OPIUM 227 



Should the snow now melt and a freeze succeed, the 

 crop is ruined. Early frosts, preceding snow, are also 

 very injurious, because the poppy plant, when young, is 

 very delicate. If the snow falls early and remains all 

 winter, the plants reach perfection. Thus an ideal 

 opium climate is such as best fits the wheat crops. 



In the spring, after the snow melts and the plants 

 have attained a growth of about six inches in height, 

 the fields are thoroughly weeded, the poppy plants 

 being thinned until they stand about two feet apart. 

 When they are evenly distributed over the field in such 

 condition, the crop is most promising. However, should 

 the winter frosts have "winter killed" the crop in 

 patches, the thin parts are replowed, and spring-sown. 

 If the crop be injured as a whole, the entire field is re- 

 plowed and spring-planted, or a new location for the 

 crop is selected. This replanting takes place from 

 January to March, according to locality. Spring sow- 

 ing is deprecated, both by reason of the extra labor, and 

 because the resultant opium is of inferior quality, and 

 the yield less in amount. Opium culture demands that 

 ground which has produced an opium crop for four or 

 five successive years be given a rest of at least one year. 



THE CROP. The poppy blossoms in April and May. 

 The capsule matures from June to July, in accordance 

 with locality and season. The elevated, interior dis- 

 tricts are latest in maturing, but they yield the best 

 opium, that from the damp or wet lowlands being the 

 poorest. When the plant attains a height of four to 

 five feet and the capsules begin to turn successively 

 from bluish-green to yellowish or slightly golden, they 

 soften to the touch. This is the critical period in the 

 life of this exacting crop, for at this time neglect, of 



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