22
goes a long way. We have seen this in the effect
of the three-mile order. I believe, therefore, that
there would be great effect, but not a rigid system
at once. I believe a persistent policy would soon
effect all that is desired. I believe it would be
much better to have a persistent policy than a
policy of vacillation, as in the past, which is
perhaps inseparable from a struggle against
smuggling.
9. Evidence of MR. J. C. PRICE, Magistrate and Collector, Rajshahi.
1. I have served 32 years in Bengal, having
been employed in no less than 14 different dis-
tricts of the province; in some of them I have
served more than once. For the last four years I
have been District Officer in Rajshahi, where I
have had the supervision of the Ganja Mahal.
2. The definitions in Dr. Prain's report may be
accepted.
The local names are (1) bhang or
siddhi, (2) charas, and (3) ganja. Rolling by the
hand is also applied in the manufacture of round
ganja, besides rolling under foot.
3. The hemp plant grows spontaneously in all
districts of Bengal. It is to be seen growing in
the Ganja Office compound at Naogaon: most pro-
bably the seeds of plants brought to the office for
weighment have fallen off and germinated. There
is scarcely a place where it does not grow wild to
a smaller or larger extent. In the chatars, i.e.,
manufacturing grounds and adjacent places, and
in waste lands on the outskirts of villages and
around dwelling-houses in the ganja tract of
Rajshahi, the growth of wild bhang is frequently
noticed.
4. Bhang and ganja are the only names I know
to be used in reference to the plant.
5. The wild hemp affects a high and compara-
tively dry site. No special conditions of climate
or rainfall, or elevation above sea level, appear to
be necessary, as it is seen to grow everywhere in
Bengal.
6. The growth of the wild hemp is ordinarily
scattered. Sometimes in this district half-a-dozen
plants may be seen growing together.
But in the ganja-producing tract even a hundred
plants may be occasionally noticed in one locality.
7. Yes; for production of ganja in Naogaon, a
sub-division of the Rajshahi District, and parts of
Bogra and Dinajpur that are adjacent. The area
cultivated annually averages 800 acres, the produce
being about 8,000 maunds in quantity.
Not for charas; the little charas that adheres
to the soles of the feet and to the hands during
manufacture of ganja is washed off, as the quantity
of it that might be scraped off would be inappreci-
ably small.
8. There has been no appreciable increase or
decrease.
I give the figures for the last five years, and the
quantities produced—
YEAR.
Bighas
actually
cultivated.
Quantity
produced.
1887-88
2,433
8,266
1888-89
2,408
8,022
1889-90
2,669
6,682
1890-91
1,315
6,040
1891-92
3,644
7,575
1892-93
3,298
9,755
The demand affects the area cultivated. If a
season is a bad one, or the plant damaged by
floods or otherwise, the supply will be less than
usual. A slight impetus will be given to the
cultivation in the next season, and perhaps a larger
area will be cultivated and a larger quantity be
produced. But this impetus will soon cease to
have any effect: the third season's cultivation will
be normal; and in the long run, matters will settle
down to what they were before.
9. The "Gardener's Chronicle,"* already sub-
mitted, gives full details of both cultivation and
manufacture.
10. They are of the same class as the other agri-
cultural cultivators. There are amongst them both
Hindus and Muhammadans in the proportion of 8
to 92 approximately, the proportion for the whole
district being 21 Hindus to 71 Muhammadans. But
there is no doubt that, as a rule, the cultivation in
the ganja tract in and adjacent to Naogaon de-
scends from father to son, because ganja cultiva-
tion to succeed requires experience and dexterity.
These qualities are to be acquired only by families
who have made a speciality of the cultivation. A
new cultivator of ganja would in all probability
make a mess of the business for the first year or
two.
11. No; never.
12. I have no reason; in fact, I am sure it is
not.
13. Yes; it is restricted to the sub-division of
Naogaon in the Rajshahi district, of which I am
now serving as Collector, and to the parts of
Bogra and Dinajpur that lie adjacent.
The cause of the restriction is involved in ob-
scurity. It is said that ganja used formerly to be
cultivated and manufactured in Jessore also. For
some reason or other those engaged in the indus-
try were brought or came to Naogaon, where the
cultivation was concentrated. The present ganja
tract supplies the requirements of the whole
province; this may be the reason that it is not
cultivated in other districts also. It would not
pay to do so, and the Government supervision
would be felt to be irksome. Besides, as ex-
plained before, some knowledge of the cultivation
and manufacture of ganja is necessary before a
person can embark on its production with any
chance of success.
The ganja-producing hemp requires a dry soil.
At the same time, constant irrigation from a well or
tank or river is indispensable. No special condi-
tions of climate or rainfall or elevation above sea
level seem to be necessary, for these conditions are
fairly similar throughout Bengal to what they
are in and about Naogaon. The ganja-producing
hemp could certainly not be cultivated in low-
lying and damp localities; for instance, in those
parts of the district of Rajshahi which do not
come under the description of barind or high
lands.
14. (a) In Bengal ganja is, as described above,
prepared only in Naogaon and the parts of Bogra
and Dinajpur that lie adjacent.
*Not printed.