Taluka Miraj-Prant.
Village.
Extent in acres.
1. Andhali
25
2. Bambawadi
2
3. Dudhondi
1 ½
4. Sirgaon
4½
Taluka Kuchi.
5. Manjard i
6
6. Gourgaon
5
TOT AL
44
98
45. Evidence of RAO SAHIB RAMCHANDRA NARAYAN JOGLEKAR, Brahmin,
Mamlatdar and First Class Magistrate, on special duty, Satara.
51. The consumers of ganja are mostly persons
who have no position in life, but they do not
necessarily ha
ppen to be bad characters as such.
Bad characters seldom use bhang, ghota or charas.
The moderate use of any of these drugs has no
connection with crime in general or with crime of
any special character.
52. Excessive use of ganja leads to irritation
on account of trifling matters and sometimes to
quarrels resulting in breach of public peace. It
has no connection with any other crime.
53. Excessive indulgence in ganja incites to
unpremeditated breach of public peace as above
stated. , I know of no case in which it has led to
temporary homicidal frenzy.
54 and 55. No.
46. Evidence of BALKRISHNA NARAYAN VAIDYA, Parbhu, State Karbhari of Sangli.
1. I was a mamlatdar in the British districts,
and have been Karbhari of Sangli for seven years.
In my official capacities 1 have often come in
contact with the cultivators of hemp, from whom
I have obtained some knowledge about the culti
-
vation and manufacture of these drugs.
2. The definitions of bhang, charas, and ganja
are correct, so far as the Sangli State is con
-
cerned, and the drugs prepared out of hemp go
by the above names.
3. I have no knowledge of the district in which
the hemp plant grows spontaneously.
4 to 6. Not known.
7. The cultivation of the hemp plant is carried
on in the following six villages in the Sangli
State to the following extent for production of
ganja:-
8. Twelve years ago there was no land in the
State under hemp cultivation. There has been a
gradual increase in the cultivation of hemp, and
it is due to the little cost and labour required in
rearing the crops as well as to the good price they
fetch in the market.
9. The following is the mode of cultivating
hemp in the Sangli State:—
The ground is, in the first instance, well
ploughed and harrowed. The manure is then
carefully and evenly spread. The season of
sowing the hemp seed in this part of the country
is towards the end of June. The seed is obtained
from Ahmednagar by cultivators at the rate of
about 2 lb per rupee. It is sown with a tipan
(drill plough) which has three poles for dropping
grain. The two extreme holes in the tipan (drill
plough) are closed, and the seed is dropped into
the furrow through the remaining third hole in
the middle. The quantity of seed required is
about 14 lb per acre. In four or five days after
sowing they shoot up. During the early growth
of the plants, the ground is kept clean from all
weeds. When they grow to the height of about
4 inches, they are required to be thinned, so as to
be four or five inches apart from one another. The
effect of this is that they are exposed more freely
to light, heat and air, which promote a fuller
development and vigour of the plant. When the
plants attain the height of about one cubit, the
male plants, which bear only seed, are extirpated,
leaving only female plants to grow. It is not
done by every cultivator, as it requires a great
deal of insight to distinguish between the male
and female plants. The well-initiated alone do
this work. This process continues weekly till all
the male plants disappeared from the ground.
Until the crop has attained a good height, the
ground is required to be kept free from all rank
vegetation. During the season of the rapid
growth of the plants they necessarily require
moisture, and therefore, when the rainfall is
scanty in any year, they are watered. When full
grown, the plants attain the height of from 6 to
8 feet.
10. Those who cultivate hemp for its narcotic
properties are of the same class as other agricul
-
tural cultivators. They do not form a special
class.
11. NO; never.
12. Not known.
13. The cultivation of the hemp plant is carried
on only in two talukas of the State, as mentioned
in answer No. 7. The above villages have taken
to hemp cultivation on seeing the villagers of
Lengre, a village in the Khanapur taluka of the.
Satara Collectorate, known for extensive cultiva
-
tion of this plant, derive large profits therefrom.
The hemp plant is grown chiefly on high lands.
The plant seems to flourish best in warm climate
and black soil. Rainfall must be moderate. In
the Shahapur taluka of this State the cultivation
of hemp would be in my opinion an impossibility
on account of excessive rain, red soil, and humi-
dity in climate.
14. In this State ganja is produced from the
hemp plant in the following six villages to the
following extent:—
Taluka
Village.
Yield in Khandis.*
(1) Andhali
25
(2) Bambawadi
2
(3) Dudhondi
1 ½
(4) Sirgaon
4½
Taluka Kuchi.
(5) Manjardi
6
(6) Gourgaon
5
TOTAL
44
80 tolas–1 seer. 13 seers–1 maund, 20 maunds
–1 khandi
.