CANNABIS 



SATIVA 



Oil-seed 



THE HEMP PLANT 



Grown for Two 

 Purposes. 



ready in August. It would appear to be specially abundant in the hills from 

 Maukamana to Bedi, also in the Nepalese Terai. \Cf. H.D.C.R., iii., 131 ; 

 Kirkpatrick, Ace, Kingdom of Nepaul, 1811, 142-3; Buchanan-Hamilton, Ace. 

 Kingdom of Nepal, 1819, 226, 231-2.] 



Simla Hills. (d) Simla and Kangra. A short notice of hemp fibre in Kotgarh will be 



found in the Asiatik Researches (1825, xv., 474, 478). One of the most interesting 

 and useful accounts of the hemp cultivation of the Himalaya is that given by 

 Baden-Powell (Pb. Prod., 1868, 504-7). Stewart, in a correction on the text of 

 his Punjab Plants, has recorded his final opinion that Ctmnabis was wild in 

 the Panjab hills, and speaks of it as cultivated up to 10,000 feet in altitude 

 Coldstream says (H.D.C.R., v., 365) it is not cultivated in the Panjab for 

 the production of charas or ganja. Useful additional particulars will also 

 be found in the Kangra Gazetteer (1897, 78) and in Mr. Anderson's statement 

 (H.D.C.R., v., 379J. 



(e) Kashmir. In 1799 Captain Thomas Hardwicke visited Srinagar, and 

 in the Asiatick Researches furnished an interesting narrative of his journey (vi., 

 376). He there observes that Cunnaitts * "is cultivated in several parts 

 of the mountains for two purposes : one for the manufacture of a coarse thick 

 cloth, which the poor people wear, and the other in making an intoxicating drug 

 exported to the low countries." Lawrence ( Valley of Kashmir, 69) tells us that 

 about 600 maunds of fibre are annually produced in the country below Srinagar. 

 Further particulars on this subject will be found in the Hemp Drugs Report 

 (app. iii., 128). Many writers allude to the very superior paper that was formerly 

 made in Kashmir from bhang fibre (H.D.C.R., v., 438). Of Kyilang, the Rev. 

 Mr. Heyde (H.D.G.R., v., 487) informed the Commission that in British Lahul 

 all the zamindars cultivate a small piece of ground, if possible, close to their 

 houses, with hemp, solely in order to obtain fibre. This is made into strings, 

 with which the straw shoes (bula) are sewn together. Very few people smoke 

 bhang, and those who do, obtain their supplies from traders, who carry it from 

 Yarkand to Hindustan. 



SindHemp. (/) Sind. Wild hemp known as kohi bhang is said to grow on the hills. 

 The plant is cultivated on account of bhang (it does not yield ganja or charas) in 

 this province, but the stems are occasionally utilised as sources of fibre, hence 

 Sind being sometimes mentioned as producing the true hemp ; at the same time 

 the seeds are collected and eaten, or oil is expressed from them. Sir H. E. M. 

 James, in his evidence submitted to the Hemp Drugs Commission (vii., 235), 

 stated that the charas used in Sind is imported chiefly from Kandahar. The 

 Deputy Collector of Naushahra (Witness, I.e. No. 4, 243) says, " In order to raise 

 a good crop of hemp, it is necessary that the land should be well ploughed, manured, 

 and copiously watered. The seed is sown in October or November, and the crop 

 is ripe in April. According to another witness (Seth Vishindas Nihalchand, 291) 

 the fibre is called sini. The stems are steeped in water for 15 days, after which 



Possible they are taken out and then yield their fibre. But it may be asked is it possible 



Confusion. that Crotalarittjnncea is the hemp fibre of at least some of the Sind reports ? In 



South India, at all events, it would appear certain the fibre-yielding plant often 

 spoken of as Cannabte sntiva (H.D.G.R., app. iii., 83) is in reality Crota luria 

 Jiincea. 



Trade in Trade In Hemp. Kussia still holds the foremost position in the 



Hemp. world's supply of this fibre. The exports of hemp from India are mainly 



in saw-hemp (Crotalaria), and the imports almost exclusively in Manila 

 hemp. Hemp is regarded as resembling flax, but as possessing a higher 

 tensile strength (30 to 35 as compared with 20 to 25 kilos per square mm.). 

 It resists retting, and on that account is much valued for ropes and sail- 

 cloth. 



//. THE SEED AND OIL. 



Seeds. Edible Seeds. Galen tells us that it was customary to give hemp- 



seeds to guests as a promoter of hilarity (cum aliis tragematis}. Garcia 

 de Orta speaks of the Indian seed being smaller and darker coloured than 

 that of Europe. There is little doubt that the tendency for the seeds 

 (fruits) to become agglutinated with the resinous narcotic is much greater 

 in India than in most other countries, and this would seem to account 



256 



