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CHEMICAL MEMORANDA. 
BY WILLIAM MCMURTRIE, CHEMIST. 
AMERICAN OPIUM.—The cultivation of poppy in this country for the 
production of opium does not seem to have received the attention it 
deserves. The efforts of this Department to arouse an interest in this 
particular by distribution of seeds of the best varieties to its more pro- 
eressive correspondents, have, however, been occasionally rewarded 
with reports of experiments of an encouraging character, and we take 
pleasure in publishing the following notes of an experiment furnished 
by Mr. Charles Patton, Germantown, Tenn. 
I take great pleasure in reporting the result of my experiment in making opium 
from the seeds of white poppy received early this spring from the Agricultural Depart- 
ment; and to substantiate in part my report, I have forwarded to the Department, by 
mail, a package containing the principal part of the opium produced, which you will 
please dispose of as suits your pleasure. ‘ 
Having no other guide upon the subject than the communication in the Agricultural 
Repert for 1870, one-tenth of an acre was measured off to receive the seeds. The plot 
had been cropped with turnips the previous fall, manured with sheep-droppings. On 
the 15th of April the ground was plowed, harrowed, and dragged very fine, and the 
seed drilled in rows, 13 inches apart. May 3 the hand-enltivator was run between the 
rows and the plants thinned to a stand, 6 to 9 inches between plants. The cultivator 
was run once more, on the 24th of May, and this was all the cultivation required. On 
the 15th of June the plants commenced blooming, and two days thereafter the first 
‘opium was gathered. The implement used for scarifying was the blade of my pen- 
knife. One or two horizontal incisions around the capsule were in most cases suf- 
ficient to extract the opium. I find ‘a greater loss of juice by the up and down in- 
cision than from the horizontal. An instrument making two or three cuts horizon- 
tally at one operation would prevent all loss, as each would be able to sustain the 
weight of the liquid until hardened by exposure. By the present mode of extracting, 
I think not less than ten to twelve per cent. of the opium is Jost. The plants ceased 
blooming about the first of July, and on the 4th the crop was finished, making eighty- 
one days from the time of planting. 
The sample sent by Mr. Patton was reserved for exhibition and analy- 
sis. It was of fine homogeneous texture when dry, of dark brown 
color, was perfectly free from seeds, stems, or other extraneous matters, 
and weighed nearly five ounces. 
The portion of the sample taken for analysis was found to contain: 
Per cent 
DEOTSEUEO aio idee, = 2 Wa SUA ARES ahs eC AeNe TL PND BORE aR ih wf, Der Ee a aninens 15.24 
TIPLINE ITS eae pate AE ad ots itn rata Liat4 ayaid! wldnonaege embed 7.10 
Comparing this result with those obtained from analyses of other va- 
rieties of American opiuin, or even of foreign products, proves it to be of 
fair quality, and from its appearance it is better than the average opium 
found in the markets. 
It is about equal to good Egyptian and East Indian products.* 
‘* POISONED” SOILS OF TEXAS.—During the summer of 1872 the 
Department had occasion toinvestigate the cause of a property peculiar 
to certain soils of Texas and some of the neighboring States, and, 
without personal examination, from chemical analysis of a sample 
sent us, concluded it was due to a deficiency in under-drainage, a con- 
clusion since supported by a letter from Mr. A. J.Graves, of that State. 
Our attention was again called to this matter by Hon. R. Q. Mills, of 
the fourth congressional district, who communicated a letter from Mr. 
W. T. M. Dickson, of which the following is an extract : 
About two years ago last month I forwarded to the Department of Agriculture, 
under instructions from the Commissioner of Agriculture, four packages of black 
(*Compare report of this Department for 1873, p. 174.) 
