46
Extracted from the Dictionary of
PAPAVER
Cultivation of Poppy
somniferum.
CULTIVATION
i n B e n g a l .
Manure.
Irrigation.
Weeding.
(4th) Lime 6 maunds, mixed with 3 maunds charcoal dust, to be applied
at the early stages of growth in place of No. 1.
(5th) Shorah 4 maunds, with 4 maunds charcoal dust, all well pulverized
and mixed, to be applied in a more advanced stage, say with the first
appearance of the flower-buds.
(6th) Common salt 20 seers, shorah 40 seers, mixed with 160 seers of
lime, to be applied as in No. 5.
Sowing. —Three seers of seed are sufficient for a bighá of land (3,025
square yards) and the seed is generally, though not always, steeped in water
the evening before being sown. Scott discusses the merits of the various
manurial substances recommended as advantageous if added to the water
in which the seeds are steeped (see Chapter VII., pp. 31 to 37 of Opium Hus-
bandry). " It will be observed," he says, " that the ammoniacal liquor, and
iron sulphate steeps proved the most active stimulants. The camphorated
water is singularly active, the germination commencing on the fourth day,
and copious on the sixth. The young plants were also extremely healthy
and of a darker colour than the generality of those otherwise treated.
Seeds steeped in the saturated solution of alcohol and camphor germinated
tardily and sparely, the plants being all of a pale, sickly green colour, and
in very few cases survived the cotylidonary stage," . . . . " Besides
accelerating germination and invigorating the young plant, these cam-
phor steeps appear to be a very effective antidote to the mould-blight,
which periodically causes so much damage to the poppy." In this con-
nection the writer would offer the suggestion that as a steeping material
more convenient to the opium cultivator (since the plant grows on every
road-side adjoining his fields), a decoction of Adhatoda Vasica should be
tried. The reader will find full particulars of that substance under the
articles " Manure" and " Oryza sativa —Rice." In connection with the latter
subject it will be found that the decoction here recommended is actually
used to hasten germination in Afghánistán. If the fungoid pest that
attacks the poppy exists, in its early stage, in the seed (as maintained by
Scott), it doubtless would be more or less destroyed by some of the steeping
agents (notably camphor) employed by him, but by none very probably of
those so effectually as by the decoction here recommended. On this
subject, however, the writer can offer no personal opinions, since he has
not had the opportunity of studying the poppy pests (see the paragraph
below on Pests).
Irrigation. —As soon as the seed begins to germinate, which is about a
week after it is sown, the field is divided by a cross series of ridges into
rectangular compartments, about eight feet in length by four feet in breadth,
the alternate ridges being made somewhat broader than the others, to form
the water channels for the irrigation of the plant. The field should be
watered as soon as the plants appear above ground, and seed again sown
in those places in which germination has failed. Irrigation must be con-
tinued at regular intervals till the crop is matured, but care should be taken
not to allow the entire seedlings to be under water. Upon unirrigated
lands it is of course unnecessary to divide the field into compartments.
Gennoe recommends that the beds should be parallel, so that they may be
easily irrigated. A drain or outlet should intervene between every two
beds for the passage of water. Lands bordering on rivers and jhíls, he
adds, as they retain their moisture till December, do not require to be laid
out in beds. Wells are essentially necessary for poppy fields, and hence
every assistance and encouragement for their construction should be
afforded.
Thinning and Weeding. —When the young plants are about two to
three inches high they are thinned out. This is repeated perhaps two or