Meadow Saffron. 



6i 



a spade or fork. A clever tool, shown in the figure, is used 

 in France for extracting the bulbs in an expeditious manner. 

 It consists simply of a rod of iron, enlarged at the end and 

 sharply pointed like a pitcher for setting sheep folds ; about 

 ten inches from the end a movable claw with three prongs is 

 fastened so that it may fold upwards, as in A, and allow this 



A B 



Tool for Extracting Bulbs of Meadow Saffron^ 



A. Tool before being put into the earth. 



B. Tool with bulb extracted. 



pitcher to be thrust into the earth. When the claw is 

 below the bulb the pitcher is drawn up so that the claw is 

 extended and the bulb is brought with it. 



Another mode of dealing with meadow saffron is to brush 

 off the flowers in October with a sharp brush-hook, or the 

 leaves and capsules early in May, close to the ground. If 

 this is done for two years in succession the bulb will rot. 

 Care must be taken to cut off every particle of the flower, 

 seed capsules, and leaves. Another method would be to pull 

 off the flowers, seed capsules, and leaves by hand. This 

 would perhaps ensure a more perfect clearance of them, but 

 it would be more expensive than brushing. 



