^"^'j^Z'^^""^'}  Australian  Opium.  45 
AUSTRALIAN  OPIUM. 
By  W.  E.  Matthews. 
The  greater  part  of  the  colouial  opium  found  in  the  Melbourne 
drug  market  comes  from  tlie  Bacchus  Marsh  district,  where  the  culti- 
vation of  the  poppy  has  been  carried  on  for  the  past  eighteen  or 
twenty  years.  Tlie  first  supply  of  opium  sent  into  the  market  from 
this  district  was  in  1871,  and  scarcely  a  season  has  been  missed  since. 
Through  the  favor  of  Messrs.  Pearce  Bros.,  of  Bacchus  Marsh,  Mr. 
Thomas  Doubleday,  of  Coimadai,  who  is  the  largest  grower  in  the 
colony,  has  kindly  supplied  many  interesting  notes  on  the  culture  of 
the  poppy  and  collection  of  the  opium.  The  light  loamy  flats  on  river 
banks  are  most  suited  to  the  growth  of  the  poppy,  and  it  has  been  found 
advisable  to  sow  at  three  distinct  periods.  About  the  first  week  in 
May,  the  second  or  third  week  in  June,  and  the  latter  end  of  July 
are  the  best  seasons  for  the  purpose.  By  adopting  this  system  of  sow- 
ing the  whole  crop  comes  into  readiness  in  rotation,  and  is  conse- 
quently more  easily  managed. 
Mr.  Doubleday  sows  the  seed  in  drills  about  twenty-two  inches 
apart  and  half  an  inch  deep.  When  the  plants  are  two  or  three  inches 
in  height,  cleaning  and  thinning  is  commenced,  leaving  the  plants  ten 
inches  apart,  giving  from  28,000  to  29,000  plants  to  the  acre,  which, 
in  an  average  crop,  yields  about  150,000  capsules  ;  and  as  each  capsule 
receives  at  least  four  incisions,  and  each  incision  has  to  be  scraped 
once,  a  slight  estimate  may  be  formed  as  to  the  labor  attached  to  an 
acre  only.  In  moderately  moist  seasons  the  plants  attain  the  height 
of  seven  feet  and  over,  but  this  is  no  advantage  to  the  grower,  as  it 
has  been  noticed  by  Mr.  Doubleday  that  it  not  only  renders  the  crop 
somewhat  unmanageable,  but  also  reduces  the  yield  of  opium.  A 
crop  averaging  from  three  to  five  feet  is  by  far  the  most  productive 
and  easily  managed.  An  acre,  in  a  good  season,  will  yield  from  thirty 
to  forty  pounds  of  marketable  opium,  but  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five 
pounds  is  about  the  average  product  per  acre  in  the  Bacchus  Marsh 
district,  over  thirty  pounds  being  considered  exceptionally  good.  The 
average  yield  on  the  Continent  is  twenty-five  pounds ;  in  India,  in  a 
good  season,  the  yield  is  from  thirty  to  forty  pounds  per  acre.  About 
four  days  after  the  flower  opens  the  petals  fall,  and  in  another  four 
days  after  (the  time  depending  mainly  on  the  state  of  weather)  the 
capsule  changes  to  a  bluish-green.    It  is  then  sufficiently  mature  for 
