PRODUCTION  OF  OPIUM  IN  FRANCE. 
53 
(about  31,388  acres)  were  set  apart  in  1857  for  the  cultivation 
of  the  poppy;  and  140,000  hectolitres  (about  385,168  bushels) 
of  seed  were  collected.  The  total  value  of  this  seed  was 
4,480,000  francs,  which  gives  an  average  of  352  francs  (about 
<£14  Is.  6d.  per  hectare),  that  is,  about  <£5  13s.  6d,  per  acre. 
"  The  value  of  the  opium  crop  is  on  the  increase.  The  ex- 
penses of  extraction  vary  from  20  to  30  francs  per  kilogramme 
for  dry  and  marketable  opium.  The  price  of  sale  varies  from 
70  to  75  francs,  at  a  standard  of  10  per  cent,  of  morphia.'*' 
Two  kilogrammes  (nearly  4J  lbs.  avoir.)  of  the  milky  juice  con- 
taining opium  yield  about  one  kilogramme  of  dry  opium  :  two 
to  three  kilogrammes  are  obtained  from  one  hectare.  The  value 
of  the  opium  produced  on  an  average  per  hectare,  would  be  150 
francs  (X6),  that  is,  about  X2  Ss.  per  acre.  This,  in  the  depart- 
ment of  La  Somme  alone,  would  leave  the  cultivators  1,905,000 
francs.  This  value  would  be  in  addition  to  that  of  the  seed. 
If  this  speculation  were  carried  on  in  all  the  departments  where 
the  poppy  is  cultivated,  it  would  produce  a  considerable  sum, 
and  would  meet  the  requirements  of  French  Pharmacy. 
"  The  mode  of  extracting  the  juice  is  substantially  the  same 
as  that  pursued  in  the  East,  and  its  sale  is  easy.f 
Upon  the  whole,  it  has  been  now  established  : — 
« 1st.  That  the  time  for  experiments  has  passed. 
*«2nd.  That  French  opium  may  be  placed,  as  to  quality,  by 
the  side  of  the  best  opiums  from  the  Levant ;  the  chances  of 
adulteration  being  much  greater  for  the  latter. 
3rd.  That  its  extraction  is  lucrative  and  easy. 
''By  encouraging  this  nevv'  production.  Government  would 
render  service  to  the  country  population.  Women  and  children 
are  more  apt  at  this  work  than  men.  The  most  effectual  means 
of  encouragement  would  be  to  propagate  information  upon  the 
subject,  and  to  show  the  advantages  to  be  derived  from  it,  by 
every  public  means,  in  the  departments  where  the  poppy  is  cul- 
tivated.   It  would  be  sufficient  to  engage  instructed  teachers  to 
*  MM.  Benard  and  Deschamps  assert  that  they  have  found  from  16  to 
22  per  cent,  of  morphia  in  indigenous  opium. 
^.  Benard,  at  Amiens,  and  M.  Collas,  at  Paris,  have  intimated  to  the 
cultivators  of  La  Somme,  that  all  the  opium  which  they  collect  will  be  re- 
ceived by  them,  at  the  price  of  60  to  80  francs  per  kilogramme,  according 
to  .its  quality. 
