158
REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-94.
[APP.
MEMORANDUM BY MR. R. H. GUNION ON HEMP DRUGS IN CENTRAL
INDIA.
1. The definitions given in Dr. Prain's report are generally accepted in this Agency.
In some parts of the west Malwa and Guna agencies bhang is also called vijayn, buti, and
sabzi. In Bhopawar the name of bhang is given not only to the dry, but to the green
leaves of the hemp plant (which appear to be sometimes eaten as a vegetable), and also to
the decoction made by boiling the flowering-tops of the hemp plant in fresh butter or sweet
almond-oil. In Indore the male plant is called hari and the female bhamgera.
2. There appears to be no spontaneous growth of the hemp plant in Central India. The
plant is cultivated in the Indore State in the mahals that border on the Narbada for its
fibre and for the production of ganja and bhang. None is cultivated for the production
of charas. The fibre is got from a variety of the plant known locally as san. In the
Indore State last year 193 bighas were under hemp cultivation. In Baghelkhand there is
a limited cultivation of the plant for the production of ganja only. In the State of Dewas
the hemp plant is cultivated for ganja (39 bighas) at one village and for bhang (9 bighas)
at another. All over the Bhopawar Agency the plant is cultivated for bhang and ganja,
rarely for charas; but the production is limited and, except in the parts adjoining British
Nimar, only for the personal use of the cultivators. The plant is said to be extensively
cultivated at Ujjain and Sipri, but unfortunately the Gwalior State has furnished no infor-
mation.
3. In Indore and Dewas there is reported to be a slight decrease in the area under
hemp cultivation. In Indore the decrease is said to be due to an increased consumption of
liquor and in Dewas to the increased cultivation of hemp in Nimar.
4. As regards the method of cultivating the hemp plant, the Minister of Indore
writes:—
A.—Ganja cultivation.
"The kind of soil most favourable is rakhad, which is usually white or light brown
and near villages. Black soil is not considered specially fit for the growth of the hemp plant,
but the plant thrives fairly well in black soil.
"Cowdung manure, with ashes where procurable, is mostly used. The average quan-
tity per bigha is roughly ten cart-loads or 150 maunds.
"The ground is prepared in the usual manner by two or three ploughings and harrow-
ing. The field is not divided into rectangles as for poppy cultivation.
"Three to five seers of seed per bigha is then sown by means of an instrument called
'sarta' in rows about twenty inches apart. The instrument is drawn by a pair of bullocks.
The sowing is done some time after the rains set in, that is, in the months of July and
August. The seed used for sowing is procured through experts. Every cultivator is not
able to distinguish the quality and kind required. The hemp plants germinate about the
fourth day, and about the sixth day green rows appear on the surface. If there is a gap in
any row, fresh seed is sown. After about a month the spaces between the rows are scratched,
with the object of providing sufficient earth round the roots of the plant, by means of an
iron blade drawn by bullocks. The furrows are next cleared of weeds and the superfluous
growth of the hemp plant is removed, so as to leave a space from six to ten inches between
one plant and another. The greater the room the healthier is the growth of the plant. If
the field is too weedy, the operation of weeding and cleaning has to be done a second time,
and the scratching operation is performed four or five times to preserve the ridges. All
male plants are then removed and female ones are only kept. The female plants do not
bear flowers in the popular sense of the word, but put forth tops called ghugarees (flowering-
tops), which appear two months after sowing. Any plant which does not bear healthy
tops is removed, because, if allowed to remain, it is said to spoil the health of the neighbour-
ing plants. The ganja field requires about three waterings after the cessation of the rains.
Without these the crop is scanty and unhealthy. It is ready for collection in the month of
November. The plants are not uprooted when ripe, but only the tops are cut off and
gathered. When they begin to get sticky and look bright in the sunshine, it is a sure sign
of the plant arriving at maturity.
"From the time of sowing to that of gathering weekly inspections are made of the
field with the special object of removing inferior or unhealthy plants. It requires special
knowledge to make this inspection and distinguish a superior from an inferior plant, and
the work of inspection is entrusted to persons possessing practical experience of this matter,
who are paid specially high remuneration—four annas a day and upwards.