Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-12-28

mates much like that OF TeXas-the crop
is started late in the fall and the growth
progresses slowly throughout the winter
months. When the plants attain q
height OF two inches they are thinned
out to the required distance and hoed.
This operation Is repeated occasionally
as may be necessary. The plant ordi-
| narily reaches the height of two to three
feet, but in rich soil sometimes becom-
ing five or six feet high. 1t begins to
produce flowers usually about the LIST of
May. Soon after the fall of the flower
ing leaves the pods begin TO enlarge and
are matured IN two or three weeks. The
Towering continues on the branches or
on other plants through two or three
months.
The business of collecting the opium
begins In the latter part of May and
continues until the middle of August.
When the capsule Is mature missions
are made through the outer skin with
knife, when the juice exudes in small
drops which soon harden, 30 that in a
few hours the opium may be collected.
One company OF operatives are en-
ployed in making missions upon such
plants as they judge to be in fit con-
ditior, and they are followed in few
hours by others who collect the soft
juice by scraping it off and placing it
on q tin plate held IN the hand. When
a sufficient quantity has been collected
it is transferred 10 q leaf, in which it
is enveloped. Only the best quality is
treated in this way. The inferior is re-
moved into shallow wooden tub, in
which it is left few days to dry, and
then rolled in balls of various sizes and
envsloped IN leaves in the same manner
as that of the first quality. The work
of collecting is performed both by men
and women. Nothing could be more
simple than the production of opium.
The opium poppy Is mainly cultivated
In Europe and Asia. Turkey furnishes
good deal of the opium OF commerce,
also CHINA, Japan and India. The crop
is good deal cultivated in France,
Germany and England, though there
the seed is the leading thing looked after
to be employed in the manufacture of
poppy oil, yet considerable quantities of
opium are collected. Thornton . Family
Herbal mentions q case in England where
forty pounds q season was made by one
person. Children do most of the gath
ering in Germany, France and England.
The yield in England is estimated at
above fifty pounds of opium to the acre.
Texas, with her mora favorable soil ard
more favorable climate, could doubtless
DO much better than that.
The opium poppy is not what could be
classed as an entirely hardy plant,
though IL would be apt to stand the win
tiers well in most parts of Texas. If,
however, il was found incapable of doing
this in some of our upper regions the
crop could there be started early in
spring. About the only thing gained by
fall planting is the earlier maturity Of
the crop. England invariably plants in
the spring.
The culture, as has already been seen,
is exceedingly simple. Place the rows
far enough apart to admit of the passage
of person between to collect the opium,
and leave the plants far enough apart in
the rows to prevent crowding. The land
should be deeply broken, for the poppy
has tap root which should be allowed
to pass well down. 1t is not ut all an
exhausting crop; indeed it's long tap root
and deep feeding tends rather to an i'm
provement of the soil as in the case Of
red clover.
We are sure that Texas is entirely well
suited to opium production. The only
thing now in the way of working the in
dustry on large scale would probably
harvest time. AS the country settles up
this trouble will be removed, however,
TO the great advantage Of the laboring
classes, for gathering the opium crop
would offer profitable employment for
the women and children of the laborer.
But there IS no need of combining the in
dustry TO operations On q large scale No
manufacturing plant being necessary, it
is therefore the very thing for the small
farmer. a poor widow with q family of
small children might make a good living
by correctly working an acre or so to the
opium poppy. AS 10 market for the
product there could be no kind OF trouble
about that. Every pound of opium
carefully and correctly handled would
lind ready sale at good figures with any
wholesale drug house in the country.
question might be sprung rs to the
quality of American opium.
In that cese Investigations would make
u decided show in its favor. Small tests
made in South Carolina, under the aus
pieces of the Confederate government,
while the late war was going on, clearly
demonstrated that with correct man
agsment the American product was de-
cidedly better, in every respect, than
the imported product. South Carolina
is not near so well adapted to the re-
quirsments of the opium poppy as is
Texas, therefore it is not at all unrea-
souabie 10 suppose that Texas opium
would soon go into class es the finest |
opium of the world.
It may be well to state in this conEec- |
ton that opium is not the only valuable
product of the opium poppy. The seed |
is ever IN high demand, and gathering |
the opium gum does not in the least in |
terfere with the seed crop. The seed |
yields fine oil used for almost every |
purpose TO which olive oil is applied. In |
this country, where cotton seed oil is SO !
very cheap, there might no: be any very |
great demand for poppy seed. but it |
would doubtless prove profitable article |
for export. There are countries in which |
the use of poppy-seed oil Is so firmly es- |
tablished that the people will never be |
induced to adopt any substitute.