CULTURE  AND  COMMERCE  IN  OPIUM  IN  ASIA  MINOR.  363 
the  chance  of  a  total  failure  of  the  crops  is  obviated,  and 
secondly,  as  it  makes  a  difference  of  about  a  fortnight  between 
the  time  the  first  and  last  sowings  arrive  at  maturity,  it  econo- 
mizes laborers,  as  in  fact  there  would  not  be  sufficient  hands  to 
gather  half  the  quantity,  if  this  system  were  not  in  a  great 
measure  pursued  ;  as  it  is,  when  the  crops  succeed  well,  fully 
one-fourth  of  them  is  lost  for  want  of  hands. 
A  moist  soil  is  indispensable  to  the  success  of  the  plant ;  too 
much  moisture,  on  the  other  hand,  is  injurious  ;  it  therefore  fol- 
lows that  with  a  wet  winter  it  grows  best  on  hilly  grounds,  and 
with  a  dry  winter  in  low  plains. 
Owing  to  the  difference  of  climate  between  the  upper  and 
lower  country,  in  the  former,  which  is  the  coldest,  the  first 
crops  are  gathered  in  July,  and  in  the  latter  in  May ;  just  about 
the  time  the  plant  is  maturing,  should  it  happen  to  shower,  a 
very  great  increase  of  the  crop  is  obtained. 
The  calyx  of  the  poppy,  better  known  under  the  name  of 
poppy-head,  is  that  part  of  the  plant  whence  the  Opium  is  ex- 
tracted. It  is  considered  to  have  arrived  at  maturity  when  it 
has  changed  to  a  lighter  green  hue,  and  the  extraction  is  then 
effected  in  the  following  manner  : 
An  incision  is  made  with  a  knife  across  the  poppy-head,  half 
round,  horizontally,  and  some  times  horizontally  and  verti- 
cally too ;  this  is  generally  done  in  an  afternoon,  and  by  the 
next  morning  it  is  found  to  be  covered  with  milk,  or  juice,  that 
during  the  night  has  oozed  from  it,  which  the  gatherer  scrapes 
with  his  knife,  transferring  it  from  the  latter  to  a  leaf  of  the 
poppy  he  holds  in  his  left  hand.  At  every  alternate  scraping 
the  knife  is  wetted  with  saliva  by  drawing  it  through  the  mouth 
to  prevent  the  juice  from  adhering  to  it. 
Great  precision  is  required  in  making  the  incision.  Should  it 
be  too  deep,  and  the  interior  coating  containing  the  seed  be  also 
cut,  the  Opium  is  lost,  as  the  juice  would  then  run  into  the 
poppy-head,  and  again,  if  the  incision  is  not  deep  enough,  all 
the  juice  would  not  ooze  out. 
The  repugnant  practice  of  using  saliva,  and  which  is  not 
always  limited  to  the  wetting  of  the  knife,  has  been  remonstrated 
upon,  and  water  suggested  as  its  substitute;  but  as  this  would 
