May 29, 1863, The Charleston Mercury
THE MEDICAL PURVEYOR of Charleston has left at our office, for inspection, a lump of Opium collected from the Garden Poppy, by G.B. FARMER, Esq., from his grounds at Walterboro’. Mr. FARMER has a variety of the Garden Poppy – double and single, and of various colors. His Poppies, planted in September, have attained the height of 4 1/2 feet, and are of vigorous growth, whilst those planted in March are not over 3 feet high. The difference in the size of the capsules is also remarkable, those planted in September being nearly double the size of those planted in March. Mr. FARMER will make Opium sufficient to supply his family and plantation negros for twelve months. He has promised to furnish the Medical Purveyor with the yield of the different varieties, and will carefully preserve the seed for distribution. The Poppy must become a plant of great interest to our country, and we invite the attention of persons engaged in its cultivation to call and examine the Opium now at our office.