38
Extracted from the Dictionary of
38 Extracted from the Dictionary of
PAPAVER somniferum. Poppy Cultivation ;
CULTIVATION.
Races.
Leela.
sorts which I have this season separated from the others. They are
of vigorous but somewhat dwarf habit, 3½ to 4 feet high, rather branchy,
the leaves ovately oblong, 9 to 12 inches long by 5 to 7 broad, the
margins but slightly lobed and coarsely toothed ; the texture rather
thick and firm ; the colour a dull sea-green ; the flowers large, white, with
entire margins ; the capsules roundish-oblong (2½ to 3 inches long by
2 ¼
t o 2 ½ b r o a d ) a n d g l a u c o u s i n t h e o n e v a r i e t y — l e e l a ;
i n t h e o t h e r —
sabza
leela —rather globose, about 2½ inches in both diameters, of a dull-green
colour, and void of the white powdery matter coating the rind of the other.
This season (1875-76) they have yielded an average of 5s. ½c. of opium
per bíghá.."
G u n g a j u l e e
13th, Gungajulee.—" This sort is very like lukria in habit and growth.
The leaves oblong to ovate-oblong, from 10 to 16 inches long by 5 to 8
broad, of a pale-green colour, the margins less or more lobed and coarsely
toothed ; flowers large, white, with or without rosy or pink margins, and
deeply fringed ; the capsules large, oblong, 3 to 3½ inches long by 2½ to
3 broad, less or more furrowed longitudinally, and covered with a fine
white powdery matter. The drug-produce this season averages 8 s. 12¼c .
per bíghá.."
U g g a r y a .
14th Uggarya.—" This is the least robust of all the Malwa kinds above
described. The sterns slender, and nearly simple, from 3 to 4 feet high ;
the leaves oblong, from 9 to 12 inches long by 5 to 7 broad, of a pale-green
colour ; the margins sinuous and toothed ; the flowers smaller than those
of the other varieties; the base of the cup stained with dull purple, the
margins carmine-red or lilac, and generally deeply fringed ; the capsules
oblong or ovate-oblong, from 2 to 2½ inches long by 1¼ to 2¼ in diameter,
glaucous, and containing seeds of a pale purply-grey colour, very similar
to the maw-seed. The drug-produce of this variety averaged only 3s. 14½c.
per bíghái."
" It has been a matter of surprise to many that the Malwa varieties
should have proved so ill-suited to the climate or soil of the opium tracts
in Behar and Benares. I have already remarked that four of the most
productive of the Malwa poppies have now been cultivated for five succes
-
sive seasons here, and it must be confessed they have not yet attained
their normal standard of productiveness in Malwa, though now exceeding
the average produce of the local varieties in the Behar Agency for the
past ten seasons, the highest average being that of 1863-64, which was 6 s .
½c. per bíghá. The local poppy of Behar succeeded much better in Malwa,
tie m i n i m u m p r o d u c e o f t h e d i r e c t l y i m p o r t e d s e e d , a c c o r d i n g t o t h e S u -
perintendent of Rutlam, being 3s 5c. per bíghá, the maximum 5¼s ., thus
affording an average of 3s. 7c. per bíghá. This, I may remark, exceeds
the average produce of the local poppy in four of the twelve divisions of the
Behar Agency in 187o-71, by 6c. per bíghá, and indeed is only 5c. under
the general average. A consideration of the climatic conditions of the two
provinces affords, as I think, an explanation of the indifferent success of
the Malwa plant in Behar. Malwa has a very uniformly mild and humid
temperature, the cold season being extremely agreeable, and many of the
product of the garden in temperate latitudes, which are destroyed by the
heat of the Lower Provinces, succeed well on the table-land. The soil is
extremely fertile, very generally consisting of a black vegetable loam, pro
-
ducing fine crops of cotton, indigo, opium, tobacoo, wheat, &c. The cold
season in Malwa, it is to be observed, differs much from that of Behar.
It is never subject to the dry westerly winds so prevalent in the latter, nor
is there those extremes between the day and night temperature. These
with the atmospheric aridity are, as I think, the main cause of the indiffer
-
ent success of the Malwa poppy in Behar. The foliage of the plant is of a
much thinner and delicate texture than that of the local poppy, and it