var. nigrum.

A hardy annual, growing naturally in different parts of Europe, and
cultivated to a considerable extent in Germany for its seeds, which,
under the name of "Maw-seed," are an article of some commercial
importance. Stem five or six feet high, branching; leaves smooth,
glaucous, clasping, and much cut or gashed on the borders; flowers
large, terminal, purple and white; the bud pendent, or drooping, until
the time of flowering, when it becomes erect. The petals soon fall to
the ground, remaining on the plant but a few hours after their
expansion; and are succeeded by large, roundish heads, or capsules, two
inches and upwards in diameter, filled with the small, darkish-blue
seeds for which the plant is principally cultivated.

_Soil, Sowing, and Culture._--"The soils best suited to the growth of
the Poppy are such as are of medium texture and in the highest state of
fertilization. As the seeds are small, and consequently easily buried,
the land should be well pulverized by harrowing and rolling. The seeds
are sown in April, in drills about half an inch in depth, and twenty
inches or two feet distant from each other. The young plants are
afterwards thinned out to from six to ten inches' distance in the rows,
and the whole crop kept free from weeds by frequent hoeing.

"The period of reaping is about the month of August, when the earliest
and generally the largest capsules begin to open. The plants are then
cut or pulled, and tied in small bundles, taking care not to allow the
heads to recline until they are carried to the place allotted for the
reception of the seed; which is then shaken out, and the sheaves again
set upon their ends for the ripening of the remaining capsules.

"In Germany and Flanders, a mode of obtaining the first crop is to
spread sheets by the side of the row, into which the seeds are shaken by
bending over the tops of the plants: these are then pulled, tied in
bundles, and removed; when the sheets are drawn forward to the next row,
and so on, until the harvesting is completed."--_Law._

_Use._--Maw-seed is imported to some extent from different parts of
Europe, and is principally used in this country for feeding birds.

OIL-POPPY. _Law._

Gray Poppy. Papaver somniferum olifer.

Stem three feet high, smooth and branching; flowers dull-red, or
grayish; capsules very large, oblong; seeds of a brownish color, and
produced in great abundance.

It is chiefly cultivated in Italy, the