Show pa UM III pet ARM t IN X 1 A 91 4 W 3 V 00 oo HE cold season in southern persia la is short but occasionally so severe that snow falls plentifully round about shiraz the capital of fars bu bui in most moat winters only heavy rains prevail there la Is a considerable 7 variation in the temperature on the coast and on the lofty plateau in the interior ot 0 tile the country A beautiful spring follows the intense cold and in the month of march while the highest mountains still carry white snowcaps snow caps the valleys are growing green wild flowers blossom every where and the well known roses in the gardens round about shiraz are already in bud vory soon the refreshing spring showers cease summer approaches rapidly in this part of the world and with the hot weather gusts of wind driving before thorn them clouds of dust rush through the partly cultivated plains and over the ripening fields when this time arrives the poppies are in full blossom and the breeze Is laden far beyond these pretty poppy plantations with the narcotic odors ot of the large delicate white flowers that are mixed here and there with beautiful shaded violet ones after a favorable rainy season the poppy fields are a lovely sight and a beautiful feature in the landscape the flowers stand high and healthy on their tall straight stems and within them soon appears a large fleshy poppy head which contains the opium juice and also later when dry the valuable poppy seeds such a sight Is a delight to the owner odthe plantation tor for he sees in prospect a glorious harvest round about as far as Is southward to the country of the date palm a great deal of opium Is IB grow nand several thousand chests are shipped from shiraz to china and various places in europe every season the collecting of the opium juice begins jn in june when the flowers having faded and the leaves fallen the poppy heads beads are ready to be bled for this purpose a peculiar knife Is employed it has a thick handle in which several thin short abort blades an inch in length are set and with bilich which several parallel cuts may be made with one stroke when the sun aun stands low on the western horizon the men with the abovementioned above mentioned tools start their work making one or two incisions in the fleshy green skin of the beads on the side towards the setting sun during the cool night hours the brown strong smelling viscous juice oozes out and collects in pearl like drops on the surface of the seed vessel before the rising sun gains sufficient power to dry or crystallize the sticky substance the gathering Is in full 6 swing w ing stepping carefully from plant to plant the men gather 1 the me opium on an me the 01 inear crescent shaped collecting knives which have an upturned back about an inch high to prevent the juice from dropping off ah soon as a knife la Is full it Is handed to the cowper of the field or his foreman who stands among the collectors to see that none of the precious drops are hidden away by the workers to increase their dally daily wages As soon as the mornings work ork Is over the fields are deserted until the afternoon when new incisions have to be made each plant Is tapped twice and a large poppy head gives from twenty to thirty grains of opium A few days daya are ara sufficient to finish a field then the poppy heads are left alono alone and robbed of their nourishing juice tho the sun dries them up in a few days they begin to shrink and change color nod and when they are quite withered and ba have ve assumed a yellow brownish tint they are gathered by children collected in heaps on a suitable spot and threshed thresh Dd c out ut with long sticks by women the seed is then winnowed win preparatory to its sale and export it forty per cent of oil all which Is largely used in france and other countries in the place of olive oil which it resembles clo closely Bely it contains no yv VV OR um the juice Is ie riold in large copper vessels by the grower to tho the merchant in whose hands it undergoes several processes in order to preserve it from fermentation and decay on sunny tine fine hot days the persian caravau serl where opium dealers have their ollices present an interesting feature the juice Is bi ought brought out to be made into cakes for export on oi large wooden boards two and a halt half feet long and one and a halt half feet broad the sticky mass Is spread out with spade like tools to permit the water it contains to evaporate experienced workers move from board to board turning over th the e layers overy every now and then that the heat beat and sun may dry up the exposed surfaces and tender render the opium lit fit for making into caked in favorable weather this process takes only an hour or so eo and the opeil M a ready for corthe the next manipulation at to Is now scraped off and Is rolled into stiff dough like lumps and handed to io a man who divides it into smaller portions weighing one pound each which he be passes on to the molder by whom they are pressed into the wooden forms and then laid on a large a rge arge board tor for the final drying process when this is completed the cakes are am rolled up in red paper imported specially from china and are then tied up with red strings the cakes aro are then ready for packing one hundred and forty four are put in tin lined wooden cases with poppy stem chaff as packing the wooden cases i are covered with stong hides and sacking two cases form a mule load the percentage of morphia in persian opium varies from nine per cent to twelve per cent in former years the persian opium had a very bad deputa uon mon in the london market for it was frequently adulterated with a substance named 1 but the fiand was of course easily detected aw and a good many dealers were ruined much opium is used in persia itself itcek in fact the consumption has grown to a deplorable extent which causes considerable anxiety to tho the authorities there are opium dens in every large town and the sickening sweet smell arising from tho the opium pipes streams out of every tea and coffee house in tho the country tho the distressing spectacle of intoxicated opium smokers may be seen everywhere in persia and those who do not care to smoke the drug have taken to the small pill box found in every persians breast pocket now and then efforts are made to put astop a stop to this excessive use of opium but in vain and so long as the highest officials indulge in its abuse no restrictions i strict ions will be effective in pro preventing ven t the lower classes from fro in ruining themselves persia Is IB doo doomed me d and its downfall cannot be arrest arrested ed |