106 



GROWTH OF OPIUM IN CHINA. 



There seems no ground for doubting any longer that the cultivation of 

 the poppy is rapidly extending in China. A correspondent of the North 

 China Herald states that opium is becoming the winter crop of several 

 provinces, especially of Yunan, Honan, and Che-keang, and that the 

 growers are yearly bringing it to greater perfection. This year it can be 

 used without a mixture of Bengal or Malwa, and the inferior classes of 

 Malwa. It is grown in a fine light soil on a slope, where the moisture can 

 easily drain off. In cultivating, the Chinese look more to quantity than 

 quality, and therefore force the poppy till the heads are truly enormous. 

 In April the juice is ready for gathering. On the capsule four broad delicate 

 cuts upwards are made, leaving the wound covered by the overhanging 

 skin, as a protection against the dews and heat. Early in the morning each 

 wound is scraped by a piece of blunt bamboo, the juice being deposited in 

 a hollow bamboo at the gatherer's side ; a process repeated every morning 

 till the flow ceases. The juice has a very acrid taste, and is chiefly used for 

 mixing with the dearer Patna and Malwa. A field of poppies standing on 

 the hill side, seven feet high, and flaunting its gaudy blossoms in contrast 

 with the rich green of the leaves and stalks, is, we may well believe, a 

 beautiful sight. Pity is it that death lurks in every flower, and that the 

 misdirected art of man contrives to develope its presence for other than 

 medicinal purposes. 



Sir Henry Pottinger, in a despatch dated April 16, 1844, stated :— " I 

 may take this opportunity to tell you, that the trade in opium is now 

 publicly carried on at Canton, and that both there and at the other ports 

 opened by treaty the mandarins openly give out that they cannot and dare 

 not stop it, else it would lead to the cultivation of the poppy in China to 

 so great an extent, as to cause a scarcity of food, if not actual famine, and 

 that that scarcity would be the forerunner of popular disturbance and 

 rebellion." 



The opium produced in the west and south-west of China is grown 

 during the winter season, the rice during the summer. The cultivation of 

 the one does not interfere with the cultivation of the other. The poppy 

 is, however, said not to thrive so well in China as in India, and the extract 

 is generally of a harsher taste ; so that, though cheaper than the imported 

 drug, it will not sell unless mixed with the Indian opium. 



Mr. Fortune saw the poppy growing for the purpose of obtaining the 

 inspissated juice in the north of China, but it is impossible to state how 

 much is absolutely grown. 



