338 On the Cultivation of ihe Poppy. 
ture in Amsterdam proposed the premiums above mentioned, 
in order to ascertain whether the experiments made would 
authorise the cultivation of the article upon a large scale ; 
wheiher the soil and climate of Holland were beneficial to 
its growth; whether the quantity or quality of the oil would 
be similar to the product of France and Brabant ; whether 
the profits would indemnify the busbandman from giving it 
the preference to other crops; whether the oils could be at- 
forded cheaper than those in common use ; and to what pur- 
poses either in the arts or manufactories it might be applied. 
Deeming it possible that the narrative of a contest which 
subsisted the greater. part of a century, and in which the 
advocates for the internal use of the poppy oil were uni- 
formly triumphant, may have some influence in destroying 
our own prejudices and apprehensions respecting the perni- 
cious quality of this oil, I shall now proceed to state, in as 
concise a manner as perspicuity will permit, the most in- 
‘teresting particulars respecting its culture, selected from 
various foreign publications upon the subject. 
Soil,—The poppy may be cultivated with. success on va- 
rious kinds of soil. It has been tried ona rich. black soil, 
eat ground, and sandy heaths, and been productive. Those 
Jands in which the wild poppy abounds the most, are obvi- 
ously mest congenial to its nature. The richer the soil, and 
the clearer from weeds, the larger will be the crop. It is 
‘not so adviseable, however, to manure for the poppy, as for 
the crop preceding it, as it is more exposed to injury by 
weeds. Hence it succeeds the best after carrots, cabbage, 
potatoes, &c, The land was generally prepared by the 
spade, as in planting potatoes; and the finer it is worked, 
the greater the advantage. But when it 1s cultivated toa 
great extent, they use the plough. The seed has generally 
been sown broad-cast, the plants thinned, and weeded after- 
twards, as in the culture of tarnips; but in drills it is sown 
about six or eight inches distant in the rows, whieh has 
been strongly recommended, experiments upon a small scale 
“having manifested a superiority in this mode, 
- The Kind and Quantity of Seed.—Although the white 
poppy has been chiefly used in France «and Brabant, under 
r the 
