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years, doubtless for as long or longer than in Bengal 
and tlie North-western provinces; and it may be 
that the opium from India was first introdueed into 
China by the Nepaulese, and afterwards by the 
Duteh, who used to purchase the drug for export, 
long before the East India Company held possessions 
in this country. 
The process of the manufacture in India at the 
present day is as follows 
About the end of January the poppy plant com- 
mences to flower, and continues tili March; the 
petals are watched, and are carefully collected in the 
following manner,— 
The forefinger and thumb encircle the stem just 
beneath the pod, and with the other fingers drawn 
inwards a kind of tube is formed; this tube is then 
gently raised straight over the pod, and if the petals 
are matured, they eome off. They are never plucked 
off, as it would injure the pod. When a sufficient 
quantity ha3 been collected in this manner, the 
cultivator proceeds to manufacture them into flat 
cakes, something like pancakes, or, as they are tech- 
nically termed, flower-leaves, and the opium cakes 
are wrapped in these leaves. 
The manufacture of the flower-leaf is simple and 
inexpensive. A circular-ridged earthen plate, about 
12 inches in diameter, is placed over a slow fire, the 
required quantity of petals is then placed in it, and 
pressed with a damp cloth pad tili they liave adhered 
together; the flower-leaf is then removed and allowed 
to dry, when it is ready for use in the manufacture 
of opium. 
In February the poppy plant is pretty well ad- 
vanced, and the prospects of the season can then be 
fairly ascertained. 
In some instances in January, but generally in 
February and March, the pods mature, and are 
lanced in the afternoon; the opium is allowed to 
exude and remain on the pod tili the next morning, 
when it i3 scraped off gently with a small iron 
scraper, and the thumb or finger is then run over 
the incisions to close them. The number of inci- 
sions required to eomplete exudation of all the juice 
varies, and ranges from one to five and six, and 
occasionally to seven and eight in some isolated 
caSes. The opium thus collected is placed in earthen 
or brass vessels slightly tilted, to drain off the dew 
and any opium juice it may contain; and when the 
whole of the drug is collected and thus treated, it is 
carefully manipulated, put into a new earthen pot, 
and sei aside in some ventilated and safe place. 
Should the opium be of low spissitude, it is exposed 
in some shady place (not in the sun), turned over 
occasionally and very carefully, so as not to injure 
the grain, and is so treated tili it reaches the required 
consistency, and remains in the custody of the culti- 
vators until it is weighed. 
After the opium has been extracted, the pods are 
allowed to dry, and are then broken off, and the seed 
collected. An ample quantity is kept by the culti 
vator for next season’s sowings, and the remainder 
disposed of to traders. 
The leaves of the plant are left on the podless 
stalks, and when withered are collected and delivered 
into the Government opium factory, and termed 
technically trash, for packing the opium balls in the 
chests, for which payment is made at the rate of 
annas 12 a maund. 
The flower-leaves are weighed in March and April, 
and are sorted into cla-sses. The first is of fine texture 
and colour, and from 8 to 10 inches in diameter ; the 
second slightly inferior in both texture and colour. 
and the third is of a roughish and thicker quality; 
as sorted they are weighed, and the weight of each 
quality is entered in the leaf weighment book, when 
the value of each quality is calculated at the rate of 
Rs. 10, Rs. 7, and Rs. 5 a maund. 
The flower-leaves are despatched by country boats 
or carts to the factory at Ghazeepore, and on arrival 
are weighed, examined, and classified. 
Before the opium weighments commenee, the 
several books are prepared; new earthen jars and 
pots,with covers, are purchased and carefully weighed, 
coarse cloth, sealing wax, and twine for closing and 
sealing the jars, and baskets for holding the filled 
jars, are also purchased; every scale, beam, weight, 
pan, and reservoir is carefully examined and tested, 
and then the weighments take place. 
After the opium has been brought in by the cul- 
tivators, it is tested, and samples of each consign- 
ment are taken for a careful Chemical analysis to the 
opium examiner’s room to detect adulteration. The 
opium is then stored in large wooden vats. 
The pure opium, which is fit for the China Provision, 
and the consumption of the local market, is stored 
in large wooden vats, each holding about 50 maunds 
(about 11, tons weight); the opium derived both 
from the assameewar and chullan sources is not stored 
anyhow, but each parcel according to its dass is 
emptied into a vat bearing the designation of that 
dass; the light divisions are arranged in lines. 
As much opium as can be removed from the vessels 
by light scraping is taken, that which adheres is 
afterwards removed by second scraping, and set 
aside for lewah, and that which persistently adheres 
is removed by water; this is called washings, and 
when evaporated is used in making lewah; the 
washings alone are valued at about Rs. 65,000 a 
season at Ghazeepore Factory, and the opium thus 
recovered amounts to over one ton in weight. 
When a vat is filled, the opium in it is stirred by 
long wooden poles daily until the drug is used for 
caking. 
When there are about 2,000 maunds (about 75 
tons) stored—we have accommodation for upwards 
of 6,000 maunds—we can, if we possess the proper 
quantities of the various consistencies, commenee 
caking. One may ask, but why have you not caked 
before you collected so much ? The reply is, we are 
bound by Order to cake at a consistence of 70°; that 
is, when the opium contains 70 per cent. of the pure 
dry drug and 30 per cent. water. We are allowed— 
as it is very difficult to hit off the consistence of 
70° exactly when manipulating such a large quantity 
(nearly three tons) as we require daily for caking—• 
to cake when the assay shows the opium to be above 
6950° and under 70'50°, so that we are allowed half 
a grain above and below the Standard of 70°. 
To prepare the opium for caking, a certain number 
of vats are marked of each dass ; a long iron instru- 
ment, something like a cheese-taster, is thrust from 
the top to the bottom of the vat (it forms half a hollow 
cylinder when open, and a eomplete cylinder when 
shut), and closed; the sample of opium is withdrawn, 
the contents of the sample drawn are thoroughly 
mixed up, and three specimens of 100 grains are as- 
sayed; the mean of the three results is taken as the 
correct consistence. By the same process the sam 
ples from all the vats, which have been marked, are 
taken and assayed; those which will give, when 
mixed together in certain proportions (by rule of 
alligation), opium at a consistence of 69'30 or 69’40° 
are exported to the alligation vats, and the contents 
of the selected vats are equally distributed over the