362     CULTURE  AND  COMMERCE  IN  OPIUM  IN  ASIA  MINOR. 
purely  a  physical  one,  and  must  be  ascribed  to  a  rearrangement 
of  the  molecules  of  matter  of  which  the  paper  is  composed.  The 
practical  difficulties  connected  with  the  manufacture  of  this 
material  on  a  large  scale  have  been  very  great,  but  they  have 
been  successfully  overcome  by  Messrs.  De  la  Rue  &  Co.  Mr. 
Gaine's  original  patent  expired  last  year,  but  in  consideration 
of  the  great  merit  of  the  invention  and  the  expenses  incurred  in 
working  it,  the  Judicial  Committee  of  the  Privy  Council  ad- 
vised that  the  patent  should  be  prolonged  for  five  years  dating 
from  December  last. — Chemist  and  Druggist,  May  15,  1868. 
NOTES  ON  THE  CULTURE  AND  COMMERCE  IN  OPIUM 
IN  ASIA  MINOR. 
By  B.  R.  Heffter,  of  Smyrna. 
The  difficulties  that  surround  agriculturists  in  this  country 
are  great  and  numerous,  arising  principally  from  the  scarcity  of 
laborers,  want  of  capital,  roads,  etc.,  and  so  heavily  do  they 
press,  that,  were  it  not  for  the  advantage  of  a  fine  soil,  and  cli- 
mate, very  little  cultivation  indeed  could  exist.  The  agricultural 
implements  are  of  the  most  primitive  description,  and  an  idea  of 
tliem  can  be  formed  by  the  fact  that  the  plough  does  not  go 
deeper  into  the  soil  than  say  four  inches  ;  another  proof  of  the 
superiority  of  both  climate  and  soil  is,  that  all  the  crops  are  pro- 
duced without  irrigation.  In  the  case,  however,  of  the  Opium 
grower,  there  are  other  difficulties  besides  entirely  beyond  his 
control,  viz.,  the  very  sensitive  nature  of  the  poppy  plant  and 
particularly  perilous  condition  of  the  crop  when  about  being  col- 
lected, which  render  its  cultivation  by  far  the  most  hazardous. 
The  poppy,  unlike  other  plants,  is  generally  sown  at  three 
different  times  in  one  season.  For  instance,  the  grower  who  in- 
tends sowing  three  acres  of  land,  will  do  so  one  at  a  time,  and 
will  begin  with  the  one  acre  about  the  middle  of  November  or 
so,  after  the  first  winter  rains  ;  a  second  acre  he  will  sow  in  De- 
cember, and  a  third  or  last  between  February  and  March.  The 
first  sowing  is  called  Griuzmaly,  the  second  Kishmaly,  and  the 
third  Yazmaly.  Two  are  the  reasons  for  this  practice,  both  of 
which  are  of  paramount  importance.  First,  by  this  arrangement 
