Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1884-02-20
GaDjah.

l III lCOCat tAOiC Ou Tic Plaut kduldu,
which is used as an intoxicating drug in
India, it il stated that DR.. Chevers gives
the particulars of several criminal trials
in which it was urged for the defense
that ganlah had excited the fury and
nerved the hand OF the murderer. He
also mentions several cases of "running
amuck," as it is called, where a man
madly attacks and stabs every person
whom he meets while he is In this state
of frenzy; but some Of these cases are
attributed to the use of opium as well
as ganiah. He remarks: "We have
abundant evidence that fakeers keep
themselves constantly under the In
huence of ganjah, the excuse being that
this mode Of intoxication abstracts the
thoughts from the objects of sense. and
assists their absorption into the Deity.
The face of an habitual ganjah smoker
can scarcely be mistaken. The express
sion OF the countenance forcibly carries
with it the idea that reason has been
partially unseated,"
As to the growth of the plant, the
eminent botanist, Mr.. Charles Clarke,
who lately held high Office at Kew
IcCOIuc0 luc lOAlONlliR re-
marks hen he was holding Govern
ment appointment at Bengal: "The
whole country (about Rajshahye)
abounds, especially in waste spots round
villages, with the wild hemp. OF this
the males and females are equally nu-
merous. The ganiah plant is supposed
to be a variety of this species by most
botsnrts: but rs two such authorities
as Griffith an Benjamin Clarke have
doubted this, 1t may fairly be treated as
an open question whether the ganiah
species. The gariah plant differs from
the wild hemp In its woody, thick,
straight stem, its bushy pyramidal
habit, the crowded female flowers, and
the presence of the viscld ganjah bear
ing hair on the caly1 and Dracts."
Mr.. Kerr reports that: SIN its wild
state the plant is common all over India,
and grows to a a height varying from
five to ten feet; bright, handsome,
pyramidal plant, with rlch green leaves,
and small, greenish-white flowers. The
so-called wild hemp is not necessarily
a wild plant, but in some places Is cult
waited for Its leaves. The cultivated
variety is a little more stunted, rarely
rising above six feet, and more slender,
delicate and regularly pyramidsl, as
suming more the character of the
cypress" The cultivated ganIah OF
Bengal Is now grown in only n small
tract of country, within circle having
a radius of about sixteen miles. In this
small tract il occupies an area of only
about ], 900 acres. and Is distributed In
small patches in about $50 villages.
The number of persons occupied from
year to year in the cultivation averages
about 1000, of whom the majority. or
about seven-eighths, are of the Moham
medan persuasion, the remainder being
Hlndus. The cultivation is carried on
with consl ierable skill, and according
to traditional rules and precepts. Tax
ing the selection and preparation OF
plot of ground as the initial process,
and the harvesting of the crop as the
final process, the cultivation may be
said to extend over twelve months, from
the beginning of March to the end of
February. The actual growth of the
plant begins in the nursery bed in
August, followed by transportation in
September, and 1t comes to maturity in
February The crop Is cut and manu-
factured in February, or early in March.
There is one peculiar and interesting
feature in connection with the cultIya-
ton, About the end of November,
when the plants are sufficiently advanced
to show the indications OF the sex, the
village ganiah doctor, as he is called,
examines all the plants and carefully
destroys ali the males. The cultIvators
are under tins belief that the female
plants are destroyed and the males
saved. But scientific examination proves
that this is not the case. The male
plants must all be destroyed: and only
the female plants, uncontamiDated by
the presence of the males, produce the
substance commercially aud financially
known as ganjah. The average annual
amount of the ganJah crop is reported
by Mr.. Kerr to be about 1000 hundred
weight, according to English weights.
The manufacture Is very simple. 1t
consists chiefly in drying the plants,
getting rid of the leaves and part of the
stalks, and COMPRISING tbe smaller
twigs and flowers into bundles SO that
they may be conveniently tied together
and packed up for expectation.