324: HEMP CULTURE IN THE PLAINS OF INDIA. 
plants, which is soft, that is used for making Bhangela. That of the old or 
October plants is hard and not suitable for manufacture. 
After the plants have been cut off at the ground, they must be placed in 
the sun for eight or ten days, or until they be dried sufficiently. They must 
then be steeped in water for three days, and on the fourth day the plants 
must be taken out of the water and peeled. The peelings are to be washed 
and put in the sun; and when quite dried, they are ready for manipulation. 
They are then to be torn into thin threads with the nails of the hands; next 
twisted with a spinning-wheel (Tikuli), and when the threads are thus pre- 
pared, they are to be boiled with ashes of wood and water in a pot, for four 
hours, and to be washed again for the purpose of whitening. This is the 
way of preparing Bhangela thread, out of which blankets are woven. 
One mana (half a kucha seer) of seed is sufficient for a ropini of land 
(one fifth of Badshahi bigah), which produces ten or twelve loads of bhang. 
Hemp grows equally wall on slopes or flats, and near the tops as well as on 
the sides of the mountains, if not too low. But a moist rich soil is indispen- 
sable. The plant attains to a height of eight to ten feet, and should be cut 
when the flower is falling and the seed forming. : 
Before proceeding to consider the prospect of obtaining 
merchantable Hemp from the heights of the Himalayas, we 
may notice what is practicable in regard to— 
Hemp Culture in the Plains of India.—Though the pro- 
duction of Hemp in the Himalayas, and in the low lands at 
their foot, is chiefly contemplated, that of its culture in the 
plains may also be mentioned. This was attempted by Dr. 
Roxburgh, and though probably in the least favorable situation 
in India, yet with some success; as he observes : 
“In many parts of Bengal, particularly where the land is 
so low as to remain humid through the dry season, Hemp 
thrives luxuriantly during the cold season; at Soonamooky 
it did well on a sandy soil, manured with dung from stables. 
Prolonged immersion much injures the quality of the Hemp, 
the rainy season is therefore preferable for the cultivation and 
maceration of the plant, and we must content ourselves with 
one crop in the year, for it is a very false, though prevailing 
notion, that the fertile fields of Asia produce at least two crops 
anoually. The burning heats of Asia, while they last, are 
as unfavorable for vegetation as the frosts of winter are in 
Europe.” And in Wisset it is stated: 
“A native, who had an opportunity of observing the mode of 
cultivating and preparing the Hemp raised by Mr. Douglas, at 
Rishera, has offered to the Board of Trade to contract with 
them for supplying a very considerable quantity, I believe 500 
maunds (about 17 tons), of properly dressed Hemp next 
