CROCUS. 371 
to throw the weeds in at the proper feafon. To this 
head likewife belongs the fencing of the grounds, be- 
catife moft commonly, though not always, that is done 
before they plant. The fences confift of what they call 
dead hedges, or hurdles, to keep out not only cattle of 
all forts, but efpecially hares, which would otherwife 
feed on the faffron leaves during the winter. About the 
weather we need only obferve, that the hotteft fummers 
are certainly the bed; and therewith, it there be gentle 
flowers from time to time, they can hardly mifs of a 
plentiful crop, if the extreme cold, fnow, or rain, of the 
foregoing winter, have not prejudiced the heads. 
Planting or Jetting the Roots. The only inllrument ufed 
for this is a narrow fpade, commonly termed a fpit-fho- 
vel. The time of planting is commonly in the month 
of July, a little fooner or later, according as the weather 
anfwers. The method is this: one man with his fpit- 
fhovel raifes between three and four inches of earth, and 
throws it before him about fix or more inches; two per- 
fons, generally women, following with heads, place them 
in the fartheft edge of the trench he makes, at three 
inches diftance from each other, or thereabouts; as foon 
as the digger or fpitter has gone once the breadth of the 
ridge, he begins again at the other fide, and, digging as 
before, covers the roots lalt let, and makes the lame room 
for the fetters to place a new row at the fame diftance 
from the firft that they are from one another. Thus they 
go on, till a whole ridge, containing commonly one rod, 
is planted ; and the only nicety in digging is, to leave 
fome part of the firft lira turn of earth untouched, to lie 
under the roots, and, in fetting, to place the roots di¬ 
rectly upon their bottom. Formerly, when roots were 
very dear, they did not plant them fo thick as they do 
now ; and they have always fome regard to the fize of 
the roots, placing the largeft at a greater diftance than 
the fmall ones. The quantity of roots planted in an 
acre, is generally about fixteen quarters, or a hundred 
and twenty-eight bulhels, which, according to the dil- 
tances left between them, as before aftigned, andfup- 
pofing all to be an inch in diameter one with another, 
ought to amount to 392,040 in number. From the time 
that the roots are planted, till about the beginning of 
September, or lbmetimes later, there is no more labour 
about them ; but as they then- begin to fpire, and are 
ready to ftiew themfelves above ground, (which is known 
by digging a few out of the earth,) the ground muft be 
carefully pared with a fharp hoe, and the weeds, &c. 
raked into the furrows, otherwife they would hinder the 
growth of the plants. 
Gathering and drying the Flowers. The flowers are ga¬ 
thered as well before as after they are full blown, and 
the moft proper time for this is early in the morning. 
The owners of the faffron get together a fufficient num¬ 
ber of hands, who place themfelves in different parts of 
the fields, pull oft'the whole flowers, and throw them 
handful by handful into a balket, and fo continue till 
all the flowers are gathered. Having then carried home 
all they have got, they immediately fpread them upon a 
large table, and fall to picking out the ftigmas, and to¬ 
gether with them a pretty long proportion of the ftyle 
itfelf; the reft of the flower they throw away as ufelefs. 
The next morning they return into the field again, whe¬ 
ther it be wet or dry weather, and fo on daily, even on 
Sundays, till the whole crop be gathered. The ftigmas 
being all picked out of the flowers, the next labour is to 
dry them on the kiln. The kiln is built upon a thick 
plank, that it may be moved from place to place, fup- 
ported by tour ftiort legs ; the outfide confilts of eight 
pieces of wood about three inches thick, in form of a 
quadrangular frame, about twelve inches fquare at the 
bottom on the infide, and twenty-two inches at top, which 
is likewite equal to the perpendicular height of it. On 
the fore fide is left a hole about eight inches fquare, and 
tour inches above the plank, through which the fire is 
put in ; over all the reft laths are laid pretty thick, clofe 
to one another, and nailed to the frame already men¬ 
tioned, and then are plaiftered over on both Tides, as are 
alfo the planks at bottom very thick, to ferve for a hearth. 
Over the mouth, or wideft part, goes a hair cloth, fixed 
to the fides of the kiln, and likewife to two rollers, or 
moveable pieces of wood, which are turned by wedges 
or ferews, in order to ftretch the cloth. Inftead of the 
hair cloth, many people now ufe a net-work, or iron 
wire, with which it is obferved that the faffron dries 
fooner, and with lefs quantity of fuel ; but the dif¬ 
ficulty in preferving tire faffron from burning, makes 
the hair cloth be preferred by the niceft judges in dry¬ 
ing. The kiln is placed in a light part of the houfe, 
and they begin by laying five or fix fheets of- white 
paper on the hair cloth, upon which they fpread the 
wet faffron between two and three inches thick; this 
they cover with other fheets of paper, and over thefe 
lay a coarfe blanket five or fix times doubled; or, in¬ 
ftead thereof, a canvas pillow filled with draw ; and 
after the fire has been lighted fome time, the whole* 
is covered with a board, having a large weight on it. 
At firft they gave it a pretty ftrong heat, to make the 
chives fweat, (as their expreffion is ;) 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 
faffron off from that which lies next it, railing at the 
fame time the edges of the cake with a knife ; then lay¬ 
ing on the paper again, they Hide in another board be¬ 
tween the hair-cloth and upper papers, and turn both 
papers and faffron uplidedown, afterwards covering them 
as above. The fame heat is continued for an hour longer; 
then they look on the cake again, free it from the papers, 
and turn it; 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; for they 
have nothing more to do but to keep a gentle 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 
threads 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 
fweat as it ought; 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 practice is followed 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, is pre¬ 
ferred to any other. 
What quantity of faft'ron a firft crop will produce, is 
very uncertain; fometimes five or lix pounds of wet 
threads are got from one rood, fometimes not above one 
or two, and fometimes not enough to make it worth 
while to gather and dry it; but this is always to be ob¬ 
ferved, that about five pounds of wet faffron go to make 
one pound of dry for the firft three weeks of the crop, and 
fix pounds during the laft week ; and, when the heads are 
planted very thick, two pounds of dried faft'ron may, at 
a medium, be allowed to an acre for the firft crop, and 
twenty-four pounds for the two remaining, the third be¬ 
ing confiderably larger than the fecond. In order to ob¬ 
tain thefe, there is only a repetition to be made every 
year of the labour of hoeing, gathering, picking, and 
drying, in the fame manner as before fet down, without 
the addition of any thing new, except that they let cat¬ 
tle into the fields, after the leaves are decayed, to feed 
upon the weeds, or, perhaps, mow them for the fame ufe. 
Management of the Roots. About the Midfummer after 
the third crop is gathered, the roots muft be all taken up 
and tranfplanted. To take up the faft'ron heads, or break 
up the ground, (as the term is,) they fometimes plough 
it, fometimes ufe a forked kind of hoe called a pattock, 
and then the ground is harrowedor.ee or twice over; 
during 
