On the Culture of Opium. 41 



to exhaust each head. An interval of two or three days 

 occurred between each collection from off the same capsule. 



The capsules bled freely, exuding a thick milky fluid, 

 which did not concrete on the outside, thereby necessitating 

 the immediate following up of the collector, who with the 

 forefinger of the right hand took it from off the capsule and 

 placed it into a vessel. About half a teaspoonful was 

 obtained from off a poppy-head at each collection. 



The vessel when filled was emptied into shallow plates 

 and placed in a shaded room, the fluid being allowed to 

 thicken by evaporation at the ordinary temperature, which 

 varied during every twenty-four hours between 75° F. to 

 ] 20° F. After the lapse of a few days the opium was of 

 moderate consistence, and was made up into balls, weighing 

 about six ounces each, each ball being covered with the 

 poppy leaf It was observed that when the fresh milky 

 fluid was exposed to the full light of day it became very 

 black ; under shadow it assumed and retained a lively 

 chocolate colour. 



The collecting season occupied about five weeks ; the sap 

 then ceasing to flow and the pericarp changing in colour. 



The bleeding or tapping of the poppies was usually per- 

 formed by an adult, care being required not to pierce through 

 the capsule. The collecting of the sap was performed by 

 children. 



It will be observed that the time of day adopted in, Gipps 

 Land for collecting the opium is the evening. In other 

 parts of the world it is said to be collected in the 

 morning ; also, the height of each plant is also stated 

 not to exceed four feet ; here it reached from six to seven 

 feet. 



The morning dews on the Macallister are very great, 

 rendering it almost impossible at that time of the day to 

 work between the rows, the plants being so wet and the 

 capsules high. From observation it was found that the sap 

 considerably increased towards evening, and that the morn- 

 ing dew greatly increased the flow. When there was no 

 dew in the morning the sap-drops were few in the evening. 

 For purposes of collection, therefore, the evening was 

 chosen. 



The yield of opium per acre gave at the rate of 40lbs. 

 weight ; but the whole of the plants sown on the acre were 

 not worked upon, as the collection depended on a sparse 

 population. One-third of the acre was well worked, and 



