324 ON THE CULTIVATION OF INDIGENOUS OPIUM. 
annual root which is white and fusiform ; stem from 3 to 3^ feet 
high, cylindrical, glaucous and glabrous, straight at the base and rami- 
fied at the top. The leaves are alternate, amplexicaul, oblong, and 
deeply cut. 
The flower bud grows at the extremity of the branch, and is pro- 
vided with an oval calyx, having two sepals and very perishable. 
The corolla has four entire petals, but crumpled before the blowing 
of the flowers. They are generally of a roseate white, with a deep 
violet eye at the base. In some instances, however, they are perfectly 
white. 
The stamens are very numerous. I have counted from 300 to 340 of 
them in one flower. 
The capsules, either oblong or flat, are at first of a very delicate green, 
which becomes by degrees deeper, then glaucous and succulent, after- 
wards greyish, and when ripe, dry. 
The oblong capsules when fully grown are in general from 48 to 65 
millimetres high by 111 to 117 in circumference. 
The depressed or flattened capsules are from 34 to 50 millimetres 
high, and from 120 to 130 in circumference. They have all from 13 to 
14 stigmas (sometimes 16) standing in rows upon a starred disk 
crowning the ovary. 
The carnation poppy produces from seven to forty heads according 
to the nature of the soil and the distance between the plants. 
The capsules of the poppy contain a great number of very small seeds, 
reniform and reticulated at the surface. These seeds are attached to 
false partitions known under the name of parietal trophosperms. 
At maturity, the disk and stigmas separating themselves from the 
capsule, small openings are made which correspond with the inner par- 
titions, and by these openings the seeds escape to spread over the soil, 
if the stems are left to themselves. 
3. Nature of Soil and Choice of Ground. 
The vegetable basis of earth is in part composed of triturations 
from the sub-soil. It generally contains alumina, carbonate of lime, 
silica, and humus (a matter arising from the decomposition of any sub- 
stance) in diverse proportions, which cause an infinite variety in the 
nature and fertility of our soils. 
Sometimes, however, ground contains also magnesia, oxide of iron, 
and sulphates, which are far from rendering soil productive. I shall 
only point cut how these various mineral products are to be known, as it 
is not necessary to enter into chemical considerations in a work intended 
to be essentially practical. 
I need only say that earths are designated from the mineral strata 
on which they lie. Thus, earths are called clayey, calcareous, ferru- 
ginous, marly, siliceous, according as they cover beds of clay, lime, 
iron, marl, or rock containing quartz, in their composition. 
