66
REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-94. [CH. V.
Mutilation of the female plant.
plants on which flowers grow are destroyed, and those on which the leaves become
intertwined are preserved. The latter description clearly indicates the clustered
spike of the female plant. Gangpur reports that the male plants (really female)
which produce flowers and fruit are not destroyed, which may well imply that the
others are. It may be inferred generally that the practice is not well established
or systematically carried out. It is probably in the empirical stage described by
Dr. Prain (page 12), and directed to the removal of a plant which is useless rather
than mischievous; for Bonai says: "No one can distinguish which is the male or
female plant." The answers show also that the male plant is very generally pre-
served for use as bhang, while the one with intertwined leaves is kept for ganja.
The ground is ploughed and dressed, but not apparently treated in any special
manner. The splitting of the stem with insertion
of a potsherd and the twisting of the plants are
practised; but it would appear from the Udaipur answer that the twisting is
merely the means of splitting the stem. It is reported from Gangpur that cross
incisions are made in the stem with a knife, and "something like opium or other
intoxicating thing is put into it, and the interstice is then closed up with earth
to increase the power of intoxication." It may be concluded that the method
of cultivation does not differ from that in vogue in the Garhjat States.
Hill Tippera.
169. No description is furnished of the cultivation in Hill Tippera, but a well
informed witness classes it with that of the Garhjat
States. It is not likely that it is more skilful or
elaborate.
Kuch Behar.
170. There is no regular cultivation in Kuch Behar, and the homestead cultiva-
tion, if there is any, cannot be different from that
of the surrounding British territory.
Assam.
171. There is no regular cultivation in Assam, and the evidence gives no in-
formation about the processes employed in the illicit
and hill cultivation. Mr. Anderson states that the
Miris of Lakhimpur hedge in the wild growth; Mr. Godfrey that the plant is
weeded. The cultivators named are, besides the Miris of Lakhimpur, the
Nagas of the Sibsagar frontier. Mr. Spicer mentions Kukis, Patnies, and a
few coolies, and his evidence relates to the Cachar Valley. The hill tribes of
the province and its frontiers may be included in the list, and the coolies gene-
rally. The drugs produced are bhang and very inferior ganja. The two things
are practically the same.
North-Western Provinces.
172. There are three classes of cultivation in this province—that carried on
in the Himalayas for fibre and seeds with charas
as a bye-product, the recognised cultivation of bhang
in Farakhabad and Hardoi, and the desultory homestead cultivation which pre-
vails to a greater or less extent everywhere in the plain country.
Cultivation in the Himalayas.
173. The first is well described by witness (49) and in the "Field and Garden
Crops of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh"
by Duthie and Fuller. Mr. Dharma Nand Joshi is
Settlement Deputy Collector, Garhwal, and his account is probably based on
personal inquiry and observation, and may therefore be quoted. The fields
near houses are generally selected for hemp because they are better manured,