INDIAN PRODUCTION 



it- i 



Jliiiiiil.iy.iii 

 ll.-in;.. 



CANNABIS 



SATIVA 



Cultivation 



.11,. I i, MI, .nan ure were carried on at Rishra, Cassimpore, Muldah, Gorukii- 

 piir, .Minus, Kohilkand, Aziragarh, etc., etc. The results were every- 

 whnv unsatisfactory. Still, however, inquiry uud experiment were re- 

 iii-stitutctl in 1871, especially with regard to the fibre of the rejected stems 

 from <i>!nj<i cultivation; but the result was again unfavourable. The 

 area of possible cultivation of hemp fibre was admitted to be that where 

 . from time immemorial been produced, namely the slopes of the 

 i trmperate Himalaya. But it may fairly well be affirmed that the 

 .i\.i as a possible extended source of supply has not been fully 

 exploited. Recent and future increased facilities of transport may be 

 i to as giving openings for developing the trade in Nepal, Kumaon, 

 Simla, Kullu and Kashmir hemp fibre. Some years ago the East India 

 Company made contracts for Himalayan hemp (H.D.C.R., app. iii., 26, 

 J.'U). For this purpose advances were made to the cultivators, and 

 purchased at a fixed rate. The system worked well, and should 

 smand arise in the future, it might be resumed as the best mode of 

 ling with a community of very poor cultivators. \Cf. N.W. Prov. Gaz., 

 799-805.] 



ULTIVAT1ON AND CHIEF LOCALITIES.-Cftnimhis sttth-ti is Production, 

 i as a source of hemp fibre in two localities : (a) the North- 

 Himalaya, including Kashmir, and to a much smaller extent in 

 (b) Sind. The wild or fully acclimatised plant is called jangli-bhang, or 

 zra-bhang. Whether the two conditions the wild and the cultivated 

 in be separately recognised seems doubtful ; still it is a fact that the 



is useless, or nearly so, for either fibre or drug. 



(a) Oarhwal The fibre-yielding plant grown in this district is met with 

 rich hind having a north exposure. It is believed, moreover, that it would 

 ipossible to give it too much manure. The small plots assigned to hemp 

 accordingly, as a rule, seen in immediate proximity to the cultivator's house, 

 are carefully protected. The crop does not succeed below 3,000, nor 

 above 7,000 feet iu altitude. It is sown in May to June (about 60 Ib. to 

 acre), and during growth the land is once or twice dressed, and where neces- 

 ic plants are thinned out so as to stand a few inches apart each way. By 

 ber to early in November the crop is ripe, and may then stand from 10 to 

 i in height. The plants that bear seed are called aujango or kalango, and 

 that do not are phulango. The stems are cut with a sickle and spread 

 tie ground to dry for 24 hours. Those who desire to procure charaa (? ganja) 

 rub the fruiting tops and young leaves between their hands and thus procure 

 The leaves are as a rule regarded as useless, but a small quantity may 

 allected,. dried, and employed as bhang. The seeds are gathered, and con- 

 ite the second valuable product of the plant. The kalango stems are exposed 

 TV. and are in due course retted and the fibre separated and cleaned, as with 

 i male stems (see p. 50). From the fine fibres of both plants the teoka or sheet 

 by the people in Garhwal is prepared. Nearly one-third of the population 

 lat district are clad in hempen garments. While that is so, it is remarkable 

 a certain odium is associated with the cultivation of the hemp plant, and 

 only the low-caste farmers (dome), or the half-caste Rajputs (Khasia- 

 >uts) will grow it. \Cf. H.D.C.B., v., 19, 20, 41-8, 76-8.] 

 (6) Kumaon. A highly instructive account of the cultivation of hemp fibre 

 [umaon will bo found in the Gazetteer of N.W. Himalaya (1882, 760-7). The 

 om pursued differs in no essential from that just detailed, and the objection 

 ng classed as a " hemp-grower " also prevails. In the Hemp Drugs Report 

 (I.e. i., !3) mention is made of the manufactures produced, which it would appear 

 are fairly extensively exported from Almora to the plains. Owing to the use- 

 fulness of the plant its cultivation is said to have recently been considerably 

 oztended. The manufacturers of hemp string and rope are reported to be a 

 special class of people called bora or pajais. 



(c) Nepal. In this State the sowings are usually made a little earlier than 

 urnaon and Garhwal viz. from March to April, and the crop is accordingly 



255 



Two Forms. 



Teoka. 



Cultivation 

 not Popular. 



Manufacture 

 of Staring. 



