in the Materia Medica, is formed of the stigmata of the crocus officinalis, dried on a kiln, and pressed together into cakes. See CROCUS, BOTANY Index. There are two kinds of saffron, the English and Spanish; of which the latter is by far the most esteemed. Saffron is principally cultivated in Cambridgeshire, in a circle of about ten miles diameter. The greatest part of this tract is an open level country, with few inclosures; and the custom there is, as in most other places, to crop two years, and let the land be fallow the third. Saffron is generally planted upon fallow-ground, and, all other things being alike, they prefer that which has borne barley the year before.

The saffron ground is seldom above three acres, or less than one; and in choosing, the principal thing they have regard to is, that they be well exposed, the soil not poor, nor a very stiff clay, but a temperate dry mould, such as commonly lies upon chalk, and is of an hazel colour; though, if every thing else answers, the colour of the mould is pretty much neglected.

The ground being made choice of, about Lady-day or the beginning of April, it must be carefully ploughed, the furrows being drawn much closer together, and deeper if the soil will allow it, than is done for any kind of corn; and accordingly the charge is greater.

About five weeks after, during any time in the month of May, they lay between 20 and 30 loads of dung upon each acre, and having spread it with great care, they plough it in as before. The shortest rotten dung is the best; and the farmers, who have the conveniency of making it, spare no pains to make it good, being sure of a proportionable price for it. About midsummer they plough a third time, and between every 16 feet and a half they leave a broad furrow or trench, which serves both as a boundary to the several parcels, and for throwing the weeds into at the proper season. The time of planting is commonly in the month of July. The only instrument used at this time is a small narrow spade, commonly called a spit-hoe. The method is this: One man with his shovel raises about three or four inches of earth, and throws it before him about six or more inches. Two persons, generally women, follow with roots, which they place in the farthest edge of the trench made by the digger, at about three inches from each other. As soon as the digger has gone once the breadth of the ridge, he begins again at the other side; and, digging as before, covers the roots last set, which makes room for another row of roots at the same distance from the first that they are from one another. The only dexterity necessary in digging is, to leave some part of the first stratum of earth untouched, to lie under the roots; and, in setting, to place the roots directly upon their bottom. The quantity of roots planted on an acre is generally about 16 quarters, or 128 bushels. From the time of planting till the beginning of September, or sometimes before, there is no more labour required; but at that time they begin to vegetate, and are ready to show themselves above ground, which may be known by digging up a few of the roots. The ground is then to be pared with a sharp hoe, and the weeds raked into the furrows, otherwise they would hinder the growth of the saffron. In some time after, the flowers appear.

They are gathered before they are full blown, as well as after, and the proper time for it is early in the morning. The owners of the saffron-fields get together a sufficient number of hands, who pull off the whole flowers, and throw them by handfuls into a basket, and so continue till about 11 o'clock. Having then carried home the flowers, they immediately set to picking out the stigmata or chives, and together with them a pretty large proportion of the stylum itself, or string to which they are attached: the rest of the flower they throw away as useless. Next morning they return to the field, without regarding whether the weather be wet or dry: and so on daily, even on Sundays, till the whole crop is gathered.—The next labour is to dry the chives on the kiln. The kiln is built upon a thick plank, that it may be moved from place to place. It is supported by four short legs: the outside consists of eight pieces of wood of three inches thick, in form of a quadrangular frame, about 12 inches square at the bottom on the inside, and 22 on the upper part; which last Saffron. last is likewise the perpendicular height of it. On the foreside is left a hole of about eight inches square, and four inches above the plank, through which the fire is put in; over all the rest laths are laid pretty thick, close to one another, and nailed to the frame already mentioned. They are then plastered over on both sides, as are also the planks at bottom, very thick, to serve for a hearth. Over the mouth is laid a hair-cloth, fixed to the edges of the kiln, and likewise to two rollers or moveable pieces of wood, which are turned by wedges or screws, in order to stretch the cloth. Instead of the hair-cloth, some people use a net-work of iron-wire, by which the saffron is soon dried, and with less fuel; but the difficulty of preserving it from burning makes the hair-cloth preferred by the best judges. The kiln is placed in a light part of the house; and they begin with putting five or six sheets of white paper on the hair-cloth, and upon these they lay out the wet saffron two or three inches thick. It is then covered with some other sheets of paper, and over these they lay a coarse blanket five or six times doubled, or instead of this, a canvas pillow filled with straw; and after the fire has been lighted for some time, the whole is covered with a board having a considerable weight upon it. At first they apply a pretty strong heat, to make the chives sweat as they call it; and at this time a great deal of care is necessary to prevent burning. When it has been thus dried about an hour, they turn the cakes of saffron upside down, putting on the coverings and weight as before. If no sinister accident happens during these first two hours, the danger is thought to be over; and nothing more is requisite than to keep up a very gentle fire for 24 hours, turning the cake every half hour. That fuel is best which yields the least smoke; and for this reason charcoal is preferable to all others.

The quantity of saffron produced at a crop is uncertain. Sometimes five or six pounds of wet chives are got from one root, sometimes not above one or two; and sometimes not so much as is sufficient to defray the expense of gathering and drying. But it is always observed, that about five pounds of wet saffron go to make one pound of dry for the first three weeks of the crop, and six pounds during the last week. When the heads are planted very thick, two pounds of dry saffron at a medium be allowed to an acre for the first crop, and 24 pounds for the two remaining ones, the third being considerably larger than the second.

To obtain the second and third crops, the labour of hoeing, gathering, picking, &c., already mentioned, must be repeated; and about midsummer, after the third crop is gathered, the roots must all be taken up and transplanted. For taking up the roots, sometimes the plough is made use of, and sometimes a forked hoe; and then the ground is harrowed once or twice over. During all the time of ploughing, harrowing, &c., 15 or more people will find work enough to follow and gather the heads as they are turned up. The roots are next to be carried to the house in sacks, where they are cleaned and raised. This labour consists in cleaning the roots thoroughly from earth, decayed old pieces, involucra, or excrescences; after which they become fit to be planted in new ground immediately, or they may be kept for some time, without danger of spoiling. The quantity of roots taken up in proportion to those planted is uncertain; but at a medium, 24 quarters of clean roots, fit to be planted, may be had from each acre.

There sometimes happens a remarkable change in the roots of saffron and some other plants. As soon as they begin to shoot upwards, there are commonly two or three large tap-roots sent forth from the side of the old one, which will run two or three inches deep into the ground. At the place where these bulbs first come out from, the old one will be formed sometimes, though not always, and the tap-root then decays. The bulb increases in bigness, and at last falls quite off; which commonly happens in April. But many times these tap-roots never produce any bulbs, and remain barren for ever after. All such roots therefore should be thrown away in the making a new plantation. This degeneracy in the roots is a disease for which no cure is as yet known.

When saffron is offered to sale, that kind ought to be chosen which has the broadest blades; this being the mark by which English saffron is distinguished from the foreign. It ought to be of an orange or fiery-red colour, and to yield a dark yellow tincture. It should be chosen fresh, not above a year old, in close cakes, neither dry nor yet very moist, tough and firm in tearing, of the same colour within as without, and of a strong, acid, diffusive smell.

This drug has been reckoned a very elegant and useful aromatic. Besides the virtues it has in common with other substances of that class, it has been accounted one of the highest cordials, and is said to exhilarate the spirits to such a degree as, when taken in large doses, to occasion immoderate mirth, involuntary laughter, and the ill effects which follow from the abuse of spirituous liquors. This medicine is particularly serviceable in hysterical depressions proceeding from a cold cause or obstruction of the uterine secretions, where other aromatics, even those of the more generous kind, have little effect. Saffron imparts the whole of its virtue and colour to rectified spirit, proof-spirit, wine, vinegar, and water. A tincture drawn with vinegar loses greatly its colour in keeping; the watery and vinous tinctures are apt to grow sour, and then lose their colour also; that made in pure spirit keeps in perfection for many years.

Meadow-Saffron. See Colchicum, Botany Index.