that the 

 Saffron dries sooner and with less fuel ; but the difficulty of 

 preserving the Saffron from burning, occasions the hair-cloth 

 to be preferred by the nicest judges in drying. The kiln is 

 placed in a light part of the house, and they begin by laying 

 five or six sheets of white paper on the hair-cloth, upon 

 which they spread the wet Saffron two or-three inches thick; 

 this they cover with other sheets of paper, and over this lay 

 a coarse blanket five or six times double, or instead thereof, 

 a canvass pillow filled with straw ; and after the fire has been 

 lighted for some time, the whole is covered with a board 

 having a large weight on it : at first they apply a pretty 

 strong heat to make the chives sweat, as they term it : and in 

 this, unless very careful, they are in danger of scorching, and 

 thereby of spoiling all that is on the kiln. When it has been 

 thus dried about an hour, they take off the board, blanket, 

 and upper papers, and take the Suft'ron off from that which 

 lies next it, raising at the same time the edges of the cake 

 with a knife, then laying on the paper again, they slide in 

 another board between the hair-cloth and upper papers, and 

 turn both papers and Saffron upside down, afterwards cover- 

 ing them as before : the same heat is continued for an hour 

 longer ; they then look on the cake again, free it from the 

 pajKM-s, and turn it ; then they cover it, and lay on the weight 

 as before. If nothing detrimental occur during these first 

 two hours, they reckon the danger to be over, for they have 

 afterwards only to keep a gentle fire, and to turn their cakes 

 every half hour till thoroughly dry, for the doing of which 

 as it ought, twenty-four hours' attention is required. In dry- 

 ing the larger plump threads, they use nothing more ; but to- 

 wards the latter end of the crop, when these begin to be 

 smaller, they sprinkle the cake with a little small beer, to 

 make it sweat as it ought, and have latterly begun to think 

 that using two linen cloths next the cake, instead of the two 

 innermost papers, may be of some advantage in drying, 

 although that practice is followed by few : the fire may lie 

 made with any kind of fuel, but that which smokes the least 

 is best, and therefore charcoal is preferred. What quantity 

 of Saffron a first crop will produce, is very uncertain ; some- 

 times five or six pounds of wet threads are got from one 

 root, sometimes not above one or two, and sometimes not 



enough to make it worth while to gather and dry it ; but this 

 is always to be observed, that about five pounds of wet Saf- 

 fron make one pound of dry, for the first three weeks of the 

 crop, and six pounds during the last week ; and when the 

 heads are planted very thick, two pounds of dried Saffron 

 may at a medium be allowed to an acre for the first crop, 

 and twenty-four pounds for the two remaining, the third 

 being considerably larger than the second : in order to ob- 

 tain these crops, the labour of hoeing, gathering, picking, 

 and drying, must be repeated every year, without any addi- 

 tion, except that they let cattle into the fields after the leaves 

 are decayed, to feed upon the weeds ; or perhaps mow them 

 for the same use. 4. Management of the Roots. About the 

 Midsummer after the third crop is gathered, the roots must 

 all be taken up and transplanted. To take up the Saffron 

 heads, or break up the ground, they sometimes plough it, and 

 sometimes use a forked kind of hoe called a pattock, and 

 then the ground is harrowed once or twice over, during all 

 which time of ploughing, or digging, and harrowing, fifteen 

 or more persons will be sufficiently employed in following 

 and gathering the heads as they are turned up ; they are next 

 to be carried to the house in sacks, and there cleansed and 

 dressed, which consists in clearing the roots thoroughly from 

 the earth, and from the remains of old roots, old skins, and 

 excrescences, and thus they become fit to be planted in 

 new ground immediately, and to be kept for a considerable 

 time without danger of spoiling. The quantity of roots 

 which will be taken up, in proportion to those which were 

 planted, is uncertain ; but it may be calculated at a medium, 

 allowing for all the accidents which happened to them in the 

 ground, and in breaking up from each acre, to be twenty- 

 four quarters of clean roots, all fit to be planted. The 

 owners are sure to choose the largest, plumpest, and fattest 

 roots, for their own use, but most dislike the longest pointed 

 ones, which they call spickets or spickards, for very small, 

 round, or flat roots are sometimes observed to flower well. 

 Mr. Miller calculates that the charge of cultivating Saffron 

 for three years, will be upwards of a.23 per acre, which he 

 supposes to average twenty-six pounds of Saffron during each 

 year, which, at thirty shillings per pound, will leave five 

 pounds four shillings annual profit per acre. In the annexed 

 Plate, a shows the filaments of the flower, from which the 

 Saffron is prepared. 



2. Crocus Vernus ; Spring Crocus. Leaves broader, with 

 flat edges ; stigma very shortly trifid. This species has 8 

 largish compressed bulb, covered with a light-brown netted 

 skin, from which arise four or five leaves of a purplish co- 

 lour on their lower parts ; from among which oif or two 

 flowers come out, sitting close between the young leaves, 

 never rising above two inches high, and having an agreeable 

 o lour ; out of the centre of the tube arises a slender style, 

 crowned by a broad flat stigma of a golden colour .- after the 

 flowers are past, the germen pushes out of the ground, llal- 

 ler says that it is white, with a purple base, in Switzerland, 

 in a wild state ; and purple and white in Austria, according 

 to Jacquin. Gesner gathered it with u yellow flower on the 

 mountains of Glarus. Scopoli docs not mention its colour, 

 but says that it is not uncommon in Carniola. It is also * 

 native of Italy and Spain ; .but not indigenous in Britain, 

 though Mr. Miller states that he remembered to have seen it 

 apparently wild, in a considerable quantity, in Batlci sea mea- 

 dow, near the mill ; and it has also been found by Dr. Deer- 

 ing in the meadows near Nottingham. Though the varieties 

 of Spring Crocus are very numerous, Mr. Miller only enume- 

 rates the following twelve : 1. the Broad-leaved Purple, 

 variegated ; which has a flower of a deep blue, and striped ; 



