An Account of the Culture, or Planting and Ordering of Saffron; by the Honourable CharlesHoward, EsquireAuthor(s): Charles HowardSource: Philosophical Transactions (1665-1678), Vol. 12 (1677 - 1678), pp. 945-949Published by: The Royal SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/101793 .

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A')Numb. i 38;

PH I L.OSOPHICALL T ARAN S A TIONS.

M4arcb 25.

For the Month of e5lrarcb, i67S.

The Contents.

A Relahion of the Gulture, or Plasting and Ordering of Saffron; by the Honourable Charles Howard, Efquire. An AccoUnt of the Tin-Mines in Cornwall; by Dr.("hri- fiopher Merret. Experiments of the Refiring of Gold with Antimony i by Dr. Jonathan Goddard. A Rela- tion of a mopnfltro Birth, by Dr. S. Morris of Petworth. An Account of three Books: I. The Royal Pharrnacopaxa 5 by Mofes Charras , the (French) Kings Chief Operattf in hik Royal Garden of Plants. I. Decameron Phyfio- logicum; by Thomas Hobbes of Malmsbury. HII. An Accoantof Mr. Joreph Moxon's Undertaking afd Effa)s, in the Hior; of Handy crafts,

i4n /ccoUnt of the Culture, or Planting and Ordering of Saffron; by the Honourable Charles Howvard, Efquire.

S Aifrom. heads planted in a black rich Sandy Mold, or in a mixt Sandy Land, between white and.red, yields the

greater flore of Saffrox. A Clay or Stiff-ground , be it never fo rich, produceth

little Safron ; though increafe of Heads or Roots, if the Winter prove mild and dry: but the extremity of cold and moifture will rot them, So that the fineft light Sandy 'Mold, of an indifferent fatnefs is efteen1ed moft profitable.

6 I Plough

(9 5

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(946) 'Plough. the Grfound Iin the beginning of .dpril, and lay i

very,fmooth and level.. Abo'ut three weeks or a iiionth after , fpread upon every

Acre twventy Load-s of rotten Dung, and plouigh it in. At e-Weidfumer plough it again , and. pla'nt, the SaffrOAt.

heads in rowvs every way., three Inches diflat On fo aniother, and three Inches deep.

The moft expedite way of planting, is to make a Trench the whole length of the Field, three Inches -deep with a. S.pit. fhovel.

The Spit-fhovel 'is to be made of a thin-fi-reight Iron ten Inches long, and five Inches broad'., wi-th a Socket in the fide of it to put a flaff or handle. Lay the Saifronheads three Inches diftant in the Trench, aDnd with the Shovel fpit up, three inches of -Earth ujpon them,

Obferve this order in plant'ing of whole Fields , whee by the Heads wvill lie every -w%vy three inches -fquare onie from -ano'ther. O'nly Pat'hs or' 'halwTece r ob left two cr three yards afunder, which ferve every, year to lay the Weeds to rot,that are to be weeded and' pared off the ground.,

As foon as the Heads. begi n -to fhoo'orperwtith grounid (which is uf'ually a fortnilght before Micbgelm4I) howe or pare the grouind all, over very :thin: and rake 'lightly all the Weeds anid Grafs very clean,, -left it choakt the Flowers, which will Coon:after-appear; 'an~d are' then -to be gatherd, -and the Saj.fron to be picked and -dried f8r

The Ground muft be very carefully fenced from Sheep or Cattel,, which by treding bre'ak the'SaffroN grafTs, 'and make the-chives comie up finall,

In t7fay h Safjrox.grafTs will be quite withered away, after Which, the' Weeds and GirafTs the, grounid produce~th miay- be cut or ii'owed off from time -to-time to Ifeed .Cattel till about Micbaelmast at whic-h time the Heads'wl ei to fpeer within tke ground.,

'Then howe,pare and rake the'Ground clean,as before, f'or. a~f'econd crop. "The- like direa'Uons arc to be obferved the

,et ear for a ,third crop,, The

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(947) The Midfomer following dig up all the Sffron heads,

and plant them again in another new Ground Cdunged and ordered as aforefaid) wherein no Safron hath been planted, at leaft not within feven years.

The Flowers are to be gathered as foon as they come up, before they are full blown, whether wet or dry.

Pick out the chives clean from the fhells or flowers, and fprinkle them two or three fingers thick, very equally, on a double Safronpaper. Lay this on the Hair.cloth of the So#ro-Kiln, and cover it with two or more Satfronpapers, a piece of Woolen-cloth or thick Bays, and a Cufhion of Canvas or Sack-cloth filled with Barley-ftraw, whereon lay the Kiln.board.

Put into the Kiln clean, throughly kindled Char-coal, Oven-coals, or the like, keeping it fo hot that you can hardly endure your fingers between the Paper and the Hair- cloth.

After an hour or more turn in the edges of the cake with a Knife, and loofen it from the paper. If it flick faft, wet the outfide of the paper with a feather dip'd in Beer, and then dry the papers. Turn the cake, that both fides may be of a colour,

If it flick again to the paper looren it, and then dry it witb a very gentle heat, with the addition of a quarter of I oo i weight laid upon the Kiln-board.

The Saffron cake being fufficiently dry'd is fit for ufe,and will ]aft good many years,being wrapt up and kept clofe.

The belt Saffronis, that which confifts of the thickeft and fhortef chives, of a high-red and fhining colour, both without and withinralike.

Safron is oftentimes burnt, and in knots, fpotted and mixed with the yellows that are within the fhells.

It's ufually obferv'd,that one Acre doth yield, at the leaft, 12 pounds of good Sjffron one year with another, and fome years 20 pounds.

Good Safron is feldot or never fold at fo low a rateas 30 f(illings per pound, frequently at three pounds per pound, and upward4 Wherefore one Acre bearing 12 pounds at 40 fhiilings the pound, cometh to 24 pounds per anrnm. 6 I The

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(948) The gathering and picking of one pound of Sajfron is

worth-one flull'Ing, Which cometh -to twelve fhillings per Acre.

The Fire and care ofEdry'ng miay, come to 3 (hillings more, Ait6 pence the pound; ihich is in all i (bfillings.

The Grafs that is moWed and cut off the ground for the' ufe of Cattel, willI be very -near worrh as miuch as will count tervail the picking and drying the SaJfron.; the Soy] being itirich'Id not only by the Dung, but the Sa/jfron it feif', as ap- pears by the rich crops the ground yields for feveral years after without any othe-r tuanuring or improvement.

Sixten ~)~arevsof Sa~ffren.hYeads are fuiflicient to pl,ant one Acre.- A Qyarter of thefe Heads is ufua"ly fold in the Place for i o fhilli' ngs, which comnes to 8 poundsper Acre.

Twenty Loads of rotten Dung laid on the grotund , miay' be wrth 0 (illings at 12 pence a Load for the ,Dung, and111

as much for carriage into the Field. For thr ice pioughing the- gorcjnd 20 fbillings4

Forpating the Ileads about 4, pounds. Which in t;,~ whlmakes 14 poLonds, the icharges of planting an Acre,

w-hich will bea r three crops. So that all things reafo'nab!y comp11uted it appea-rS, that-

an Acre of Saff on will be worth, notwithftandirig all ca-fo- alfiesc, one year wit-h anoth-er, ove~r and.:above the 14 POduls charges, for the firft years planting (at the leaft) 20 pounds per.anrnum. Befides the great increafe. of the S-ajfon-heacls, whi'ch will be as three for one.

Thbe KiI#.

It conCftis of an Oaken. Framuelathed-on e-very fide,tw#el-vc inches fquare in, the bottomi,. twxo foot- high,. and two act frquare at the top;- upon which is nailed a Hair-cloth, and ftrained hard by wedges -drove into the fides;-a fqua-re Board and a Weight to prefs it down, weighing a.bout a quarter of a,hundred.

The infides of the Kiln cover'd all over -with the firongeft Potters-clay, very well wrought with a litt-le Sand, a IkJ- above two inches thick.

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(949y~ THie bottont muft be lined with Cl ay four or five inthes

thick, which is the Hearth to lay the fire on:- level wher- with is to be miade ~a itEtle hole to putc the Fire,, The outtide. miay be ,plaiater'd all over wilth Linme and Hair.

.4 Relation of the Tinn-Mines, and working of Tinn in the Gounty ofCrwal ; by Dr. Chriflopher Merret.

THe Stones from which Tinx is wr-ought are fome'timtes found a foot or two below the fuirface of the Earth,

but mioft ufually betwixt two,vwalls of Rocks ( which are comminonly of an Iron-colouir, of little or no af-finity wilth the §lVnn) in aVein or Load (as the Miners call it), betw'ixt

4 and 1S Inches broad, or thiereabout. Somie-Lay, the Load runs North and Souith : but in truth,

it runs Eaft and Weft, and all other. ways with very great variety.

Sometimes there is a rich and fat Mie,tal ; fonetimnes h,1ungry and ftarved ; Lomer imes n othing but a droffie F ubflance, not purely Earth), no,r Stone. nor Metal ; b,uta little refembling, the rte,eaed Cyndcrs of a Smuiths F-orge :ap~peaoing fotnie- tim-ies of a mo)re flour:"fhilng colour te:nding to Carnation;- and fomtimet s I or bratie: anid where this is foutnd, the Miners juidge the AMe(talI to be r ipe.

The Pits are 40, 50) and foiietime-is 6o Fathoms deep, and( more.

The Load being very rich and -good, ab)ove that iS ten, f'athomns fromi the grafs, or thereabouts. Anid below that, thert.,s a firange cavit r mt place, whierein is nothing., but Air for miany fathomis deep , as the lMiers have tried with l-ong Po4les and Pikes. This cavity lies between hard"t Stony walls, difiant one fromi another about fix. or nine In- chesc. The Labourers te'll ftories of Sprightsor fiall Peo- ple, as they call them: and- that wheii the Daimp arifethi from- the fubrerraneal Vaultsi they hear firange nioifes,. hor.. rid knoclkings, and fearful haniirnerings. Thefe Dampps ren-~ dler miany lamie, and k ilIl others olutri ghr~ without any v ifiible .vuyrr vpon-thein-

(949y~ THie bottont muft be lined with Cl ay four or five inthes

thick, which is the Hearth to lay the fire on:- level wher- with is to be miade ~a itEtle hole to putc the Fire,, The outtide. miay be ,plaiater'd all over wilth Linme and Hair.

.4 Relation of the Tinn-Mines, and working of Tinn in the Gounty ofCrwal ; by Dr. Chriflopher Merret.

THe Stones from which Tinx is wr-ought are fome'timtes found a foot or two below the fuirface of the Earth,

but mioft ufually betwixt two,vwalls of Rocks ( which are comminonly of an Iron-colouir, of little or no af-finity wilth the §lVnn) in aVein or Load (as the Miners call it), betw'ixt

4 and 1S Inches broad, or thiereabout. Somie-Lay, the Load runs North and Souith : but in truth,

it runs Eaft and Weft, and all other. ways with very great variety.

Sometimes there is a rich and fat Mie,tal ; fonetimnes h,1ungry and ftarved ; Lomer imes n othing but a droffie F ubflance, not purely Earth), no,r Stone. nor Metal ; b,uta little refembling, the rte,eaed Cyndcrs of a Smuiths F-orge :ap~peaoing fotnie- tim-ies of a mo)re flour:"fhilng colour te:nding to Carnation;- and fomtimet s I or bratie: anid where this is foutnd, the Miners juidge the AMe(talI to be r ipe.

The Pits are 40, 50) and foiietime-is 6o Fathoms deep, and( more.

The Load being very rich and -good, ab)ove that iS ten, f'athomns fromi the grafs, or thereabouts. Anid below that, thert.,s a firange cavit r mt place, whierein is nothing., but Air for miany fathomis deep , as the lMiers have tried with l-ong Po4les and Pikes. This cavity lies between hard"t Stony walls, difiant one fromi another about fix. or nine In- chesc. The Labourers te'll ftories of Sprightsor fiall Peo- ple, as they call them: and- that wheii the Daimp arifethi from- the fubrerraneal Vaultsi they hear firange nioifes,. hor.. rid knoclkings, and fearful haniirnerings. Thefe Dampps ren-~ dler miany lamie, and k ilIl others olutri ghr~ without any v ifiible .vuyrr vpon-thein-

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