e Opium Agent, with headquarters at Ghazipur. At Ghazipur
there is a Government factory where the crude opium is
manufactured into the form in which it passes into consumption.
The cultivation of the poppy and the manufacture of opium are
regulated by Act XIII of 1857, as amended by Act I of 1911, and
are under the general control of the Lieutenant Governor and the
Board of Revenue of the United Provinces, and the immediate
supervision of the Opium Agent at Ghazipur. The possession,
transport, import and export of opium are regulated by rules
framed under the Indian Opium Act. Cultivation is permitted only
under licenses granted under the authority of the Opium Agent.
The area to be cultivated is fixed by the license, and the
cultivator is bound to sell the whole of his production to the
Opium Department at the rate fixed by Government.... Advances, on
which no interest is charged, are given to licensed cultivators
at the time of executing the agreement and from time to time
(though ordinarily no more than two advances are given) until
final delivery. In March, April and May the opium is made over to
the officers of the Department, and weighed and tested, and as
soon as possible afterwards each cultivator's accounts are
adjusted, and the balance due is paid him. After weighment the
opium is forwarded to the Government factory at Ghazipur, where
it is manufactured in 3 forms--(a) opium intended for export to
foreign countries, departmentally known as "provision opium"--(b)
opium intended for consumption in India and Burma, departmentally
known as "excise opium" and (c) medical opium for export to
London. Provision opium is made up in the form of balls or cakes,
each weighing 3.5 lbs., and is packed in chests, each chest
containing forty cakes, weighing 140 1/7 lbs. It is generally of
71 deg. efficiency. Excise opium is made up in cubical packets, each
weighing one seer, 60 of which are packed in a case. It is of
higher consistency than the "provision opium." Medical opium is
made up into cakes weighing 2 lbs. Provision opium is sold by
public auction in Calcutta. A notification is published annually,
generally about the month of June, stating the number of chests
which will be put up for sale in each month of the nex