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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 commences
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 technically
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 advanced,
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 incisions
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 cultivators
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 cultivator
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 cultivators,
it is tested, and samples of each consignment
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 instrument,
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 assayed;
the mean of the three results is taken as the
correct consistence. By the same process the samples
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
