Introductory.—In September last war it was my fortune to be sent on the public to Chungking, the commercial me-tropalls of Szuchuan. 1 was four months in the provines. In the course of that time 1 visited parte of the great opium country, questioned many people regarding opium culture, consumpti port, and carefully noted the observations and conclusions on these subjects come to by Mr. Colborne Waber and Mr, Parker during their official residence there, with a view to giving, as far xs possible, exact information in my trade report on a matter of great commercial and no little political interest at the present moment, L.—Jn whut districts of Seuchuan grown,—'The cultivation of the poppy is carried o1 in every district of Szuchuan except those on the west frontier, but most of all in prefectures of Chungking Fu and Kuvi chow Fu. In all the districts of Chungking Fu south of the Yangtsze, and in acme of the districts of Kueichow Fu north of that river, it is the principal crop, and in parts almost the only winter crop for hundreds of square miles. The henquseters of the trade are at the city of chow in the firat of these prefeorures, and in a considerably leas decree at For tu, a district city in Kueichow Fu. Bar: Richthoven, writing in 1872, says that the poppy then was cultivated' only on hill slopes of an inferior evil, but one sees it now on laud of all kinds, both hill and valley. Baron Richthoven himself auticipates this change when he says—"he Government may at some time reduce the very heavy restric.
dif Szuchuan opium then should able to command its present price at Hankow, the consequence would be an immediate increne ut the area planted with the poppy."
Since he wrote the area given to the poppy hias much increased, and is still increasing. though not from the cause alleged. Being a winter crop, it does not interfere with rice, the food people displacing only subsidiary crops Such 4s wheat, beans, and the like. When {tis planted in paddy and bottom which now-a-days is often the case, it is gathered in time to allow rice or sume crop to follow. It can hardly be asserted of Szuchuan that the cultivation of opium seriously interferes with the food supplies of the people, The food, or rice, supplies remain the same, and the opium produced is so much additional wealth to. the province, less the value of the crops it replaces. lands, like other lands in Szuchuan, are either owned by the cultivator, or hell in metayer tenure by tenants, the farmer crop. jatter is by far the most com-paying the owner a fraction of the summer
mon form in the neighbourhood of tows the wealthy inhabitants of which invest their money in land, Large estates xre not so uncommon, and much land is owned by Buddhist temples, corporations, and gentry as trustees to charitable or public uses. The incidents atta to metnyer tenure in Szuch At the comm tenant deposits with the landlord money as security for the rent, which, when the tenancy determines, is returned to him. Leases may or may not be in, writing, they specify no time, and are understood () ran from year to year; and their practical effect is to give, as in Eugland, ® permanent lease to the tenant. by the owner or his er paid by the tem existence for burp-ses of land taxation is not recog by the Gover Rent being paid on the summer crop only, the winter cru the tenant's great source of profit, it is this fact which m"kes the question of tenure important in connection with opium cul As I-shall presently show, opium than its only possible substitute or wheat, and no percentage of opium crop being due to the landlord, cultivation was greatly s imulated i sequence. Of late years, however, in the districts I have nawed as being in' winter one vast poppy field, owners of Iand have become alive to the value to occupiers of jum crop, avd have stipulated for a share of it im addition to their share doubled. Before lew tenure, Linay add that, iv e event of non-payt of rent from cat other than deficient harvests, the landlord helps himself from the dep: hands. In bad years ren ly mate by the Governm to owners of the land tux, and by owe to occupiers of the rent Comparison of pro-the pecuniary ad. over whet received a Baron Richthoven, tree From He assumes thirty ounces is a mow of lan 200 oz. per acre.
this he is far under the mark, Baber, rifter one may say years of obser-it to be more than double when Kichthoven wrote, opium was ap) poor land only, getting little and no manure, but now-a-days it is grown on good land carefully manured, and under such conditions, it produces far as I could axcertair vorago ait only a little lees than Mr. Baber's eatin It must be remembered, too, that every single part of the poppy plant has a market value. The capsules, after the juice has been extracted, are suld to druggists, and made into medicine, oil is expressed from and largely used for lighting and adultering edible The oil cake left in the oil press is excellent m: as are also the leaves; and the stalks are burnt for potash. Ayaiust these advantages opium is subject to a rent, and requires, for; xofitable cultivations, plenty of manure; whereas wheat, where followed by a summer crop, pays little or no rent, and gels m general no elative profits of opium both Mr. Baber and Mr. Parker ave gone very carefully, and their re-sulfa correspond, in the main, with my own "The following are Mr. A piece of land 90 oz. opium, or Tls. 85, and the latter worth is. 4.2, Calculated in English money and acres, ne acre will. give 403 oz. of opium, oF 600 Ibs, of wheat, the opium being worth LdSshillingsand the wheat only 76s. turn of opium may be here slightly. overestimated, but, atthe same the very. heat case is stated for wheat, as Mr. Baber. allows 26 bushels to the acre and.23 a, quarter for its market. price—my. opinion. the value of the opium, is to be added 2 an vere for oil, capsules and other pop products; but this may fairly. be; inst the expenses of manure and extra) labour opium cultivation requires. So. that the advantage of opium over wheat, though not #0 overwhelming as I estimated it to be in my report last year, is still, very great, leaving abundant for. the payment, of rent. figures give an average of 350 ounces of opium per era; but us. I put the yield of wheat and its market price at a, judi lower rate, I obtain th in the values of the. to crops, viz that opium is twice as yaluable.a crop to the, farmer where he is owner as wheat, bub where he is ccoupier, the advantage' will depend on his rent. Lu districts remote from market towns,, or hill country, whol of carry' the ago of opium 4.—Method of Cultiva is now grown on all kinds of Iand—bill slopes, terraced fields, paddy "ud bottom lands in the valleys. Since 1872, when Baron Richthoven visited the pr vince, a great change has taken place in th spect, for it appenra to lave been cultivated then on hill lands only. All the country people whom L risked were agreed that is moat profitably grown on yood Innd with li manuring. In India it in best grown on, rich soil none vileges where manure, can Te easily obtained, and the Szuchuan cultivator has found this out Poppy cultivation, us praosichian, is very sim; lo. Ae sumer crop la reaped the ploughed and cleaned, roots avd heaped and burnt, and the ashes ver the ground.' Dressings of night soil are liberally given. The avers are sown in Decemberin drille 1 foot apart, In January, when th ta are a fow inches high, the: owsare thinned, und the drilla uro earthed up 40 a9 lo leave w free passage between euch. Lhe plants are then left to take care of themselves, the earth round them being stirred up and kept clear of weeds, In March or April, according to nation, the poppy blooms. In the low grounds the white poppy is by far the most common, but red and purple a As the capsules form and qui are give ud May the capsules are and the juice extracted. The raw juice 's into the crude opium of con ing in value as it decreas Lazcation and Government interference.—Government interference with the cull 1 ceased some fifteen yours ago, and long before that time it had been fitful and ineffective. When the present Governor General med office in 187 ordinary proclamations on the subject that have ever appeared in China, Begin ing by denouncing the poppy growth, and by ordering the destruction of the growing crop, it went on to say that native opium did not bone its fair share of local burdens, and that in fulure " lekin of Tis. £80 per 1,000 oz. of Sznchuan opium {about Tis, 7.60 a picul) would have to be paid instead of Tls. 3,00 as before! Me, Buber very justly remarks of this proclamation that it ivas not seriously intended to put down cultivation, it was seriously intended to raise the lekin, the gentry
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.