ORIENTAL COM MERCK. 



[Cah^utta. 



rally cultivated in Bengal and Bahar, for the oil which is obtained from the 

 seeds, the stalks being rejected as useless. 



Ghee is the butter made from the milk of buffaloes, and clarified ; it 

 is an article of very considerable commerce in various parts of India, and 

 generally conveyed in duppers, or bottles made of hide, resembling what is 

 called a carboy ; it will keep sweet a considerable time. The duppers con- 

 tain from 10 to 40 gallons each. 



Ginger (South, Hind., Sunt hi, San.) is the root of the Ammmtm 

 Zinxiber, (Adrar, Hind., Ardraca, San.), a reed-like plant, growing spon- 

 taneously in the East and West Indies, and China ; it is in knotty, branched, 

 flattish pieces; when freed from the outer bark, of a pale colour, and 

 fibrous texture. It is imported in considerable quantities from Bengal, and 

 should be chosen in large roots, new, not easily broken, of a light brownish 

 green colour, resinous within, and of a hot, pungent, aromatic taste. That 

 which is small, dark coloured, soft, or very fibrous, should be rejected. It 

 is sometimes imported green from the East Indies. In freight, 16 Cwt. of 

 dry, and 20 Cwt. of green ginger, are allowed to a ton. 



Hemp. — The hemp-plant, Cannabis sadva (JTha?ig, and Gmtja, Hind. 

 Ganj'wa, San.) has a long root comparatively slender, divided into branches, 

 and full of fibres ; the stalk is thick and ridged, or somewhat angular ; it 

 grows from six to twelve feet in height, and taller in warm than cold coun- 

 tries. The leaves are divided into five, in the manner of the fingers ; they 

 feel rough, and are notched at the ends. The male plants are distinguished 

 from the female in the cultivation and management of the crop. 



Hemp has been cultivated in Bengal from time immemorial for the 

 purpose of intoxication ; but is never used by the natives for cordage or 

 cloth, as in Europe. The intoxicating preparation made from it is called 

 Bang. There is no perceptible difference between the European and Bengal 

 plant. The sunn of Bengal is prepared from the fibres of the bark of the 

 Crotolaria Juncea. 



In Bengal, instead of sowing the hemp very thick, as it ought to be 

 done when the plant is intended for cordage, the natives sow it very thin, 

 and afterwards transplant the young plants, placing them at a considerable 

 distance from each other, often nine or ten feet By this mode the plant 

 grows to a large size, a great deal too large to admit of the stalks being 

 properly bruised. This mode of cultivation is too expensive, if used with a 

 view of preparing cordage from the plant; but the ryots, or farmers, would, 

 if due encouragement were held out to them, readily adopt the European 

 mode of cultivating the hemp, and also of dressing the fibres for cordage. 



There are many other vegetable substances used by the natives for 



