£Q6 culture of the poppy for oil. 



the ball, through which the seed fell to the ground; and they 

 tluis materially injured a considerable portion of my crop 

 while it was standing; nor were the latter less destructive, 

 when the poppy heads were spread upon the floor of the 

 summer-house in order to dry them. I was however indem- 

 nified for. this loss, by observing that not a single instance of 

 mortality presented itself to evince the noxious quality of 

 the seed. 



If future experiments should prove, that both objects may 

 be pursued by the same culture, scarcely any plan can be 

 devised, which would prove equally profitable to the cultiva- 

 tor, and more beneficial to the community. 

 General itflec- I am n0 * so sanguine, gentlemen, as to expect that any por- 

 tions. son U pon reading the above account will immediately resolve 

 to cultivate the poppy to a great extent, as an article of profit, 

 There is often a long repose between the acquisition of know- 

 ledge, and the application of it to practical purposes; and 

 in this case I allow that many difficulties are to be sur- 

 mounted, before the open and avowed consumption of this 

 oil would be sufficiently extensive, to make the production of 

 it an object of sufficient magnitude. But the increasing de- 

 mand for oils of all sorts in our extensive manufactories, 

 and by the daily improvements in our provincial towns, the 

 immense sums expended in the importation of foreign oils, 

 and most probably of this very oil under a false name, and 

 the daily increase of their price, render a power in reserve 

 most desirable. The time may arrive when the scarcity of 

 oils for domestic use may increase to an alarming degree ; in 

 this case the general reluctance to the use of those which are 

 now deemed of an inferior quality may in great measure 

 subside, and we may perhaps rejoice at being supplied at a 

 cheaper rate with that very oil, which passes smoothly among 

 us under the ficticious character of genuine oil of olives. I 

 shall at least enjoy the satisfaction of putting it in the power 

 of the public to assist themselves at some future period; and 

 take encouragement respecting the success of my endeavours 

 from the nature of this very plant, which is frequently 

 known to lie for years in the soil in a state perfectly inert, 

 until some favourable circumstances may have promoted a 



vigorous 



