678 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 
Answer.—Chicle gum is furnished by Sapota achras, a tree of the West Indies 
and of some parts of Mexico. K 
The fruit is called Naseberry, or Sapodilla plum. It is stated that the succulent 
gummy pulp surrounding the seeds is named chicle, and that it is employed in the 
preparation of gum-drops. 
The tree will not flourish in Ciay County, Fla., although it is to be found growing 
in the southern extremes of the State, where it has been introduced. 
OFTUM. POPPY. 
é C. K., Liperty County, Ga. 
T have reason to believe that the opium poppy will do well here, and would try it - 
if I had enough seed of the right variety to make a plantation of several acres. Can 
you furnish seed or procure it for me at my expense? 
I should be obliged for any information in regard to its culture, and how best to 
get the opium from it. 
Answer.—So far as climate is to be considered the poppy plant will grow in Geor- 
gia, and, indeed, in most of the United States, and seed can easily be secured, and 
the plants are easily raised. The soil should be very finely pulverized on the sur- 
face and the seeds sown in shallow drills, or rather mere marks. The seeds are 
very minute and should be mixed in fifty parts of dry sand, then sand and seed 
sprinkled thinly on the surface and covered simply by passing a light roller over 
them. These drills may be 2 feet apart, and when the plants appear they are thinned 
out so that they will be from 6 to 8 inches apart. 
It is highly improbable that it can be profitably produced in this country, asmay 
be gleaned from the details of collecting the juice. ; 
When the seed pods are properly matured the milky juice is obtained by making 
incisions in the pods with small lancets. This requires great care, so that the incis- 
ion is not made through the entire substance of the pod; the surface only is scari- 
fied. The cutting being performed in the afternoon, the opium is allowed to exude 
and remain on the pod till next morning, when it is scraped off, drop by drop, and 
thus collected in asmall cup. Successive incisions are required to secure complete 
exudation. 
Tt is thus seen that the process is slow and tedious, and it is stated that the aver- 
age pay of the operators does not reach 10 cents per day. | 
The factory operations in preparing the article for commerce are also tedious and 
-complicated, involving much manual labor, which is cheaply procured in Asiatic 
countries. 
GAMPHOR TREE. 
J. S. R., HERNANDO CoUNTY, FLA. 
A camphor tree received from your Department six years ago has grown up into a 
fine tree some 15 feet in height. It is a beautiful ornamental tree, and is valuable 
on that account alone, but if this is the tree from which the camphor of trade is 
obtained I would be obliged if you could inform me how to get it. Ihave tried 
cutting the bark, but could not see any exudation of gum. 
Answer.—The Camphor tree, Camphora officinarum, is a nativeof China and 
Japan, and yields the camphor of commerce. 
Camphor is obtained by chopping the wood or roots into small pieces and boiling 
them with water in an iron vessel till the camphor begins to adhere to the stirring 
utensil; the liquor is then strained, and the camphor concretes on standing. It is 
afterwards mixed with finely powdered earth and sublimed from one metallic vessel 
into another. 
In Japan the chips are boiled in a vessel to which an earthen head containing 
straw has been fitted, and the camphor sublimes and condenses on. the straw. 
Crude camphor very much resembles moist sugar before it is cleaned; it is refined 
by sublimation, an operation which requires care and experience. 
BAHIA ORANGE. 
KE. S., PUTNAM COUNTY, FLA. 
I have seen a statement that the Bahia orange, as seen in the greenhouse in 
Washington, has no pollen on its blossoms, and that is given as a reason for its poor 
bearing in Florida. I would like you to answer me the following questions: 
If the want of the pollen is the cause of its not fruiting in Florida, why does it 
fruit so well in California? 
