CHAPTER V. 

 EAST INDIAN HEMP. 



THE most important of the Indian hemps are Bombay, 

 Jubbulpore, Allahabad, and Sunn hemp. Sunn hemp (Cloto- 

 lanajuncea) is one of the commonest of Indian fibre plants, 

 and is cultivated from sea-level up to very high elevations. 

 It thrives well from the Himalayas in the north to the coast 

 of Ceylon. It is a shrubby perennial which grows from 8 to 

 12 ft. high. The stem is marked with peculiar longitudinal 

 furrows, and is much branched as it grows in a wild state. 

 In a cultivated state, the seed is thickly sown, so that the 

 plant grows up with a straight, branchless stem. 



The cultivation of Sunn hemp proper is not difficult, for the 

 plant thrives in almost any poor soil. Sandy soils and loams 

 are generally considered to be the most favourable to its 

 successful growth, whilst in clay soils it is a decided failure. 

 A better crop of fibre is obtained if the plant is not grown in 

 a rich soil and if manures be not applied, for the richness of 

 the soil makes the plant more vigorous and healthy, and there- 

 fore retards the formation of tough fibre. The Sunn hemp 

 plant is either cultivated on land specially devoted to raising 

 it, or often on the margin of fields, where spare pieces of land 

 are covered with it. The land is well tilled and levelled, and 

 the seeds are sown thick. An average quantity of 60 Ib. of 

 seed per acre is sown. The plants, when growing, should not 

 be more than 2 to 3 in. apart. The crop is harvested in four 



