obtained, but the general opinion is that the crop
is a hungry one. The seed is sown about the end
of July in straight rows at intervals of a foot or
more between seeds, About one seer of seed per
acre is said to be required. It germinates in a
week, and in a month attains the height of 18
inches. Weeding is carefully attended to, and if
rain falls, irrigation is required every ten days or
so if ganja is wanted. The lower branches are
removed in order to force a good top. About six
weeks after planting an expert is put on, who
seems to be rather an expensive item in the cost of
cultivation, getting Rs. 8 or Rs. 9 per month and
looking after two or three acres. His business is to
exterminate pernicious plants, about the nature of
which the ordinary agriculturist appears to have
rather hazy notions, and if he finds symptoms of
mischief and can trace no local cause, he has to
search the country round about for it.
So far as I, with small botanical knowledge, can
judge from the examination of specimens, the
plant is both monosexual and bisexual, and the
plants that have to be exterminated are the male
and the bisexuals, since ganja is alone formed
by the non-fecundated flower-top of the female
plant. There are several local names for the plant
in all its kinds and stages, and when suffering
from peculiar diseases that are said to attack it.
I can only vouch for the following, which have
come under my observation :—
Male plant. Bhangira or dhatura
(the latter
name
being identical with
that of the common
poisonous plant).
Bisexual „. Tik.
Female plant when kept
from seeding.
Ganja.
Ditto when partly gone
to seed.
Morai.
5
There are other names, such as shewara, ropda,
ardhanar, of which I have not seen specimens.
I imagine that the last must, as the word
implies, be the bisexual plant or tik. The
morai is not exterminated, but is simply regarded
with regret, its meaning being that the male
has somehow got access and partly spoiled the
crop. The result of the expert's work on the
average is that half the crop is thinned out, for
he does not pretend to be able to diagnose the
seed before planting, which some seem to think
he ought to do.
When the crop is grown for bhang, and of
course when grown for seed, the services of the
expert are not required. Nor is irrigation re-
quired when the plant is well established. The
crop matures in between three or four months,
maturity of the ganja crop being judged by the
stickiness of the tops. Rain spoils it at this
period. The outturn of ganja is estimated to he
from 4½ to 7½ maunds per acre, according to
soil and season. The stems are used for fuel
and the refuse for manure or for cattle.
10. No. Same.
11 and 12. No.
13. Not restricted.
In Ahmednagar it is sparsely grown in all
talukas, except Akola and Jamkhed. I am led
to suppose that these talukas have too mild a
climate and too heavy average rainfall to make
the cultivation certainly profitable. The cultiva-
tion is most common in the Nagar taluka at an
elevation of about 2,500 feet, with an average
rainfall of 26 inches, and in the Rahuri and
Newasa talukas. A rich soil, with means of irri-
gation, appears to be necessary, and clear skies
are wanted towards and during harvest.
14. They are all forthcoming, but principally—
(
a
)
Ganja.
(b) Charas is a casual bye-product not put
on the market.
(
c
)
Bhang is prepared to a small extent,
and the name is given to the refuse of
the ganja floor as well as to the drug
prepared from male and seeded female
plants.
15. Nothing is known locally about the wild
plant, so these remarks refer to the cultivated
plant only.
( a )
Ganja
—
Harvesting methods differ somewhat. In some
cases the tops are all pulled off by hand, In some
they are cut. In some the central largest
tops are collected and treated separately as first
sort ganja, the central tops of side branches form
second sort, the other smaller tops are third sort
and are called chur.
The further process is much the same in all cases.
The tops are heaped according to taste in narrow
rows or in large squares about six inches thick,
the different qualities when separately collected
being separately heaped. The heaps are then
trodden under foot. Some manufacturers tread
the fresh tops at once, some let them dry first for
various periods. After treading it is turned over
by hand and again trodden. The process of turn-
ing and treading is repeated at intervals for three
or four days with local variations of treatment
in the intervals. In some places it is heaped
in round heaps called chakis, and weighted
atop till midnight, and then opened up and
scattered and ventilated till dawn, when it is
again laid out and trodden. And so on till it is
judged to be ready, when it is packed in bags,
and as a rule is speedily removed by the whole-
sale purchaser. The treading floor is sometimes
prepared like an ordinary threshing floor with
clay and cowdung. I have lately witnessed the
operation of treading, and in that case the floor
was simple mooram soil on a nulla bank, and had
undergone no preparation beyond cleaning and
sweeping. The ganja was spread in squares of 15
or 20 feet wide and about 6 inches thick. A line
of eight or ten men danced on it to the music of
a tom-tom. Treading began on the outer edge of
the heap, and was continued in a spiral until the
centre was approached, when the men fell out one
by one as the space grew smaller. They followed
close on one another, dancing sideways in the
leader's footsteps. The tom-tom appeared to be
highly necessary and kept them at it.
(b) Charas—
This is locally a bye-product which is not
brought on to account, but appears to be the
harvesters' perquisite, who probably part with it
to friends who smoke, if they don't want it them-
selves. It is the resinous substance that sticks
to the hands or collects on the sickle when pluck-
ing or cutting the tops. The bands are now and
then rubbed together, and the charas is collected
in the shape of a pill, which is naturally half dirt
and sweat and half charas. A piece about the
size of a marble may perhaps be the reward of a
day's work.
(c) Bhang—
This name is locally given indifferently to the
refuse of the treading floor where ganja is pre-