The Benibana Museum (The Safflower Museum)
27. Yield of Benibana (紅花の収量)
In Edo period the demand of benibana was increased rapidly and the yield of it also was of further growth. The Mogami-benibana won one of the best qualified production. What large harvest could be got around this area per an are?
"Mebaya" and "Sanbe" collected benibana flowers from farmers at the beginning of July and then buyers sent them, after making a cake of "beni-mochi" (紅餅), to Kyoto. The Inamuras (稲村家) of Owarabi Village (大蕨村) was the biggest merchant and the head of this family entrusted Kishichi Inamura (稲村喜七) to collect the flowers and process of making a cake of beni. In 1800, he reported the Inamuras that the total of collecting flowers amounted 1,374 kans (貫) and its price was 174 ryos (両). Its cakes were accumulated 4 das (駄). The total of men to work for the job was 60 men and 40 women and he spent 15 days to make cargos, for which straw mats needed were more than 2.000 sheets. He gathered them from all of the neighboring houses. In this case, the upper limit of weight of a cake of benibanas was counted 9.3% of raw flowers and it cost 7 kans 900 monmes (７貫９００匁) for a ryo (両).
The benibana harvest quiet depended on the weather condition of the year. Generally, the harvest of raw flowers was from 30 to 40 kans (貫) and the process of making cakes needed 10% of it at its best. But the worse case was only 7%. The production of the cakes, as an average, was commonly 3 kans (貫) per 9.9 ares.