82
REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-94. [CH. V.
distant village is unavoidably necessary." The names of "male and unhealthy
kind of plant" which must be weeded out are-
In Telugu country—
In Aurungabad—
Kotmir.
Mathisar.
Kokapoti (dog's tooth).
Ardnar.
Yongpota.
Morga.
Bougra.
Bhagira.
The last three Aurungabad names can probably be identified with the similar
names used in Satara and Ahmednagar. It is stated that the extirpation of
these plants is a heavy item in the labour bill. The Director mentions having
seen ganja plants grown by a fakir in the compound of his hut in Warangal,
which is in the eastern part of the territory, about seven to eight feet high, and
each plant twelve to sixteen feet in circumference, the stem near the root
eleven inches round. These were a few plants only. The cultivation is not
confined to any particular class. The witnesses, however, lay stress on the
fact that it requires special knowledge and skill, which are possessed by very
few.
Rajputana.
214. If there is any regular field cultivation in Rajputana in areas set apart
for the crop exclusively, it is not very important, and
the papers furnish no information of the methods
employed in it. Some details are supplied of the desultory garden cultivation. It
is carried on by those who possess gardens, who are generally malis, but may be
Kumbhars, Kachis, Ghanchis, Sivris, or of any other caste. Bhang is rarely, if
ever, grown as the principal crop. It is sown in the beds with poppy, tobacco,
onion, or other vegetables in the month of January or February. Sometimes it is
sown round these beds, which may contain in place of the crops mentioned above
coriander, mustard, or rijka grass. It is gathered in June. It does not appear
to receive any special care. Its growth is to a great extent haphazard, and
often springs from accidental sowings. The practice of removing the male plant
is not found in any State. In some places the saline character of the soil and
the scantiness of water forbid the cultivation. The Commission have been
informed that experiments to grow the plant in Erinpura failed.
Central India.
215. Mr. Gunion's memorandum contains a description of the methods of
cultivation for ganja and seed in the Indore and
Dewas States. The same field is cultivated for
bhang and seeds in Indore, but in the Dewas State the male plant is removed
from the bhang field. They do not materially differ from that of the Nimar district
in the Central Provinces, and it may be doubted if the elimination of males in the
Dewas bhang cultivation is a correct description of the selection which is made.
It may be noted, however, that the Indore cultivator, unlike the Khandwa
cultivator, does not trust himself to buy the seed or exterminate the male plant.
Experts are employed for these purposes. In Mr. Gunion's account mention is
made of "inferior and unhealthy plants" to be exterminated apart from the
removal of males, and it would appear from this that the cultivator, or it may
be the Indore reporter, had not such clear ideas of the various sexual forms of the
plant as the Nimar cultivator was found to possess. In the Indore cultivation
gaps caused by faulty sowings or failure of seed to germinate are filled up with