101
of the wild plant does not take place in this
district.
6. As the wild hemp plant is hardly scat-
tered in almost the whole of this district, I am
unable to give any definite answer as to whether
its growth is either dense or scattered.
7. There is cultivation of the hemp plant in the
district of
Ahmednagar—
( a ) For production of ganja, yes.
(b) For production of charas, no (please see
answer to questions Nos. 20 and 37).
(c) For use as bhang, yes.
(d) For its fibre or seed—Simply for seeds,
and not for fibres.
As the figures of the cultivation of the hemp
plant for the current year, viz., 1893-94, are not
at present ready, those for the previous one are
given here.
The cultivation of the hemp plant in this
province is given for each taluka in the following
table for the year 1892-93 :—
No.
Name of taluka.
AREA, 1892-93.
Acres. Gunthas.
1 Nagar
• •
•
•
177
34
2 Parner
• • •
•
... ...
3 Shrigonda
• •
•
... ...
4 Karjat
• • • •
20
24
5 Jamkhed
• • • •
...
...
6 Sheogaon
• • • •
17
7
7 Newasa
• •
•
•
62
4
8 Rahuri
• • • •
89
2 5 ½
9 Kopargaon
• • •
10
...
10 Sangamner
• • •
5
...
11 Akola
• •
•
•
...
. . .
TOTAL
.
382
14½
8. As compared with the area formerly under
cultivation of the hemp plant for the last five
years in this district, it would be seen that there is
an increase in the area under cultivation of the
hemp plant, with the exception of the last year,
which is mainly attributable to excessive rainfall.
9. Bagayet and black soil well manured is re-
quired for the cultivation of the hemp plant. It
is required to be ploughed twice or thrice in order
to make the soil loose and soft. Then the manure,
which chiefly consists of straw, and all sorts of
refuse, is spread over the plot of ground so pre-
pared. When the monsoon sets in, the seed of
ganja is sown in the beginning of June. It is
sown exactly like jowari. The seed is sown in
rows, leaving a distance of a foot and a half
between them.
It takes a period of five months for its full
growth, during which time the grass is required
to be weeded out twice or thrice, as is found
necessary, for the nourishment of the hemp
plant. When the plants begin to blossom, ex-
perts are employed to eradicate the seed-produc-
ing plants which, if allowed to remain, will con-
vert the whole crop to useless seed-producing plants
called " bhangora," i.e., male plants. At the
beginning of November, the dried heads of the
hemp plants are cut and collected on a thresh-
ing floor ; they undergo the operation of being
trodden and are then dried in the sun. The pro-
cess is repeated successively for three or four days.
Thereupon the whole stuff is winnowed, and is
called ganja, and the powder-like substance that
remains at the bottom is called bhang or chur,
but it is not the genuine bhang.
10. The persons who cultivate hemp for its nar-
cotic properties do not form a special class. They
are of the same classes as other agriculturists.
11. The plants cultivated for the production of
ganja are never raised from the seed of the wild
hemp ; but the seeds required for the cultivation
of ganja are quite different.
12. The wild hemp is nowhere specially culti-
vated for the production of ganja in this district.
As there is no such cultivation perceptible, I am
unable to give the names of the districts or tracts
in which this occurs, as well as the extent to
which the practice exists. I am unable to say
anything as to whether the male plant is extir-
pated in such cases or not
.
13. The cultivation of the hemp plant for
ganja is not restricted in the district of Ahmed--
nagar. Although it is not restricted in this
district, yet the cultivation of it is not common
to the whole of this district, because it requires
soil of the black and best quality, and moderate
rainfall is needed. The conditions of climate,
soil, rainfall, elevation above sea level, etc., are
essentially necessary for its production. In the
talukas of Jamkhed and Akola of this district the
cultivation of the hemp plant is impossible owing
to the hilly nature of these talukas, because the
hemp plant being a deep-rocted plant, its roots
cannot sufficiently find their way underneath the
ground. Owing to this defect in the soil, its
cultivation becomes impossible. In the Akola
taluka, where the rainfall is generally heavy, the
cultivation of the hemp plant does not at all take
place.
14. The following products of the hemp plant
namely—
(a ) ganja,
(b) charas,
(c) bhang,
are prepared in this district.
( a ) Ganja is prepared in the talukas of Nagar,
Newasa, Rahuri, Sheogaon, Karjat, Kopargaon,
Shrigonda, Parner, and Sangamner. Its extent
during the year 1892-93 was 382 acres.
15. The wild plant is not cultivated in this
district, nor anything of it is used if found any-
where. For eating and smoking ganja the flower
tops are used, and it has been described elsewhere
in answer to question No. 9. What all is neces-
sary is to get the trees to yield the flower tops.
For drinking only the leaves of the plant are used,
which are called bhang, and what bhang is, and
how it is prepared, is given in answer to question
No. 2. There is, besides the above, no other
distinction in sowing the hemp plant for the pre-
paration of the several drugs.
16. Bhang is not prepared generally by people
in their houses. It can be prepared from the hemp
plant wherever grown. As the wild plant does
not grow in this district, its preparations cannot
be ascertained.
17. Ganja, charas, and bhang are prepared by
cultivators; majum, yakuti, shrikhand, fakki, and
gulkand by gandhis—that is, by those dealing
in native perfumes.
18. Ganja, bhang, and charas deteriorate by
keeping more than a year. They quite lose their
intoxicating effect after a period of two years.
If special care be taken, they can remain in good