PAPAVER 

 OPIUM 



Manufacture 

 " Trash.' 



THE OPIUM POPPY 



Lewa. 



Oil. 



Malwa. 



Adulteration. 



Linseed Oil. 



Yield. 



Subsequent 

 Treatment. 



Balls. 



Export Season. 



Bengal 

 Export 

 Opium. 



Purity. 



Repeatedly 

 Assayed. 



C akes. 



4. "Trash." This is the pounded poppy stalks and leaves. It is em- 

 ployed in packing opium. 



5. Lewa. This is the paste used in consolidating the " leaves " in 

 the formation of the casing employed with provision opium. It is formed 

 of all the inferior opium and pasewa. 



6. Seed and on. The best seed is obtained from capsules that have 

 not been lanced. They yield a sweet edible oil absolutely devoid, of course, 

 of any trace of opium, though in preparing the excise opium it is the sweet 

 oil employed to prevent the opium adhering to the paper in which it is 

 packed. 



I Malwa Manufacture. The systems of collection pursued in other parts 

 of India differ almost wholly in the number of blades formed into the 

 nashtar, the direction of the incisions, the method of collection and drying. 

 The work of adulteration begins with the act of scraping off the drug from 

 the capsules. If honestly done, the pure extract alone is removed ; but if 

 adulteration be desired, a portion of the superficial tissue of the capsule 

 may be carried away with the drug. In Malwa the system prevails of 

 depositing the collection of crude drug (known as chick) into a vessel con- 

 taining linseed oil, in the proportion of one of chick to two of oil. This is 

 justified from the desire to prevent evaporation. It is in reality a mode of 

 adulteration, and the dealers refuse to purchase any opium that is thinner 

 than half-dried glue. One acre of land well cultivated yields 70 to 100 Ib. 

 of chick which fetches 3 to 6 rupees a pound, so that the total crop will 

 realise from 200 to 600 rupees to the acre. 



The traders place the oil-adulterated drug in double bags suspended 

 from the ceiling of a close and dark room, to allow of the excess oil draining 

 off. In a month's time all the oil that can be separated is drained away. 

 By June or July the opium is removed from the bags and thrown into 

 large vats, where it is worked up until it attains a uniform colour and con- 

 sistence. It is now made into balls of 8 to 10 oz. each, which are 

 thrown into baskets full of a chaff prepared from the dried poppy 

 capsules. It is then spread out on a floor covered with the "trash" or 

 powder of the poppy leaves and stems, and there it remains until it has 

 dried sufficiently to allow of packing, when about 150 of the cakes go 

 to each chest. It is ready for the export market by October or 

 November. 



Bengal Manufacture. It may now be desirable to describe the stages 

 of manipulation pursued at the Government factories in contrast with that 

 mentioned above with the Malwa drug. The opium, as purchased from 

 the cultivators, is first tested for purity and quality. It is then stored in 

 large wooden boxes capable of containing 10 cwt. Whilst thus stored 

 it deepens in colour by exposure to air and light. From this is taken the 

 quantity that is daily to be manufactured. This is sampled, assorted, 

 kneaded up together and thrown into boxes, certain ones being again 

 assayed. The opium is next placed in troughs and kneaded and thoroughly 

 mixed by men wading knee-deep in it. When uniformity by these various 

 stages of separating, sampling, mixing and kneading has been attained, it is 

 next day made up in cakes. For this purpose the " leaves " required, having 

 been weighed out and damped over-night, are given to each operator along 

 with a supply of lewa. The leaves, lewa and opium required for each cake 

 are accurately weighed out. The operator, taking a brass cup in his hand, 

 places the leaves within it layer upon layer, moistened with the lewa, until 



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