ON THE CULTIVATION OF INDIGENOUS OPIUM. 333 
the instrument, which the operator holds in his right hand, leaning a 
little on it, taking care to regulate first the projecting of the cutting 
blades. 
When rapidity is wished, this is how we must proceed : 
In the morning, after the disappearance of the dew, the operator, run- 
ning all down one passage, incises on the right and left of him all the 
poppy heads to be found there, without troubling himself about the 
gathering. 
When he has arrived at fifty or sixty steps from where he set out, 
# second person, who is to collect the opium, commences his walk and 
follows at this distance the operator, who goes successively through all 
the passages. 
This walk is nearly that pointed out by M. Decharme. But the time 
that passes between the incision and the gathering of the opium is more 
or less long ;* it ought to be the inverse of the temperature, for the 
milky juice thickens more rapidly as the heat is more intense. This 
j nice, when gathered, ought to have about the consistence of the casein 
in curdled milk. 
The gathering is very simple ; a child might do it, it is only neces- 
sary to take each incised head between the thumb and index finger 
of the left hand, and after to pass the index finger of the right hand 
along the incisions to take up the opiate juice, already a little thick, 
which is to be deposited in a vase of tin, which is fixed to the waist 
of the operator, this is done simply by wiping off the pulp from the 
finger on the sharp edges of the vase. 
When the operator is alone, it will be enough for him, in gathering 
the opium, to come back upon his steps after having incised all the cap- 
sules of the same passage, and not to commence the incisions of the next 
until all the product of the first has been collected. 
This operation for the extraction of opium may continue every day, 
as long as the capsules are still green, hard, resistant to the touch, and 
•covered with white opaque dust. As soon, however, as the heads begin 
to turn yellow, and to soften, the work must be suspended, as they 
will no longer furnish any product, and it will be injurious to the seed. 
But in order that the culture of opium may finally take root amongst 
us, it must yield to the agriculturist real advantages. And that the ex- 
traction of the opiate juice may increase agricultural wealth, a just 
application of the practical observations which follow must be made— 
they are the result of five years of serious experiments. 
1st. It will be necessary to choose the moment for incising the cap- 
sule. 
After the falling of the petals, the heads of poppy, at first very small, 
* The time that may pass between the incision and the gathering of the opium 
juice, ought to be in an inverse ratio to the temperature, for the gummy sap 
dries more rapidly in hot weather ; but the time fixed by M. Lepage, of one hour 
appears to me to be more than exaggerated. 
