423
Thus, after manuring and by repeated ploughing,
when the land is sufficiently pulverised and be-
comes fit for receiving the seedlings, ridges are
made all over the field at equal distances of one
cubit each. The seeds are first sown in the
month of Bhadra in a separate field, which I
think may be called the nursery. When the
seedlings grow to the height of about a foot,
transplantation begins. They are planted upon
the ridges described above at a distance of about
six inches.
Transplantation is never delayed beyond the
month of September. Here it would be worthy
of note that the ridge-making and the transplant-
ation of the seedlings should be completed in the
course of one and the same day, otherwise the soil
so well pulverised would scarcely retain any
moisture to receive the young plants.
The seed beds or nurseries mentioned above are
never manured and the ground is never covered,
as is generally done with the plantation of cab-
bages, nor is the field irrigated. Rains are very
injurious for both the seeds in the nursery and the
seedlings shortly after transplantation into the
field. The seeds take about a week's time to
sprout forth. If heavy downpours set in after
sowing the seeds in the nursery, or the transplanta-
tion of seedlings into the field, a second sowing
or plantation, as the case may be, becomes
necessary. When the roots of the seedlings have
taken hold on the soil a second manuring is done.
But this time the cultivators generally use cow-
dung and oil-cake who can afford it. When the
young plants grow to the height of about two feet
they are trimmed. The attention is directed only
to the removal of the lowest branches, with per-
haps the intention of ensuring the upward growth
of the plants.
In the first week of Agrahyan or earlier, accord-
ing to the growth of the crop, the cultivators em-
ploy ganja doctors, who are locally known as
poddars or parakdars to inspect the ganja field,
and this they continue to do till the middle of
Pous, in order to destroy the male plants before in-
florescence, because they make the female plants,
which yield ganja, run into seed.
The operation of trimming is renewed in the
middle of December. When the fields wear a dry
look, cultivators begin to water them. The culti-
vators evince great care to keep the soil moist,
which is generally sandy loam. In January, when
the plants attain sufficient maturity, the cultiva-
tors cut and remove the crop from the field to the
place of manufacture. It is done generally in the
morning. The stalks are then spread out in the
sun and suffered to lie there till it is quite midday,
when they are properly covered. When the even-
ing comes on, the coverings are removed and they
are left exposed to the dew. So the stalks remain
till the noon of the following day. Now comes
the threshing of the flowering tops. A mat is
spread on a very plain ground, on which the
stalks are all marshalled in a circular form called
chakal, the tops all pointing to the centre. A
mat is then spread over the file, and four or five
persons ascend and begin to trample upon them.
Pressing in this way goes on for about five
minutes, when the men get down and, holding in
each hand a stalk, begin to beat them against each
other. It is done to remove the seeds from the
tops. This process of marshalling and trampling
is repeated twice more; but on the second occa-
sion each twig is taken and pressed under foot
separately. The cultivators then dry the stalks
after covering the top for a short while, when the
ganja becomes ready for market. This is the
process of making flat ganja.
The process of making the round ganja is near-
ly the same in the main. The difference, how-
ever, lies in this, that, instead of trampling with
foot, the twigs are rolled. I must here note that
for the first and second time the twigs are rolled
with foot, and when they take a roundish shape
they are for the third time rolled with hands to
make them perfectly round. In the case of both
round and flat ganja the process of trampling or
rolling is repeated thrice. But in the interval of
each of these the twigs are alternately dried in
the sun and exposed to the dew.
The flower tops of ganja detached from the
twigs, whether of flat or of round, and whether
the detachment is accidental or deliberate, are
called chur.
10. The persons who cultivate hemp in the dis-
trict of Rajshahi belong to the ordinary agri-
cultural class.
11. Never.
12. I am aware of no place where wild hemp
or bhang is cultivated for the production of
ganja.
13. Yes. The cultivation is restricted to the
districts of Rajshahi, Bogra and Dinajpur in the
province of Bengal. In my opinion there is no
special reason for this selection. But the culti-
vators of their own accord commenced the cultiva-
tion in the way of experiment, and afterwards,
finding its return remunerative and the soil con-
genial to the growth of the drug, extended their
operation.
I cannot answer this part of the question, as I
have not got sufficient scientific knowledge of the
matter. Its cultivation would be impossible in
those parts which remain submerged under water
throughout the greater portion of the year.
14. In the district of Rajsbahi, and perhaps in
other ganja districts of Bengal, the cultivation
of hemp is carried on only for the purpose of pro-
ducing ganja. So far as I am aware, there is
nowhere either in the Eastern or Northern Bengal
a regular cultivation of bhang. It is only a wild
indigenous plant which grows without any care
as all other weeds do. The answer to the last
part of this question will be found in my answer
to question 7.
15. The method of preparation of ganja, for
smoking from cultivated hemp plants, will be
found in the last part of my answer to question 9.
The leaves of wild hemp plant are dried by expo-
sure to the rays of sun for preparing bhang used
for drinking. I am not aware of any other me-
thods of preparation of these drugs.
16. (a) Yes.
(b) Bhang cannot be prepared from the cultivat-
ed hemp plant, as I learn from the cultivators.
(c) Whether hemp can be produced from wild
hemp or bhang, as it is called, and vice versá, has,
I apprehend, never been experimented upon. But
I think such an experiment will not be wholly un-
profitable. Hemp and bhang or siddhi belong to
the natural order called Urticaceœ, which includes
several families of plants. Hemp belongs to the
family called Cannabineœ. I am aware of no
botanical characteristics and classification of the
wild hemp or bhang, nor I think there has been
any recent researches concerning its properties.
But I think I may safely say that, because both