244
REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-94. [APP.
the pile a large flat stone is placed, upon which are piled other stones to weight and com-
press the heap. The weights remain thus till next morning at about 8 or 9 A.M., when each
layer is taken out separately, broken into small bits, and spread in the sun to dry. Whilst
spread out thus, the pieces are trampled on with the heel and turned over from time to time to
secure proper drying. In the evening the pieces are again re-piled and weighted and next day
again turned out to dry; the process being repeated till the whole is thoroughly dried.
Great importance is attached to the thoroughness of the treading, the sufficiency of the
pressing, and the completeness of the drying; the quality of the drug being said to depend on
the manner in which these processes are carried out. If the cakes are not dried sufficiently
they appear green, and are of inferior quality—good ganja being brown.
When fully cured the cakes are stored in the ryot's houses, where they are packed in date
mats in bundles each containing 20 visses (say 60 lb.) and kept under pressure till sold to
dealers.
Jonna (Sorghum vulgare). Coriander.
Variga (Panicum milia- Tobacco.
ceum).
Indigo.
Dry paddy.
Chillies.
In the Kistna District the soil, the conditions under which the crop is grown, and the
method of manufacture all differ entirely from those described above, as much as they do from
the practice in Bengal, according to Dr. Prain's description. It is only in one village, Daggupad,
in the Bapatla taluk, not far from the borders of Nellore, and about 15 miles from the sea coast,
that any considerable area of the crop is to be found, although a little is also grown in one or two
of the neighbouring villages. The country is a wide open plain of black cotton-soil, and from its
appearance badly or poorly drained. The soil is not particularly stiff for the description con-
cerned, being in fact a good stiff loam, and contains a considerable amount of kankar. On
the land on which hemp is grown, the common crops with which it usually alternates are
noted on the margin. The crop is grown in open
fields, some near to, and some at a distance from
the village, but all reasonably accessible. In some
cases it is cultivated, and handled by the ryot who
owns the land; but more frequently the cultivation of the land, and all the cattle labour requir-
ed is supplied by the ryot, and the planting and handling of the crop is undertaken by others—
chiefly Muhammadans, of whom there is a considerable settlement in this village. Here, as in
Bengal, the plants are raised in seed-beds and planted out, but except at the time of planting,
no irrigation is resorted to after the crop is put out into the field.
The seed-beds are usually made on the bund of a tank, and are 6 feet wide by 60 feet long.
The soil of these beds is dug up with a crowbar and reduced to a fine tilth and levelled. Seed
is thus sown at the rate of 4 or 5 sers (of 85 tolahs) to a bed; two such beds supplying
plants sufficient for an acre of land. The seed is covered with earth strewn over it by hand.
The bed is then watered by hand and the watering is repeated daily for about two months as
required. The sowing takes place in August. When the plants are 2 feet high they are lop-
ped off, and in a few days numerous side branches are put out. The plants are then transplant-
ed into the field.
Land intended for hemp may have carried a crop of hemp in the previous year—19 out of
118 acres planted in Daggupad* this year (1893-94) being said to have carried hemp in 1892-
93—but more usually the crop is alternated with one of those mentioned above. If it
follows hemp, heavy manuring is necessary. Cultivation of the land for the crop usually
begins with ploughing in July, and between then and October it is ploughed about three
times and finally worked with the three-lined grubber (gorru, or seed drill used without its seed
hopper and tubes). It is then marked off in 2 feet squares with a marker, similar to the
guntaka, or scuffla worked without its share. At the angles of each square four or five plants
are dibbled into a hole made with a stick, and then they are watered to set the plants. The
crop is planted out in October.
The land intended for this crop is manured either with cattle manure or by sheep-folding,
the application of manure being considerable when the land carries hemp successively year after
year.
*The crop records of Daggupad give the following results:—
In 1892.
In 1893.
ACRES.
ACRES.
Of the land sown with ganja
86—29.
117—84.
Carried—
In 1893.
In 1892.
Ganja
19.09
19 09
Jonna
1.00
25.59
Variga
23.19
20.63
Dry paddy
3.60
8.0
Tobacco
20.35
13.30
Chillies
2.81
2.50
Coriander
4.72
8.27
Indigo
1.69
15.96
Not sown
9.84
4.50