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cover with other (heets of paper, and over thefe My a 
coarfe blanket five or fix times doubled, or, inftead 
thereof, a canvas pillow filled with ftraw 5 and after 
the fire has been lighted for fome time, the whole is co- 
vered with a board, having a large weight upon it. 
At firft they give it a pretty ftrong heat, to make 
the chives fweat (as their expreffion is 3) and in this, 
if they do not ufe a great deal of care, they are in 
danger of fcorching, and fo of.fpoiling 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 Saffron off from that which lies next it, 
raifing at the fame time the edges of the cake with a 
knife •, then laying on the paper again, they Hide in 
another board between the hair cloth and upper pa- 
pers, and turn both papers and Saffron upfide-down, 
afterwards covering them as above. 
The fame heat is continued for an hour longer 3 then 
they look on the cake again, free it from the papers, 
and turn it 3 then they cover it, and lay on the weight 
as before. If nothing happens amifs during thefe 
firft two hours, they reckon the danger to be over 3 
for they have nothing more to do but to keep a gen- 
tle fire, and to turn their cakes every half hour till 
thoroughly dry, for the doing of which as it ought, 
there are required full twenty-four hours. 
In drying the larger plump chives they ufe nothing 
more, but towards the latter end of the crop, when 
thefe come to be fmaller, they fprinkle the cake with 
a little fmall beer, to make it fweet as it ought 3 and 
they begin now to think, that ufing two linen cloths 
next the cake, inftead of the two innermoft papers, 
may be of fome advantage in drying, but this prac- 
tice is followed as yet but by few. 
Their fire may be made of any kind of fuel, but that 
which fmokes the leaft is beft, and charcoal, for that 
reafon, i$ preferred to any other. 
What quantity of Saffron a firft crop will produce, is 
very uncertain 3 fometimes five or fix pounds of wet 
chives are got from one rood, fometimes not above 
one or two, and fometimes not enough to make it 
woith while to gather and dry it 3 but this is always 
to be obferved, that about five pounds of wet Saffron 
go to make one pound of dry, for the firft three weeks 
of the crop, and fix pounds during the laft week 3 and 
when the heads are planted very thick, two pounds 
of dried Saffron may, at a medium, be allowed to an 
acre for the firft crop, and twenty-four pounds for 
the two remaining, the third being confiderably larger 
than the fecond. 
In order to obtain thefe, there is only a repetition to 
be made every year of the labour of hoeing, gather- 
ing, picking, and drying, in the fame manner as be- 
fore fet down, without the addition of any thing new, 
except that they let cattle into the fields, after the 
leaves are decayed, to feed upon the weeds, or, per- 
haps, mow them for the fame ufe. 
About the Midfummer after the third crop is gather- 
ed, the roots muft be all taken up and tranfplanted 3 
the management requifite for which, is the fourth 
thing to be treated of. To take up the Saffron heads, 
or break up the ground (as the term is,) they fome- 
times plough it, fometimes ufe a forked kind of hoe, 
called a pattock, and then the ground is harrowed 
once or twice over 3 during all which time of plough- 
ing, or digging, and harrowing, fifteen or more peo- 
ple will find work enough to follow and gather the 
heads as they are turned up. 
They are next to be carried to the houfe in facks, and 
there cleaned and rafed 3 this labour confifts in clean- 
ing the roots thoroughly from earth, and from the 
remains of old roots, old involucra, and excrefcences, 
and thus they become fit to be planted in new ground 
immediately, or to be kept for fome time without 
danger of fpoiling. 
The quantity of roots taken up, in proportion to 
thofe which were planted, is uncertain 3 but at a me- 
dium, it may be faid, that allowing for all the acci- 
dents which happened to them in the ground, and in 
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breaking up fro in each acre, may be had twenty-fbtir 
quarters of clean roots, all fit to be planted. 
The owners are fare to choofe for their own ufe the 
largeft, plumpeft, and fatteft roots, but do leaft of 
all approve the longeft pointed ones, which they call 
(pickets, or fpickards, for very fmall, round, or flat 
roots, are fometimes obferved to flower, well. 
This is the whole culture of Saffron in the countv 
above-mentioned, and we have only now to confider 
the charges and profits which may be fuppofed, one 
year with another, to attend that- branch of agricul- 
ture 3 and of thefe I have drawn up the following 
computation for one acre of ground, according to the 
price of labour in this country. 
1. s. d. 
Rent for three years — - — -- 
3 
0 
0 
Ploughing for three years — — 
0 
18 
0 
Dunging — — — — 
3 
12 
0 
Hedging • — * — ..... — . 
1 
16 
0 
Spitting and letting the heads — 
1, 
12 
0 
Weeding or paring the ground — - 
1 
4 
0 
Gathering and picking the flowers 
6 
10 
0 
Drying the flowers — — - — — 
1 
6 
0 
Inftruments of labour for three years, 
with the kiln, about — — j 
0 
io 
0 
Ploughing the ground once, and har- j 
rowing twice — — — — ^ 
0 
12 
o' 
Gathering the Saffron heads — — 
1 
0 
0 
Raifing the heads — _____ 
1 
12 
0 
Total charge 
23 
12 
0 
This calculation is made upon ftippofition, that an 
acre of ground yields twenty-fix pounds of nett Saf- 
fron in three years, which I dated only as a mean 
quantity between the greateft and the leaft, and there- 
fore the price of Saffron muft be judged accordingly, 
which I think cannot be done better than by fixing it 
at 30 (hillings per pound; firrce in very plentiful 
years it is fold at twenty, and is fometimes worth be- 
tween three and four pounds 3 at this rate, twenty- 
fix pounds of Saffron are worth thirty-nine pounds, 
and the nett profits of an acre of ground producing 
Saffron, will, in three years, amount to fifteen pounds, 
thirteen (hillings, or about five pounds four (hillings 
yearly. 
This, I fay, may be reckoned the nett profit of an 
acre of Saffron, fuppofing that all the labour were to 
be hired for ready money 3 but as the planter and fa- 
mily do a confiderable part of the work themfelves, 
fome of this expence is faved 3 that is, by planting 
Saffron, he may not only reafonably expeit to clear 
about five pounds yearly per acre, but alfo to main- 
tain himfelf and family for fome part of each year ; 
and it is upon this ftippofition only, that the refult of 
other computations can be faid to have any tolerable 
degree of exactnefs, but the calculations themfelves 
are undoubtedly very inaccurate. 
I have faid nothing here concerning the charge in 
buying, or profits in felling, the Saffron heads, be- 
caufe, in many large tra&s of ground, thefe muft at 
length balance one another, while the quantity of 
ground planted yearly continues the fame, which has 
been pretty much the cafe for feveral years paft. 
Dr. Patrick Blair, defigning to treat concerning the 
Crocus, in his fixth Decad of his Pharmaco-Botanolo- 
gia, did, in the year 1725, fend tome the following 
queries : 
1 . After what manner the fpecies are propagated ? 
2. Whether the tap-root fprings firft, or the bulb I? 
3. At what feafon the leaves' fpring forth ? 
To thefe queries I fent him the following anfwer : 
1. As to the propagation of the fpecies. 
This is only by the roots, or offsets, which the old 
roots produce in great plenty, for I never faw any 
thing like a feed, or a feed-veffel produced, though I 
have let (land great quantities of flow r ers purpofely 
to try. 
2. As to the query, Whether the tap-root fprings 
firft, and the bulb be afterwards formed ? 
4 M As 
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