The opium balls or cubes are wrapped up in platters made from the petals of the poppy plant. When the petals have been collected in the manner already mentioned, a circular-ridged earthen plate about twelve inches in diameter is placed over a slow fire, the required quantity of petals are placed flat over it, and these are pressed with a damp cloth till they have adhered together ; the flower leaf is then removed and left to dry ; these platters are, as a rule, from 6 to 12 inches in diameter, and vary in thickness from that of a sheet of thin paper to that of a sixpence, and are in appearance, when well made, like a pancake.
After the opium has been extracted, the pods are allowed to dry, and are, when in this state, broken up and the seeds collected for next year's sowing, and the surplus for sale.
The produce from one bigha of land sown with poppy varies from 1 to 10 and even 15 seers of opium, according to the nature of the soil and the amount of care bestowed on the land by the cultivator. The leaves of the plant are delivered into the opium factory at 12 annas the man (maund), to be used for packing the opium balls in the chests, to prevent them shifting about and becomino. crushed. °pilau is paid for at rates from Rs. 4 to 5 per seer (2 lbs.), according to its consistency.
Opium of two qualities is made by Government, —one is called provision, or that exported to foreign countries ; the other is called ableari, and is supplied to the different revenue collectors for consumption in the country ; the only difference between them being that tile former is manu factured at . consistency, and the latter at consistency. The two alkaloids, morphine and narcotine, are also prepared by Government, and supplied to their depots of medical stores. The whole of the poppy plant and its products are of value to the grower ; and in making up the opium into balls, in which form it is nearly all permanently kept, nothing remains in contact with it but the products of the poppy plant.
A prickly plant called Bhar-bbar,' as also a parasitic plant called tokra,' are most destructive to the poppy ; several sorts of insects do immense injury to it, and the plant is liable to diseases. Of these, murkha ' and khurka ' are the two most fatal, and a blight, called ughia,' has latterly proved very fatal to the plant, and hail, frost, rain, and strong winds also occasion loss.—Carnegy.
The plants are occasionally destroyed by insects which attack the roots and leaves, and a second even or third sowing becomes necessary, but their produce is generally much smaller. In 1878 the poppies of Behar were attacked by innumerable hordes of Heliothis armigera.
Patna Process.—Dr. R. Lyell, writing regarding the Patna opium, says that the white variety alone is grown. He mentions his belief that the rich ness and quantity of the poppy juice are greatly influenced by the nature of the soil on which it is grown, by the modes of cultivation as regards the irrigation, and quantity of manure, kind of seed, etc. The lands in the immediate vicinity of a village are preferred, as facilitating attention to the crop and irrigation. With strong soil, it is grown as asecond crop, generally after Indian corn ; but in weaker soils, the land is allowed to be fallow when the poppies are off the ground, and is as well manured as the cultivators can afford. Towards
the end of September and beginning of October, the land is carefully prepared by two or three ploughings, and the clods of earth are broken down by a hangah or clod crusher. About the. middle of October, the sowing is generally begun, and the seed is thrown broadcast, from three to four seers being required for each bigha. To facilitate irrigation, the field is divided into com partments 6 feet by 4 feet ; the ground is well watered two or three times before the plant springs, water containing a large quantity of saline matter being preferred ; and during its progress to maturity the plant is watered when required. After the plants attain the height of 5 or 6 inches they are thinned at intervals. At first a distance of 3 or 4 inches is preserved between the roots, increased to 6 inches as the plants mature. When not sufficiently thinned, the plants are stunted and the capsules are small ; great attention is at the same time bestowed on the weeding and loosening the soil. The young plants removed at the first thinning are sold and eaten as salad ; those of the second and third thinnings pos sess narcotic properties, and are seldom used. The plant matures about the middle or end of January, and as soon as the petals of the flower begin to fall off they are carefully collected and used as a covering for the opium cakes. The three kinds of petals are sold by the cultivators at 6, 8, and 10 rupees the maund. When fresh, they contain a large quantity of gummy matter, which is dried I up by spreading them over a hot girdle. About the third week in January, the capsules are sufficiently ripe to undergo scarification by a four or five bladed lancet, with which are made i oblique or longitudinal incisions through the epicarp and pericarp of the capsule. The scarifi cation is made in the afternoon ; the exudation of milky juico takes place immediately, and it is collected early on the following morning. Each sct of incisions yields, on an average, a grain or two of opium, and they are repeated four or five times, or as long as any juice continues to flow. The most favourable state of the weather is a still atmosphere and a moderate dew, which allow the juice to thicken and collect in irregular tears, these grains being of a higher consistence and of a rose-red colour towards the surface, while towards the centre they are semi-fluid and of a reddish white colour. Opium in this state is said to be 4 raw.' Strong winds, or a cloudy sky preventing the formation of dew, greatly reduce the quantity of the produce, it being found that the scarifica tions made in the capsules become closed up by the slight oozing of the juice, and a smaller quantity of opium is obtained. On the other hand, an ex cessive dew opens the incisions, and the juice drops off the capsules on to the ground, and is lost, or it becomes mixed with a large quantity of dew, which retards,' the evaporation of the general mass, and separates the soluble from the insoluble parts.