54 REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-94. [CH. IV.
is smuggled into Burma. In the Upper Chindwin district there is a small
amount of secret cultivation.
Mysore.
139. In the civil and military station of Bangalore the cultivation of the hemp
plant is prohibited, and in the last seven years
there have been two or three prosecutions for
breach of the regulation. There can be no cultivation except a stray plant here
and there. The Mysore laws provide that hemp may be cultivated under license.
Cultivators appear to have made two or three unsuccessful experiments, and to
have abandoned the idea of growing the plant as a regular crop. This informa-
tion is furnished in the memorandum of the Excise Commissioner. Mr. McDon-
nell, the Special Assistant Excise Commissioner, who seems to have made a
study of the whole subject of the hemp drugs, describes the method by which
a superior quality of ganja is produced locally, and he thinks that its great
value in the market as compared with imported ganja must be a strong induce-
ment to clandestine cultivation in yards and gardens. He is evidently of opinion
that this is not at all unfrequent, especially in towns and large villages where
concealment is more easy. He is corroborated in some degree by other informa-
tion. The Excise Assistant Supervisor, Tumkur district, says, however, that the
hemp plant "is cultivated for the production of ganja, but to a very small extent,
all over the province. The extent of cultivation has considerably decreased since
the introduction of the rules...............for regulating and restricting the cultiva-
tion, possession, sale, import, and export of ganja;" and this must be clandestine
cultivation, for it seems certain that no licenses have been taken out. The
Sub-divisional Officer, Chick Ballapur, says: "The local cultivation and pre-
paration of ganja are at present confined to the Chintamony taluk." On the
whole, however, it would appear that the cultivation is inconsiderable, and the
local production quite insignificant.
Hyderabad.
140. The official memorandum of the Hyderabad State reports that no license
is required for cultivation, but it is understood that
the produce must be sold to the farmer of the
monopoly. Only enough is grown for local wants: the cultivators are few
because special knowledge and skill are required for the cultivation. No statis-
tics are supplied. The Director of Agriculture and Commerce states that
the land under ganja in the whole dominion may be roughly estimated at
about 300 or 400 acres. The cultivation is carried on in a small tract imme-
diately south of Hyderabad and in the Aurangabad and Nandair districts, which
lie on the north bordering Khandesh and Berar. By another informant the
Indore district lying between Nandair and Hyderabad is mentioned, and another
states that in Mahratwada and the Canarese districts, which latter must lie
on the south and south-west of the dominion, it is grown to about the same extent
as tobacco. The information gives the impression that only small plots are
sown by each man. Besides this regular cultivation, a few plants may occasion-
ally be reared in yards and gardens, but the produce from unskilful cultivation
is said to be very inferior. About 350 acres may be taken as a fair figure for
the whole State. One informant speaks of fluctuation in the extent of cultiva-
tion, and attributes a slight increase to the class of fakirs and gosains
becoming more numerous.