The Placer herald., 1870-03-26
HOUSE AND FARM.


To recent issue of your journal | observed
an article upon the probable success OF the
cultivation Of the opium in this State. Be
Ing ,olerably familiar with the culture Of he
p1rpy. I would add a few remarks 10 those
which YOU have already made. My obser-
vaicns ard experience are based on a
lenptbened residence 10 the opium districts
Of lIlndoostan, as well As brief observation
Of poppy raising in Germany. 10 the for
mer. locality the production of opium is
what is aimed at; in The latter the maturing
ofthe seed. from which oil, hardly inferior
TO olive oil is obtained. Your observations
as to early gathering of the opium and sub
sequent utilizing Of the seed are scarcely
correct in detail. The opium in India is
collected immediately after tee leaves OF the
plant commence to fall off or, at any rate
within very few days thereafter. The
bleeding Of lbe capsule TO gather the opium,
it has been shown, initiates severely against
the ripening Of the seeds contained therein;
such seed rendering bu: little oil, and ,ba,
# an inferior quality, and are moreover in
jured for the purpose OF reproduction. II
the plants after the gathering of the opium
can be irrigated to an extent equal to say
enc pint or one and one-fourth pnts OF wa
ter to each plant, when the seeds will ma
lure and cid good oil iu tolerable quantity,
say within thirty per cent. Of what would
have been realized if no opium had been
gathered from the plant This has been
satisfactorily demonstrated by experiment
at Benares.
Unfortunately. for practical purposes,
tie season in which the opium crop in India
is gathered, is dry, and thus irrigation is
impossible. The opium is there gathered
in the early part OF the year. when no ram
can be expected ill June On the other
hand if the poppy be ripened in wet sea
son, the crop fails, because ii requires to be
'ipened in dry SOIL Thus the ripeuing of
the seeds after the opium is collected, may
lie considered as an after.crop, requiring
an amour, of moisture to compensate Tor
the primary robbing Of the plant.
Unbled capsules are found to exude but
little moisture, whereas bled ones exude
it abuudantly. Now, as soon as the opium
is gathered, the orfces close, as it were,
and the lost water can be supplied at the
roots to noursh the stem and capsule.
The consideration Of these facts has often
led me to believe that this branch of agr-
culture might. as you have suggested, be
made profitable in this country. With ir-
rigsting facilities two crops might be easily
raised. The crop of opium in India aver
age thirty-fve TO forty pounds to the acre
one crop per year only being raised. As
one acre sustains from 100000 to 100000
poppy-beads or more, each giving, say one
grain Of opium, the whole would aggregate
about forty pounds avoirdopois. This, al
the present value of opium in California,
would yield enormous profits, and the cult
vatious Of the most productive species of
poppy, for both purposes named, offers to
the capitalists here rare opportunities
In conclusion, | would remark that to
obtain the best results the whole process
must be conducted with care, methodlcally
and understandngly. The poppy, after the
first year, yields nearly the whole manure
requisite to preven, exhaustion Of the so
The bleeding Of The capue requires great
care, it must be only scratched, not pune
tured through. For this reason peculiar
instrument is used, which, though applied
never 50 rapidly or carelessly, can only PEN
citrate the outer skin of the bulb. The pre-
pairing and packing Of the opium is very
simple, as is also The collection OF the seeds
in such manner as to leave The greater por.
ton Of the plant to decay and replenish the
soil. J.G.
San Francisco, March 9th, 1870.
REMARKs.-It will be seen from the above
that our suggestions with regard TO the
culture of opium in this State are fully sus-
tanned by one who has bad ample observa
ton and experience 10 form a practiced
judgment in the mater. Our correspondent
calls attention to the fact that the return of
The fibre Of the plant to the ground furnishes
ample nourishment for the soil. The plant
is of very perishable nature, and is thor
oghly decomposed and mingled with the
soil within six weeks after the first rains,
provided it is plowed under, which should
be done.
GATHERING THE SEED.
The matter of gathering the seed, which
we inadvertently omitted in our previous no.
tice, is as follows: Take long strip of
common cotton cloth and spread it out with
one of its edges close up to the roots Of the
plants from which the seed are to be galh>
cred Then take each head separately, bend
it over the cloth, and shake or whip out
the seed through the natural opening in the
capsule. They will come out easily and be
readily gathered up, and the chaff winnow-
ed out. Don't cut the capsule or break off
the little capola upon its top. or you will
thereby waste the seed Scientific Press.
THE climatic influence Of forests has been
observed in Australia. In the district Of
Ballarat it became striking that since de-
fores,ing was commenced on large scale,
from the years 1868 to 1868, a regular de-
crease in the amount of rsinfal!-trom 81.
27 inches to l. 90 incbes-had taken place.
The Government, in view Of this fact, has
now created the Office of an Inspector of the
State forest. The business of this official
will be TO preveot the clearing out Of the
forests, and to see after the caring for and
planting Of forests in various parts Of the