Besides the safflower imported from India, in 1878, we received 196 cwt. from other countries, not specified in the returns. The relative market values of the different commercial brands are about as follows :—Bengal, good to fine, 81.-101. a cwt.; ord. to mid., 71. 15s.-81. 17s. 6d. ; Persian, 11.-51.
Saffron (Fa., Crocine ; GER., Safran).—Tha saffron crocus (Crocus sativus) bears a great resemblance to the common garden crocus, but flowers in the autumn. It is supposed to be a native of Greece, Asia Minor, and probably Persia, but long ages of cultivation have rendered its home doubtful; by some, it is considered a hybrid. In the early part of the last century, it was largely cultivated in an area of 10 miles lying between Cambridge and Saffron Walden, and though the culture almost ceased to exist towards the end of the century, small parcels of the blossoms continued till a much later date to be brought to the London market. This branch of agriculture now flourishes chiefly in Spain,—in Lower Arragon, near Alicante, in N. Murcia (Albacete), in La Mancha, near Huelva, and in the island of Mallorca (near Palma). In France, the cultivation survives in the district of Pithiviera-en-Gatinais (Loiret). In Italy, it was, till lately, very general, the most celebrated localities being Castelnuovo, Catania (Sicily), Aquila (Capitanata), St. Gavino (Sardinia), Bibbiena, and Montalcino (Tuscany). In Austria, small quantities of excellent saffron are produced at Meissen, north-east of Krems. Ghayo, an elevated region on the borders of Persia and Afghanistan, affords large contributions ; and a little is col lected at Pampur, in Kashmir. The cultivation is carried on in some parts of China ; and in the United States, the collection of the flowers occasionally occupies the German inhabitants of Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania.
In Franca, where the cultivation is carried on by small peasant proprietors, a saffron-field is not in full bearing till the end of the second year ; at the and of three years, the land is so exhausted that this crop cannot be repeated for 15-16 years. The plant requires a very peculiar soil, and land suitable for it brings double the ordinary price. An analysis of a very favourable soil gave :—
Quartzese sand, 26.8 ; silica and alumina, 27.9 ; oxide of iron, 2.0 ; carbonate of lime, 37.0; water, and organic matters, per cent. An acre should yield 600,000-700,000 bulbs, each producing 2 or 3 flowers ; about 150,000 flowers will give 1 lb. of fresh pistils—the only valuable portion—which are reduced to about -4 by drying ; the average return of dry pistils in the second and third years is 9-27 lb. an acre. The flowers are gathered in September-October. The separation of the pistils from the flowers entails enormous labour, and costa 10d.-4s. a lb., according to the labour market. The extracted pistils are carefully dried, in lots of about 1 lb., by suspending them for 4 hour in a horse-hair sieve over a gentle charcoal fire. The dried pistils are then bought up by commercial travellers, at about 30s.-40s. a lb.-8/. a lb. has been given,—chiefly for export to Germany. Despite its high prioe, saffron does not always repay cultivation, on account of the risk of damage from the weather, and the attacks of fungi.
In Sicily, and some of the provinces of S. Germany, the plant is grown in gardens, with great care, and yields a superior product, though small in quantity. The flowers are plucked in the autumn at early morning, and the pistils are dried very gradually in special stoves. The neigh bourhood of the town of Tutus, in Tunis, produces a small quantity of excellent saffron. An important centre of cultivation is Safranbdli, in the vilayet of Kastamouny, Asia Minor. The bulbs are there transplanted in April ; and, io the autumn of the third year, yield an abundant crop, valued at about 50s. a lb. In Kashmir, the cultivation is carried on in nearly every part of the pergunnah of Pampur, the local soil alone being found suitable. It appears to consist of a light ferruginous clay, which is excavated near the Djilam, and carried to the fields at great expenditure of labour. The bulbs are planted out in small square beds in June, weeded, and freely irrigated, and the crop is gathered in October. Its value varies from 5s. a lb. downwards, according to the extent of adulteration.