44o THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [January *, 1888. 
THE SAFFEON CROP. 
The Spanish saffron crop which has now been gather- 
ed has, according to all accounts, been an exceptionally 
good one, rain having fallen throughout Eastern Spain 
in time not only to save the crop but to benefit it mate- 
rially. Iu the ordinary sourse of things a considerable 
decline iu the price of the drug may therefore be 
expected, but as the article is a comparatively small one, 
and liable to be kept artificially at high values by 
gp;culation, it is doubtful whether after all tbe quot- 
ations will fall to the extent which the circumstances 
would warrant. In 1885 and 1886 the Sanpish saffron 
• "■op, wuicb governs tbe market of the article, remained 
mucti below the average, and the price has therefore 
risen to an abnormal figure, as much as 566-. per lb. 
having recently been quoted for best Valencia saffron. 
It must, moreover, be borne in mind that the stock 
left over from last season is a very small one. An 
average crop in Spain is estimated to produce about 
110,000 lb.; but we have heard it stated on good 
authority that the cultivation of the plant is extending, 
a statement which appears strange in the face of the 
fact that the field for the employment of the article is 
certainly not increasing. Dumesnil has calculated 
that it takes about 7,300 flowers to yield one English 
pouud of fresh saffron, which by drying is again reduced 
to about on>fif h of its original weight. To a persou 
of an arithmetical turn of mind it will therefore be 
evident that the total yearly saffron production of Spain 
should represent something like four thousand millions 
of flowers ; but much of, if not nearly all, the saffron 
brought into commerce is more or less adulterated, 
most frequently by the addition of calcium carbonate 
and similar ponderous substances ; and this calculation 
is therefore probably rather above the mark. But it 
is clear, at any rate, that the collection of the drug 
is a most laborious occupation, and it is scarcely a 
matter of surprise that the mere cost of gathering 
the saffron, even in a country where labour is so cheap 
as in Spain, should be said to be over 15s. per lb. The 
bulk of the Spanish saffron is brought into commerce by 
way of the port of Valencia, to which market it is 
carried from the growing districts in the provinces of 
Aragon, Valencia, Murcia, and Andalusia. The 
saffron business forms a considerable branch of trade 
in the city of Valencia, but the market is dominated 
by a few large houses. From Valencia the saffron is 
distributed to different quarters of the globe, Marseilles 
receiving the heaviest consignments. Alicdiite is also 
a centre of the Spanish saffron trade, but it has lost 
much of its former importance in consequence of the 
barefaced manner in which "loading" with mineral 
substances is carried ou there. Alicante saffron, for 
this reason, is generally quoted from 30 to 40 per cent 
lower than the Valencia variety. Of late years 
Marseilles has gained considerably in importance as a 
saffron market. In 1886, 51,280 lb. saffron were 
imported there, while the exports amounted to as 
much as 59.342 lb., two-thirds of which went to British 
India. The Marseilles market has also obtained an 
unenviable notoriety for systematic saffron-doctoring, 
and it is there that the article is especially manipulated 
to suit the requirements of the different markets. 
British India absorbs the commoner qualities of 
saffron ; that country is the largest consumer of the 
drug, it being a highly-prized ingredient in Hindu 
cookery, as well as a valuable colouring agent in the 
manufacture of those textile fabrics for which India 
is famous. In Europe the use of saffron as a dyeing 
material in textile industries is now almost obsolete ; 
but it is still largely used as a colouring matter for 
confectionery aud other foodstuffs, as well as in the 
manufacture of liqueurs and gold-lacquer. Bird-fanciers 
a'so use it to some extent, believing it assists the 
birds in moulting. It enters iuto seven B.P. prepar- 
ations, the principal of which are tincture of rhub irb, 
compouTid decoction of aloes, and Huxham's tincture. 
The colouring power of saffron is said to be so great 
that one single grain of the drug, rubbed up with 
sugar, is capable of giving a yellow tint to ten gallons 
of wati r. 
A fine variety of saffron is produced in the French 
district of Gatiuais, near Orleans, but iu all portability 
only a very small part of the saffron sold under that 
name is really of French growth. The total yi-dd of 
Gatinais saffron is said to average about 7,000 lb. 
per annum, yet French official statistics show that 
in 1886 alone no less than 70,634 lb. of saffron declared 
to be of French growth were exported from the country, 
the greater part to Germany. In Austria some saffron 
was formerly cultivated, but the industry has appa- 
rently been abandoned, as it had become " unremuner- 
ative to the farmers. It is, iu fact, the principal obstacle 
to saffron-growing that the cultivation of th plant 
requires such immense care, and the growing crop is 
so easily damaged, while on the other hand the yield 
is so comparatively small t bat the cost of production 
must always remaiu too high to admit of any large ex- 
tension in the use of the article. In Italy saffron- 
growing is said to be reviving, and about a year ago 
we had occasion to iuspect some very fine specimens 
of saffron raised in that country. Beautiful saffron 
grown in Oeyloa was also exhibited at the Colonial 
and Indian Exhibition, aud it seems strange that more 
attention should not be paid to the cultivation of the 
drug in that island, as well as in other pans of o jr 
British Indian possessions (where it is known to sucee-d 
well), considering its extensive employment in India 
in tbe arts and for domestio purposes. A hu ky treatise 
might be written on the various modes of adulteration 
practised on saffron and the tests recommended for the 
detection of these sophistications; but the best Pritnlt- 
facie evidence of the genuineness of a sample is cer- 
tainly that the three stigmas of the crocus, which 
form the saffron proper, should be found united at 
the base, as in nature. In the middle-ages the adulter- 
ation of saffron was a capital crime, and in the middle 
of the fifteenth century several people in Germany 
found guilty of that offence were buried alive or burnt 
at the stake pour encourager les autres. — Chemist and 
Druggist. 
+. 
SHORT MANUAL FOR THE CULTIVATION 
OF JUTE: 
By the Resident J. A. B. Wiselius. 
{From " Be Indische Mercuux.") 
There exist two principal species of jute (goni) : 
1st, the Oorchorus capsularis, and 2nd, the G. oliturius 
which both are important for the fibre formation. 
The fibre of the last named specie3 is used by pre- 
ference in the jute-weaving business. They are mostly 
cultivated in the lowlands and on watery grouuds, while 
the C. capsularis thrives better ou the higher grounds 
(tegallans). Both species of jute nevertheless may be 
grown successfully on tegal as well as sawah and rawa- 
grounds. That planted on tegal-grounds has a shorfc ; 
but fine fibre. More general is the cultivation of jute 
on grounds which are covered from time to time by 
shallow water, or which are often inundated, or oa 
which a layer of slime has been left behind; on sawah- 
grounds and on those composed of clay and sand as on 
the banks of rivers, etc. The best sort is thought that 
which is grown on garden grounds (pekarangans). 
Soil, which is never totally inundated, whether situ- 
ated in low or high Iand3, but is never dry and 
always moist, is said to satisfy the best for this 
culture. The jute grows luxuriously in a warm and 
moist atmosphere. 
When the plant has reached a height of 2 feet, 
heavy rains cannot hurt it any more. In general, 
the plant is more damaged by too much dryness than 
by too much rain. 
When jute is grown on grounds, which are depend- 
ent on rain, it is best to begin tilling the soil be- 
fore the falling in of the rains. Wheu the ground 
is of a porous nature there, twice ploughing suffices, but 
the clods must be well crushed. 
For sowing, must be taken the seed of those plants 
which have not yet arrived at blossoming. The 
seed cases are dried in the sun for 4 or 5 days, 
and in very moiBt districts to even during 10 days. Then 
they are dressed, and the forthcoming seed is pre- 
served in baskets: per bouw (acre) may be obtained 
Hi picul of s»ed. About 6 catti of seed will de ueede 1 
