I 
THE CULTURE OF AND COMMERCE IN OPIUM IN ASIA MINOR. 435 
that time of the year, a heavy dew, or a strong wind would suffice to destroy the crop of 
all those fields that the day previous had been prepared for collecting. * 
As a rule, every poppy-head is only cut once, but as each plant produces several heads 
which do not arrive together at maturity, the operation of the incision and gathering of 
the juice is generally gone over twice or thrice, in the same field, when the opportunity 
is taken of recutting such heads as exceed the usual size. 
Amongst the peculiarities of the poppy there is this, that its yield does not entirely 
depend upon its condition, the amount of dew falling the night after the incision is 
made having the greatest influence on both quantity and quality. The heavier it is, as 
long as it is not so heavy as to wash away the milk, the greater the yield, but in pro¬ 
portion to this increase is also the weakness or inferiority of the production ; this ac¬ 
counts for the greater proportion of inferior opium usually found in large crops. 
The opium-grower is generally a small land proprietor, who cultivates as much as his 
own family circle can attend to; nor would it be possible for large landholders to grow 
this article on a large scale, owing to the want of hands; but even supposing that labourers 
could be obtained, such would be the necessary expenditure for the same, that it is very 
questionable whether it would pay. 
From the grower the opium passes into the hands of the merchants of the interior, 
who, after collecting it together, pack it in grey calico bags, which they seal and place 
in a wicker basket of oblong shape; a very light weed is strewed between the cakes, to 
prevent them from sticking together, and in this condition it is brought down to Smyrna. 
And here it must be mentioned that, while Smyrna is the market proper for all the 
opium grown in Asia Minor, nevertheless a very small quantity finds its way to the Con¬ 
stantinople market direct. The opium remains in the baskets undisturbed till sold, and 
it is oniy on reaching the buyer’s warehouse that the seals are broken, and that the 
cakes are for the first time exposed. This takes place before buyer, seller, and public 
examiner, the last mentioned of whom then goes through the process of examining it 
piece by piece, and should either buyer or seller entertain a different opinion than his 
respecting any of the pieces, they are put aside and carefully re-examined at the end. 
There are three qualities of opium, viz. the prime,* the current, and the inferior 
opium, or Chikintee; a fourth quality might be said to exist, if we take to account the 
adulterated cakes, which are either entirely false, or a mixture of opium with sand, 
gums, eggs, etc., in fact anything considered least liable to detection. The prime con¬ 
sists either in the extra examination of the baskets, or what is more generally the case, 
in the opium grown at certain districts. The current is the mercantile or bulk of the 
crop, and the Chikintee is that rejected from both the prime and current qualities. 
Quality, however, is generally understood by the name of the place the article is grown 
at, and, admitting that some places, on the whole, produce superior opium to others, 
how far this may be correct in the case of a particular purchase is too obvious to require 
any comment. Besides, if place was a reliable guide as to quality, we come to the 
question, how is that of one place to be distinguished from that of another ; of this we 
have a good illustration. The sales effected at the end of the season, as opium coming 
from the renowned districts, often amount to three and four times the quantity those 
districts can possibly produce; this anomaly is only a proof as to the capacity of other 
places of producing a quality equal to that of the famed ones. 
Commercially speaking, there is no rule by which one can become a judge of opium, 
of however moderate aspirations ; this ability can only be acquired through many years’ 
practice. In examining this article the use of nearly all the faculties is required : 
colour, appearance, weight, scent, etc., serve as a guide, for often a dark-coloured cake 
is as good as a light one, or both may be bad ; one scent as good as another ; soft or 
hard, etc. etc., may both be good or bad. To be a judge of opium, therefore, one must 
be guided by a combination of circumstances, so variable in themselves that, as before 
mentioned, it can only be acquired by great experience. Such being the case, it may 
easily be imagined what people think here of the system pursued in some markets, where 
it is mostly judged by its external appearance. 
* Known in this market under the name of Yerly, which word means “of this place,” viz. 
that grown round about Smyrna, implying thereby that only this, and the whole of it, is 
prime; so far from this being correct, there are in the vicinity of Smyrna some places pro¬ 
ducing very bad opium, while in some of the furthest districts the quality is first-rate. 
