Democratic Sentinel, Volume 14, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 November 1890 — How Opium Is Obtained. [ARTICLE]

How Opium Is Obtained.

Opium is got by cutting the capsule of the poppy flower with a notched iron instrument at sunrise, and the next morning a drop or two of juice has oozed out. This is scraped off and saved by tho grower, and after he has a vessel full of it it is strained and dried. It takes a great many poppies to make a pound of opiqm, and it goes through a number of processes before it is ready for market.