YELLOW DYES. 403 



this would injure the colour of the saffron. When 

 heat has been applied for about an hour, the board is 

 raised, and the papers with the saffron within them are 

 turned and then covered as before. The same opera- 

 tion is repeated every hour for the first three or four 

 hours, and subsequently every half hour for four and 

 twenty hours ; the saffron is then thoroughly dry and 

 fit for use. About five pounds of wet saffron yield 

 one pound of dry. The quantity produced at a crop 

 is very uncertain. Sometimes five or six pounds of 

 fresh sigmata from one rood of ground ; sometimes 

 not above one or two, and at others not so much as 

 is sufficient to defray the expense of gathering and 

 drying. When the roots are planted very thick two 

 pounds of dry saffron may at a medium be allowed 

 to an acre for the first crop, and twenty-four pounds 

 for the two remaining ones, the third being con- 

 siderably larger than the second. The roots are 

 never allowed to remain in the ground for more than 

 three years, and, in the midsummer after the third 

 crop has been gathered, they are taken up either by 

 means of a forked hoe or a plough. The roots, 

 being thoroughly cleansed from all extraneous matter, 

 are either transplanted immediately, or may be kept 

 some time without danger of spoiling. The quantity 

 of roots taken up is very uncertain, but at a medium 

 192 bushels of clean roots fit for planting may be 

 obtained from each acre. 



The best saffron is that which has the broadest 

 blades; it is by this that the English is distinguished 

 from the foreign. It should be of an orange or 

 fiery red colour, and yield a dark yellow tincture. 

 That brought from Spain is very inferior, in con- 

 sequence, it is said, of oil being mixed with it for its 

 better preservation. 



