On Fri, 24 Jun 2005 16:00:40 +0100, "Bob Hobden"
wrote:



You don't slit them so much as deep scratches breaking the skin vertically
down the sides, when I tried it just to see they then bled a white sap which
hardened overnight. In a hot climate this is the raw opium.

Nah, not these days. On the telly the other night, in Afghanistan they
were gathering the seed heads by the truckload, squeezing out the sap
in a big press (think grapes etc) and collecting it by the drum-full!
Much more 21st century.


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net