344 On the Cultivation of the Poppy. 
tageous price for the purchaser, who would be able to retail 
it considerably under the current prices of these articles. 
According to this estimate, the receipts upon 271 :min- 
gelen, or quarts, of the celd-drawn would amount to about 
401.; upon 102 quarts of the inferior, to 5/.; and upon 782 
cakes, at 1/. per 100, to 7/. 105.: total 527. 10s. for one 
morge, which would he after the ratio of 26/. 5s. per acre. 
The expenses, not exceeding 10/4. per acre, would yield a 
clear profit of 164. 
Should the oil of superior quality answer the description 
given of it, and be more palatable than the olive oil in com- 
mon use, 12s, per gallon, would, perhaps, be too low ,an. 
estimate for our national character. For observation autho= 
rises me to assert it as a serious fact, that nothing has a~ 
greater tendency with us to,depreciate articles of nutrition, ” 
especially if they approach to luxuries, than to render them 
too cheap: and although we complain universally, that such 
articles are extravagantly dear, we almost as universally sus- 
pect or despise whatever may be purchased at a very reasona- 
ble price.', But as retailers are both able and willing to ob- 
viate this objection, the above statement for the vender in 
wholesale may be permitted to remain. ; 
But there is another important point of view in which 
this subject may be considered. Successful attempts have 
Jately been made to procure opium from the poppy, in no 
_Tespect inferior to that imported from the East*; and it is. 
asserted, that although it may he afforded at a very inferior 
price, the product would afford ample profits to the culti- 
vator. As the opium issues from the rind, and the sceds 
have been proved not to partake of its narcotic properties, 
an. important inquiry presents itself, Whether the poppy 
may not be cultivated: with a view to both articles? This 
can only be determined by solving another question: Will 
the incisions made in the green and unripe capsulum, and 
the exudation of its juices, prave injurious to the seeds in 
this advanced state of its growth? The argument from ana- | 
* See Transactions of the Society instituted at London for the Encourage- 
ment of Arts, &c. on the mode and adyaatages attending the cultivation of 
opium, Vols. xiv, xv, xvi, Xviil. 
ov 
logy, 
