Waterbury evening Democrat., 1891-12-03
THE POPPY IN INDIA,
flow It Is Cultivated and Prepared for tt,
 Market,

flow It Is Cultivated and Prepared for the |
 Market.
 The quantity of land which each Ryot | sets apart for the poppy has been much 1 exaggerated. In one of the most inn | portant districts of the Behar agency, l it has not amounted to half an English | acre or about one native bigah per man. | When the contract has been signed, the | Ryot gets an immediate advance of four | rupees. A second and similar advance is made when the land has been sown, and third when the actual produce can be roughly estimated. From Octo ber to March is the busy agricultural time. The land once sown must be carefully weeded and watered. The seed has been scattered broadcast in November The surface is then smoothed, not by a harrow, as we might suppose, but by rough instru ment called a chauki. It is really a flat plank, with a groove on the under side, on which the agriculturist stands tC give it weight as it is dragged, so as tc break the clogs. It is often drawn by pair of bullocks. When the seed has sunk into the earth and the surface has DSeH ShOOUuS(l, Lue plOU IS OlVIdcu 4uLO small compartments of about ten square feet, with raised sides, for the purpose of irrigation. If no rain falls in the cold season, between December and January, irrigation from wells must be resorted to frequently. If copious showers fall before or after Christmas, two or three waterings may be suff- cient The soil must however, be con- ctn cfi fO 1xS- young plants must be thinned, and the whole kept free from weeds. The poppy enjoys no immunity from agri- cultural visitations and pests. It is lia- ble to injury from exceptional and un- seasonable heat, deficient moisture, frost at night, blight, and armies of parasites. In February, as rule, the plant is in full flower, and has attained the height of three or four feet. Each stem has from two to five capsules of the size of a ducks egg. And now comes the important operation of the collection of the juice. Previous to the piercing of the capsules for this object, the petals of the flower which now begin to fall off are carefully collected
 They are formed into circular cakes of about ten to fourteen inches in diam cIcI duC put luGO Sudl1OW edrCuen yes sels, which are heated over a slow fire. These cakes are eventually used as shells or coverings for the drug itself. They are divided into three classes. The best sort is that which is free from brown spots or marks of grubs; the second and third are more or less patchy and dark, but they form excel, lent envelopes for the drug itself.
 HLa ~11 1e s,,Sa the drug is very delicate and difficult piece of work. On it may depend the success or failure of the whole season. 1 By the end of January in some districts, and at latest by the middle of February, the Ryot finds that the capsules have reached their highest development. In the afternoon he visits his poppy-feld and scariies each capsule from top to base with curious instrument which is called nushtur, and in some dis tricts naharni. Properly nushtur is lancet, but it is something quite diff ferent from the surgeons instrument.
 It consists of four narrow bars of iron, each of six inches in length, and about the thickness of penknife. Each bar is notched at one end. The whole four are kept together by strong cotton thread, and they present the appear ance of four pairs of curved pointed, diverging blades, bearing a sort of re- semblance to the blades of a cupper S scarifcator. Armed with this formida-
 ble weapon, the agriculturist proceeds to make divers scarifcations of the capsule from top to bottom, using one blade at time; and this is followed
 up in some instances by horizontal | cutting. The juice at once begins to ex-
 ude; milky white at first, but after
 wards assuming pinkish tinge. The
 emulation continues during the night
 If there is no wind and abundance of dew, the return is favorable. west
 erly wind and a cloudy atmosphere di-
 minish the yield. At an early hour the
 next morning the Ryot again repairs to
 his field and collects the thickened juice from the capsules by means of an other instrument called situha- It is a sort of scraper made of sheet iron,
 and resembles a concave troweL The inspissated juice collected with these
 indigenous tools is now emptied into an : earthenware pot, and the Ryot is ex- pected to expose the same every day to } the air, but not to the sun; to turn over : the mass daily so as to insure its being . thoroughly dried; to keep it free from } impurities or adulteration; and to bring , it up to the highest standard of consist , ence and strength. When he has perse- ) vered with this process for the space of
 three weeks or month, he delivers the 7 raw opium at the factory. 5 Review.
 , Jackets and Capes.