Some 31 i nor Farm ( 'rops. 83 



III.— POPPIES. 



The area under this crop is confined, to some twenty acres at 

 Haxey, a large village in the Isle of Axholme, its township 

 comprising several hamlets with a great variety of soils, from 

 the best to the very worst sand, well-drained peat land, and 

 land which once was peat but now is rich warp-land.' 



In Haxey is to be found what is locally known as " Corduroy 

 farming," the land being divided into strips of half an acre 

 or more, with their ends abutting the high road, and with 

 different crops on each. It is one of the few instances to be 

 found in England of the " open field " farming, and has 

 survived the numerous Inclosure Acts of the last century. 

 It is here that the large white poppy — Papaver sotnniferurn, 

 var. album — is grown as a farm crop and forms part of a 

 regular I'otation. 



A deep sand soil, with an open subsoil, is the one most suit- 

 able for this crop. There is, however, on these soils if too light 

 a tendency for the crop to be " blown,'' the reason being that 

 the roots of the plant have few ramifications. The rotation 

 followed where poppies are taken is turnips, poppies, potatoes, 

 wheat, barley, or oats. No manure is actually applied to the 

 poppy crop, but the land must be in very good heart. 



The seed is sown at the rate of 2 lb. per acre in rows 

 12 in. apart, a carrot drill being generally used for this purpose. 

 The seed should be in the soil by the end of February, and 

 when the plant is large enough, generally six or eight weeks 

 after sowing, the crop should be crossed with a 4 in. hoe. The 

 plants must next be singled to a distance of 5 in. apart, and 

 further hoeing is necessary to keep down weeds, as it is most 

 essential to keep the crop clean. 



By the beginning of July the poppies are in full fiower, the 

 large, pure white flowers presenting a very striking appearance. 

 The flowering period soon passes, and the young heads or seed 

 capsules begin to appear. They reach maturity six or eight 

 weeks after flowering, and are then ready for plucking. All 

 the heads will not ripen at the same time, and consequently 

 this plucking pi-ocess has to be repeated two or three times at 

 intervals of two or three weeks. The indication that the 

 heads are ripe and fit to be plucked is the change of colour of 

 the capsule from a bright green to a dull buflf. The heads are 

 spread on a granary floor to dry, when thoroughly dry they are 

 sorted according to their sizes — the large ones being about the 

 size of a tennis ball — and sold, usually, to a local chemist. 



kThe price for the large heads is lOs. per thousand, and 6.s. to 

 7s. for the smaller ones. 



See Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, vol. 73, pagre 104. 



