Am.  Jour.  Pliarin. ) 
Sept.,  1881.  i 
Growth  of  Crocus  in  Kashmir. 
471 
THE  GROWTH  of  CROCUS  SATIVUS,  THE  SOURCE  of 
HAY  SAFFRON,  IN  KASHMIR. 
By  Dr.  Downes,  Medical  Missionary. 
Paper  read  before  the  Edinburgh  Botanical  Society,  May  12.  From  the  "  Gardeners'  Chronicle,"  May  21, 1881. 
According  to  the  late  Dr.  Elmslie,  the  native  names  are  Kong-posh 
(^Crocus sativus),  n.m.  saffron-flower,  and  Kongs,  n.ra.  saffron  [Crocus sati- 
vus).  Cake  saffron  is  largely  an  adulteration  of  the  stigmata  of  wallflower 
and  other  plants.  The  Crocus  sativus  is  the  only  plant  grown  in  Kash- 
mir the  stigmata  of  which  compose  hay  saffron.  The  famous  saffron 
fields  are  situated  in  the  vicinity  of  Pampur,  on  a  plain  fully  fifty  feet 
above  the  valley.  The  bulbs  grow  on  soil  said  to  have  been  specially 
imported  for  the  purpose.  In  dry  seasons  the  produce  averages  nearly  a 
ton,  though  the  crop  was  in  1871  only  half  that  quantity.  Some  1^500 
lbs.  of  saffron  are  exported  yearly  from  Kashmir  to  Laddahk.  From 
dd.  to  l.s.  sterling  is  given  for  180  grains.  The  bulbs  are  planted  out 
in  June,  and  the  stigmata  are  collected  in  October.  It  is  principally 
used  as  a  condiment,  its  power  on  the  system,  whether  in  health  or 
disease,  being  trivial.  The  mark  on  the  forehead  of  a  Hindu  Pundit 
is  partially  derived  from  it.  The  Mussulmans  of  the  valley  are  gene- 
rally unable  to  buy  it.  According  to  O^Shaughnessy  the  odor  is  fra- 
grant, and  the  taste  bitter  but  agreeable.  It  tinges  the  saliva  yellow. 
Pereira  makes  one  grain  of  good  saffron  to  contain  the  stigmata  and 
styles  of  nine  flowers,  so  that  the  formation  of  an  ounce  would  require 
4,320  flowers.  Bulbs  received  by  Dr.  Royle  in  1826  from  Kashmir, 
when  in  charge  of  the  Saharunpore  Botanical  Gardens,  which  flowered, 
and  were  afterwards  figured,  turned  out  to  be  varieties  of  Crocus  sativus. 
This  author  has  little  doubt  of  the  Asiatic  derivation  of  this  species. 
The  four  stations  of  saffron  cultivation,  called  "  Warewas,"  are  flat 
treeless  table  lands,  on  the  borders  of  the  hills,  50  to  150  feet  higher 
than  the  Kashmir  Valley,  wdiich  is  5,200  feet  above  the  sea-level. 
They  are  little,  if  at  all,  irrigated.  The  soil  is  a  stiff  clay.  Dr.  Downes 
has  been  informed  that  saffron  has  been  successfully  cultivated  in  the 
gardens  of  the  city  of  Kashmir;  indeed,  he  believes  that  the  oppression 
and  greed  of  government  officials  is  the  sole  cause  preventing  its  gen- 
eral growth.  He  does  not  think  a  special  soil  needed  for  the  cultiva- 
tion of  Crocus  sativus.  In  a  hopeful  experiment  of  this  kind  at  Alwar, 
near  Delhi,  Mr.  Landseer  started  bulb  growing  on  earth  brought  in 
barrels  from  Kashmir.    But  in  the  second  year  the  five  beds  of  bulbs 
