CH. IV.] REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-94. 41
Homestead cultivation in the
plains.
106. It does not appear that any regular field cultivation exists in the plain
country beyond that which has been above described.
Such cultivation as there is consists of the rearing
of a few plants near houses, the tending of scattered plants sown accidentally,
and perhaps the surreptitious sowing in the midst of crops calculated to afford
concealment by their size and their general similarity to the hemp plant.
Referring partly to this sort of cultivation in connection with the spontaneous
growth, Mr. Stoker says that "in some districts the amount produced by these
forms of sporadic growth is considerable, and is a constant source of complaint
by the drug contractors;" and the evidence corroborates this view. He thinks,
broadly speaking, that it prevails to a greater or less extent in all parts of the
province lying north and east of the Jumna, and this comprises by far the
greater part of the province. South of the Jumna, the Collector of Jhansi
thinks that a good deal is grown in a quiet way for domestic use; and it is not
unlikely, as there is no absolute prohibition, that all along the southern fringe of
the province this sort of cultivation may be occasionally found.
The range of cultivation in Garh-
wal.
107. The best informants regarding the cultivation of the Himalayan region
are Mr. Gillan (21), Joint Magistrate of Moradabad,
Murlidhar (248), Drug contractor of Moradabad,
Pandit Ganga Dutt (56), a retired Deputy Collector, and Dharma Nand Joshi,
Settlement Deputy Collector (49). The two first allege that the cultivation is
spreading because of the enhanced value of charas; the third also alleges increase,
but attributes it to the general usefulness of the plant. Dharma Nand Joshi takes
the opposite view, and gives as reasons for decrease that the people have become
more civilized, and are changing their habits as regards the use of hemp for
clothing; that newly cleared forest land, which is peculiarly suited to the plant,
is no longer available; and that other crops have been found more profitable.
The last witness's description of the distribution of the cultivation is interesting.
It is cultivated very extensively, but more for its fibre and seeds than for charas.
In the warmer parts to the south the people wear cotton clothes and are not
dependent on hemp. In the north also little hemp is sown, and that in but few
villages, because the people keep goats and wear woollen clothes, using the
hemp only for their chabel or shoes, and making but little charas, which they do
not commonly sell, but give to fakirs visiting Badrinath and Kedarnath. In the
parganas of Chandpur and Devalgarh more largely, and to a less degree in Barah
Syun, Talla and Malla Salans, Choundkote, and Badhan, the plant is widely
cultivated. Roughly speaking, it is grown in about one-third of the Garhwal
district. In the portion last named every cultivator of the Khasia or Dom caste
in every village which is situated at an altitude of between 4,000 and 7,000 feet
sows a plot equivalent to two or eight perches.
Cultivation discouraged by the
idea that it is illegal: Local pro-
duction of ganja has decreased.
108. There is no prohibition in this province against the cultivation of hemp,
but nevertheless it is clear that a contrary impression
is abroad, as is the case in other provinces which
are similarly situated in this respect. Mr. Bruce, of
Ghazipur (28), thinks that as regards his district the belief "is traceable to the
fact that in the adjoining districts of Bengal free cultivation is not allowed."
The mere fact that the sale of the drugs is a Government monopoly might well
give it wider circulation. Several of the witnesses evidently think that the culti-
11