48 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[July 2, 1883 



speets there is very little difference between these two 

 kimls, both haviii!,' large oval-shapcJ, outer shells with no 

 holes under their combs, the flower, like tlie seed, beiu^c 

 white. The opium extracled from this species of poppy is 

 more abundant and of a. superior (juality to that which 

 is the produce of the first-named species. 



"Although in somit localities the ' Ivlia.sbkash' or poppy 

 seed is sown, as a rule it is only utilized by yieldins an oil 

 which is extracted from it. From 10(1 ekes (275 lb.) of 

 seed may be obtained a yield of 30 or -10 okes (82.^ or 

 110 lb.) of oil, which is of two kinds, of which one is 

 obtained by first pounding the sc'ed, then beating it and 

 extracting the inic(!, while the seed is still hot. This oil 

 is used in Europe in the composition of water-colour 

 paint and oil paint, and is also burnt in lamps. It is also 

 used in the manuf.aeture of glass shades. 



"The other kind of oil is obtained \vithout heating the 

 crushed seed, and having a pleasant taste is used in the 

 preparation of food. 



"Arkara-Hi.s.sar Sahib ('Afion Kara Hissara *).— The seed 

 is first heated before the oil is extracted, which is then 

 universally used by the mhabitauts in the preparation of 

 food. 



"The oil extracted from the yellow poppy seed, like the 

 opium so extracted, is of a superior quality to the 

 others. In localities where there is no hoar frost in spring 

 and auttimn, poppy seed is sown from the month of 

 September up to March ; but in places where there is hoar 

 frost the seed must without fail be sown in the mouth 

 of September and in the spring after the chilly weather 

 is passed. However, seeing that in most places there is 

 hoar frost both in sjiring aud autumn, and that in spruig, 

 even in the mouth of April, there is usually some hoar 

 frost, and that after the month of April seed time is 

 already passed, in this coimtry the seed should be sown 

 in September, or at latest in the beginning of October; 

 if the seed be sown at the season mentioned the yield 

 both of opium and of poppy seed is more plentiful than 

 if that operation be jicrformcd when the weather is chiUy. 



^^Description of the Kind of Soil most suiluhle to the 

 Pop;nj. — The i)oppy seed must be sown in Ught, rich, and 

 yielding soils. If it be sowTi in cold clayey soil or in damp 

 localities the yield will be small and the opium of an in- 

 ferior quality. 



"Ground which is to be sown with poppy seed, of what- 

 ever kind it be {i.e., the seed), should be well manured, 

 sheep's dung being of com-.se preferable. Experience has 

 proved that if a field which has just yielded a crop of 

 opium 1)0 inmicdiately sown with wheat, the crop result- 

 ing from this la.st solving mil be remarkably good. 



"77jc Method to he adopted in Somimj iind the necessaty 

 suhserjuent Treatment.— The soil of a field which is to be 

 sown with poppy seed should be ploughed two or three 

 times and well tm-ned up. The seed should then be 

 scattered about with the hand, just as flax seed is. After 

 this the soil must be thoroughly stirred up and mixed by 

 a rake or a row of bushes bound on to the back of a 

 harrow. 



" If 100 drachms (i.e., Tm-kish drachms) of poppy seed 

 be sown on every dunum of land, or on such an extent of 

 land .as will take a kilogram of wheat .seed, it is sufficieutt 

 As soon as ever the yomig poppy plants begin to appear 

 above the surface of the soil aud to bear three or four 

 leaves, in those places where they are too close together 

 they must be taken uj) and planted *gain in such a man- 

 ner as to leave a .sjjace of a span between each plant. 

 In order to remove any weeds that may m.ake their ap- 

 pearance in these sjMces the soil must be hoed once or 

 twice. This use of the hoe must never be omitted, for 

 if there be many weeds in the field they stunt the proper 

 and healthy growth of the pl.ants, aud cause a consider- 

 able diminution in the amoimt of the cro]>. IMoreover. if 

 the seeds of such weeds rf'main in the soil it becomes 

 subsequently impossible to ri<] tin; field altogether of them. 



The Cour.ic of 'Jrr"<--"- "■ '■ ' ■ ' -'1 Hurtest Time. 



— Opium being a si: ted from the 



pods or outer shells as these pods 



bi^comegreeu in colour ai.l ti,.ve i^aii.'l lii ir fidl growth 

 the gre'cn hue changes to yellow. A few <laTs lieforc this 

 change of colour takes place thm-c forms over the pods a 

 very thin watery film of a light green hue, I'lough some- 

 what indisiijict in appearance. This film i>s ctvlled 'eougak.' 



If it be mped away with the finger its place remains 

 quite visible. If at .about this time the pod be squeezed 

 between the thumb and forefinger, it biscomes so far 

 strcngtheniul that it eaimot be easily crushed. It is then 

 that the juice which forms the opium must be g,atliered. 



" In order to gather the juice or paste, the first step 

 is to take a knife m.ade especially for this purpo.se, 

 being small and as sharp-pointed as the end of a pen- 

 knife, and mth it to cut a semi-circular hue in the pod 

 beginning from the middle and going round the edges, 

 at the same time leaving a space of about a finger's 

 breadth. Immediately this is done there appears a white 

 milk-like fluid of a bitter taste, aud there forms. This 

 fluid little by little increases iii consistency, and its colour 

 becomes darker and darker, until in twenty-four hours it 

 becomes cottee-coloured, aud as thick as paste. This is 

 opium. This must be scraped off with the edge of a 

 somewhat large and blunt knife aud put into a poppy 

 leaf, and so on imtil as much as 20 or 30 drachms of opium 

 have been collected on one leaf, the edges of which must 

 be turned in so as to prevent it being spilled. If, while 

 the opium is being collected, the film above described be 

 mixed with it, it has a beneficial effect. 



"At Karahissar the work of cutting lines in the pods 

 of the poppies is generally begun early in the afternoon 

 and continued until nightfall. As the opium must be col- 

 lected twenty-four hours after the above operation has 

 been concluded, the following day also, soon after twelve 

 o'clock, they begin ou the one hand to collect the opium 

 from the poils which were cut the day before, and also to 

 cut lines in other pod.s, which work occupies them imtil 

 the evening. But shovdd they come across pods which arc 

 not quite ripe, they leave them alone, and five or six days 

 afterwards they again visit them, aud after cutting lines 

 in them collect their juice. 



"In order that the exact season for collecting the juice 

 may not be missed, the whole work must be gone through 

 and finished in five or ten days. Moreover, the proper 

 time for marking the pods must be accurately ascertained, 

 for if the pods lie cut say ten days before or after they 

 are quite ripe, there is no yield of opium. As an in- 

 stance of this it mav l)e mentioned that in the plain of 

 Broussa the experiment w.as made. Although the plants 

 had reached their full growth, the pods were marked 

 or cut both before <aud after the exact time when the 

 operation should have been performed, and consequently 

 there was no yield of opium. Sometimes it ha])pen that 

 a dry wind begins to blow .at the very time when the 

 poppy jjods should be cut, and the atmosphere becomes 

 chilly in consequence. Dining such weather the yield of 

 opium is very small. The pods also should not be cut 

 when it is r.aining, for the rain washes away and destroj'S 

 the juice .as fast as it exudes from the seams that have 

 been cut for it. 



"After the opium crop has been gathered in, the pods 

 change their previous hue of either green or yellow to rose 

 colour ; when this change takes jflace the poppy plants 

 should be taken up by the roots one by one .and collected 

 into small bundles. Kach bundle should then be bound by 

 a young green withe, and then so placed upright in the 

 ground that the roots of the plants be covered, in which 

 position they should i-emain for a few days until the seed 

 contained within the pods shall have become thoroughly 

 matm'ed and dry. Then the pods should be threshed with 

 a stick imtil they break open, when the seed may ha 

 collected. 



" Another method is to sever the stem of the plant at 

 the knot which is to be found close up to the pod, with the 

 finger and thumb, and after collecting the ends so severed to 

 spread them out to dry in some open place, and then to 

 break them open by tlu'eshing , or else to pull them to 

 pieces, and, after .sifting the seed until is quite free from 

 extraneous matter, to collect it. 



"At K.arahissar they purposely burn most of the pods 

 and i-educe them to ashes, a fluid extracted from which . 

 they use to bleach cotton, on the ground that it is more 

 etfective than the water strained off from ordinary .ashes. 



"After extracting the oil from the poppy seed, tiiorere- 

 ra.ains a sediment technically callad ' kyusclie ' on which 

 buffalo, cows, and black kine generally are fed. on the grownd 

 that such diet increases the amount of milk and 60 of 

 '■coimak.' {cK&m).''^PIieLmuu:mtical Jouriui.' ' 



