Oil tlu Cultivation of the While Singh Poppy. [March 1, 



156 



thaf, whilst the oithoilox will soarccly 

 allow them the claim of bein^ C!)ris- 

 tians, they themselves sliouM claim 

 to be "■ the only Wae church of God;" 

 and that their public oiipositiou shoukl 

 be directed in a strikiii<:: degree against 

 those very sects witii whom it is eom- 

 mon to confound them, namely, Deists 

 and Unitarians, as will best appear 

 from a perusal of their " Evidences of 

 Revealed Religion," and their " J'lea 

 for the Unity of the Church." F. 



For the Monthhj Magazine. 

 On the CULTIVATJON of the WHiTii sin- 

 gle POPPY, for the PRODUCTION if 

 OPILM ; luith the MODli of CUTTING, 



COLLECTING, and drying; hlj JOHN 



BATES, of KETTERING. 



THE inducement for puhlisliing 

 tl'iis 'i'reatise,* was from reading 

 several paragraphs in the newspapers 

 of last year, describing the benelieial 

 effects of cultivaling the white single 

 poppy, for the production of o])ium, by 

 the employment it would cause in the 

 management and collecting it, and the 

 great profit that would arise there- 

 from, after paying the labonrcrs for 

 managing and collecting the same ; one 

 of wliich paragraphs was inserted in 

 one of the news])ai)ers for June, 1822, 

 which stated that the eiiltivation of the 

 white poppy was perfected, and that 

 opium of the greatest purity, and equal, 

 if not superior in its medicinal proper- 

 ties to the best Turkey opium, was 

 obtained, which sufficiently showed 

 that this country need no Innsrer be 

 indebted to 'J'urkey for a drug of the 

 utmost importance; and slated, the 

 consumption of the article in tJrcat 

 IJritain was sufficient to employ from 

 60 to 70,000 people during the period 

 required for its cultivation. 



The writer of this Treatise, expect- 

 ed to have seen the whole process 

 described in some publication, to give 

 an opportunity to those who might 

 wish to make a trial of its cultivation, 

 and judge of the benefit and employ- 

 ment that might arise therefrom ; but, 

 not being able to get that information, 

 he commenced a trial of it in liis gar- 

 den, and by his own experience, from 

 the quantity and quality of the opium 

 lie i)rocured, he believes that it will be 

 a very profitable concern to the grower, 

 and afford very considerable employ- 

 ment to a great number of persons 



* It is sold separately by Da>li, of Ket- 

 tering, and illustrated by engravings. 

 3 



required for the management and col^ 

 lecting of it; and reeommends garden-!- 

 crs in particular to give it a trial, as 

 he believes no vegetable which is 

 grown in a kitchen garden will produce 

 tiiem so much in value, at the same 

 rate the small piece of ground pro- 

 duced which he planted. An acre of 

 ground would have produced 12 lb. of 

 solid opium, worth from32«. to 40*. per 

 lb.: say at 36*. would be 21/. 12*.; 

 there is also tlie seed, which is very 

 considerable, and a decoction may be 

 obtained from the remaining capsule, 

 and also the poppy straw, wliich makes 

 good manure ; all of which articles to- 

 gether would make an amount proba» 

 bly not to be exceeded by any article 

 of produce on one acre of ground. 



It must be observed, that there is a 

 great deal of art required in the cut- 

 ting, to do it well, so as not to injure 

 tiie plant ; this he found very difficult at 

 first, which obliged him to get a kind of 

 steel cutter made, and with which he 

 managed very v ell, and recommends 

 it to all beginners. As the cut should 

 only be made through the first skin, 

 using the cutter sideways will prevent 

 its being made too deep, which it is 

 very necessary to avoid, because, if it 

 is cut through to the seed, it injures 

 the plant, as is sure to be the case 

 more or less in practising at first, but 

 wilh attention it may be easily avoided. 

 And for collecting, he tried several 

 kinds of instruments, but found none 

 equal to quills. 'J'he cutting and col- 

 lecting may be done by boys from 

 eight to ten years of age, as the plants 

 do not grow more than four or five feet 

 high, and the process a very light one, 

 only requiring quickness ; and the 

 manner of drying the opium Avill be 

 found very easy, as afterwards de- 

 scribed ; as by that method of manage- 

 ment a good article was produced, 

 which will appear by the following cer- 

 tificate : — 



" / certify that I have examined the 

 opium grown and gathered hy Mr, John 

 Bates, and believe it to be of a very good 

 quality." Samuel Munn, 



Druggist. 

 Kettering, Ang. 15, 1823. 

 And, to give an opportunity to any per- 

 son who may wish to make a trial of 

 its growth, he also encloses the head 

 of a poppy, containing seed, from 

 which opium has been gathered, and 

 by whieli the mode of cutting will b© 

 more clearly seen. 



The 



