210 
The  Cultivation  of  Saffron. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
3Iay,  1905. 
In  treating  the  subject  referred  to  me,  I  am  inclined  to  believe 
that  some  pre-history  of  this  interesting  drug  will  be  acceptable — as 
I  have  failed  anywhere  to  find  a  complete  history  of  saffron ;  it  is 
true  that  all  of  our  dispensatories  have  given  some  attention,  treat- 
ing the  subject  as  fully  as  required  for  the  general  reader  and 
student.  In  an  article  quoted  from  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal, 
published  in  Vol.  XIV,  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy,  1848, 
which  covers  the  subject  fairly  well  and  describes  the  cultivation  of 
saffron  in  France  and  Austria,  the  kind  of  soil  and  physical  condi- 
tion best  adapted ;  the  diseases  to  which  the  corms  are  subject,  the 
insects  or  parasites  contributory  to  these  conditions,  and  a  partial 
remedy;  the  soils  favorable,  some  of  the  adulterations  found,  and 
names  the  uses  for  which  saffron  is  employed. 
I  may  be  permitted  to  quote  the  following  from  an  ancient  source 
of  information,  after  giving  the  Persian,  Greek  and  Hebrew  names, 
and  finding  no  difficulty  tracing  the  name  to  the  modern  crocus  or 
saffron.  The  writer  states  that  all  these  names,  Persian  Karkom, 
Greek  Krokos,  Hebrew  Karkom,  had  the  one  common  origin,  saf- 
fron having  from  the  earliest  times  been  cultivated  in  Asiatic  coun- 
tries as  it  still  is  in  Persia  and  Cashmere,  and  especially  in  ancient 
Cilicia.  Crocus  is  mentioned  by  Hippocrates  and  Theophrastus. 
Dioscorides  describes  the  different  kinds  ot  it,  and  Pliny  says,  "  that 
the  benches  of  the  public  theatres  were  strewn  with  saffron,  indeed 
the  ancients  frequently  made  use  of  this  flower  in  perfumes.  Not 
only  saloons,  theatres  and  places  which  were  to  be  filled  with  a 
pleasant  fragrance  were  strewn  with  this  substance,  but  all  sorts  of 
vinous  tinctures  retaining  the  scent  were  made  of  it,  and  this  costly 
perfume  was  poured  into  small  fountains.  Even  fruits  and  confitures 
placed  be  ore  guests  and  the  ornaments  of  the  rooms  were  spread 
over  with  it."  It  was  used  for  the  same  purposes  as  the  modern  "  Pot- 
Pourri." 
It  is  associated  with  fragrant  substances  in  Holy  Writ,  a  passage 
in  Solomon's  Song,  chapter  4,  verse  14. 
Much  might  be  quoted  of  most  interesting  information  as  indicat- 
ing the  high  esteem  in  which  saffron  was  held  by  the  ancients,  but 
I  dare  not  depart  any  further  from  my  subject  as  related  to  a  mod- 
ern period,  and  especially  to  our  own  time.  During  the  past 
century  a  great  deal  of  saffron  was  cultivated  in  my  section  of  Penn- 
sylvania— and  no  product  of  the  garden  was  more  profitable ;  it  was 
