CARTHAMUS TINCTORIUS. 



crop returns, tlie available statistics of its area are by no means accurate, since they were 

 only collected as a special measure in a single year (1881-82), and only include that por- 

 tion of the area which was covered by (a), safflower alone ; {d), safflower and carrots j and 

 (c), safflower and cotton, excluding the large area on which it is grown mixed with barley 

 or gram. The returns indicate that the area thus cropped in the 30 temporarily settled 

 N.-W. Provinces Districts extends to between 17,000 and 18,000 acres, only 38 per 

 cent, of which are irrigated. 



The area on which safflower is sown alone constitutes but a very small portion of 

 the total. It is most commonly sown in gram fields, — generally disposed in lines like rape 

 or linseed, — but also very frequently accompanies carrots, and in this combination forms 

 a crop very commonly met with on small plots in the vicinity of wells. It is also occa- 

 sionally sown in cotton fields in the course of the last weeding they receive, since the 

 cotton harvest is, as a rule, well over before the safflower plants begin to reach maturity. 



As has been already pointed out, safflower appears to prefer a light soil, although it 

 will grow on almost any land which will bear a crop of gram. If it be grown with 

 carrots it reaps the benefit of a good manuring which they almost invariably- receive, but 

 it is rarely given manure on its own account, nor when grown, as most commonly hap- 

 pens, with barley or gram. 



It is sown early in October, preferring a date a little later than that for carrots, and 

 a little earlier than that for gram. It commences flowering in February, and picking 

 continues from then till the end of March, its seeds ripening in April. In the rare in- 

 stances of its forming a sole crop its seed is sown at the rate of 10 or 12 seers to the 

 acre. When mixed with another crop it is usually disposed in lines, and the amount of 

 seed used in this case varies of course with the caprice of the cultivator. The method of 

 cultivation followed is precisely similar to that of the ordinary rabi crops. Safflower is 

 dependent for its irrigation as for its manure on the character of the crop with which it is 

 associated. If this be carrots it receives as many as four or five waterings, but if barley 

 or gram it is generally left to make shift without any at all. 



The dye for which the plant is cultivated resides in the small orange coloured florets 

 which issue from the teazle-like capitula or flower heads. The florets commence appear- 

 ing in February, and are carefully picked every two or three days, the remuneration 

 for picking being commonly paid in kind at the rate of iijth of the produce. When 

 dry they are as a rule sold to the travelling agents of merchants in the Eajputana or 

 Calcutta trade, the usual price being from 2 to 3 seers per rupee. The subsequent 

 treatment of the florets depends on their being destined for export as the safflower of 

 commerce or for local consumption. In addition to the pink dye to which the florets 

 owe their value, they contain a yellow pigment which must be extracted before they can 

 be used in dyeing. In the case of the safflower of commerce, this extraction is effected 

 by crushing the florets either with a pestle or in kneading them with the feet while a 

 stream of water is allowed to run over them, and pass through a strainer. In this 

 manner the yellow colouring is washed out of the florets, and the process is persevered 

 with until the water runs off clear. The florets are then made up into round flat cakes 

 and, when dried and pressed, are ready for market. 



When safflower is intended for dyeing in this country the extraction of the yellow 



