64 EEPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



FOREIGI^ MEDICINAL PLANTS. 



OPIUM. 



This important drug is the concreted juice wbich exudes from wounds 

 Of iiicisiojis made in the capsule (pod) of the poppy {Fapaver somni- 

 fenuii). The principal supply in commerce comes Irom Hindostan, Per- 

 bIm, Turkey, and Egypt. It is stated that the best ground for the cult- 

 ure of the poppy is a light soil with a rocky subsoil. The ground should 

 be rich and dry. In ISuiyrna the sowing usually commences in Octo- 

 ber. In that climate the growtli progresses slowly throughout the 

 winter months. When the plants attain a height of 2 inches tliey are 

 thinned out to the required distance and hoed. This operation is re- 

 l)eated occasionally, as may be necessary. The plant ordinarily reaches 

 the height of li or 3 feet, but in rich soil sometimes becoming 5 or G feet 

 high. It begins to produce flowers usually about the 1st of May. Soon 

 after the fall of the flowering leaves the pods begin to enlarge and 

 are matured in two or three weeks. The Howering continues on the 

 branches or on other i)lants through two or three months. The busi- 

 ness of collecting the opium begins in the latter part of May and con- 

 tinues until the middle of August. When the capsule is mature incis- 

 ions are made through the outer skin with a j)eculiar knife, when the 

 juice exudes in small drops which soon harden, so that in a few hours 

 the opium may be collected. One company of men are employed in 

 making incisions upon such plants as they judge to be in a fit condition, 

 and they are followed in a few hours by others who collect the soft juice 

 by scraping it off and placing it on a tin ])late held in the hand. When 

 a sufficient quantity has been collected it is transferred to a leaf, in 

 which it is enveloped. Ouly the best quality is treated in this way. 

 The inferior is removed into a shallow wooden tub, in which it is left a 

 few days to dry, and then rolled in balls of various sizes and enveloped 

 in leaves in the same manner as that of the tirst quality. The work of 

 collecting is performed both by men and women. The poppy is an ex- 

 ceedingly tender plant, the growth of which is attended with m.any 

 dangers before reaching maturity. A slight frost, continued rains, or 

 great heat may ruin the crop of a whole district in a very short time. 



The opium poppy is cultivated in several parts of Europe, especially 

 in the northern departments of France and in the south of Germany, 

 mainly for the seeds from which is obtained an oil, called poppy-seed 

 oil, which is employed for culinary purposes, and in the manufacture of 

 soap, &c., as a substitute for olive oil, but in both countries good opium 

 is also produced. 



The poppy iilant has been tried in this country in Connecticut, Ver- 

 mont, Kew York, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Kansas, and other States, 

 including California. There is no doubt that a good quality of opium 

 can be produced here. The mode of cultivation would necessarily vary 

 some to correspond with the variations of climate. In the Northern 

 States the time of sowing is from the 5fch to the 20th of May. In the 

 Southern States it could lae sowed earlier, and in that warmer climate 

 it might be expected that there would be less risk of frost, and the pro- 

 duction of a better quality of opium. The plant is sufQciently matured 

 to commence gathering the opium in about ninety days. Pull directions 

 for the culture and gathering are given in the Agricultural Eeport for 

 1870. The experiments that have been made in this direction do not 

 seem to have been very satisfactory, on account of the much greater cost 



