AMMar0URi;  wT'}        Culture  of  Gunjah  in  Bengal.  121 
THE  CULTURE  OF  GUNJAH  IN  BENGAL. 
Garija  or  Gunjah  {Cannabis  indica),  forms  an  important  excisable 
article  in  Bengal,  and  yields  a  yearly  revenue  of  Rs.  1,106,818 
(,£110,681).  Why  the  cultivation  of  ganja  is  confined  to  a  single 
tract  of  land  lying  on  the  north  of  Rajshahye,  south  of  Dinagepore, 
and  southwest  of  Bogra,  is  a  vexed  question.  Judging  of  matters 
from  a  practical  point  of  view,  similar  soils  would  produce  ganja  any- 
where. Every  year  the  cultivation  is  extending  to  the  north  and  east, 
which  is  an  indication  that  it  is  not  confined  to  a  limited  space.  The 
mode  of  cultivation,  the  labor  and  outlay  necessary,  the  restrictions 
placed  on  storage  and  sale  of  ganja,  the  rapidity  with  which  it  dete- 
riorates, operate  as  a  check  to  a  successful  extension  of  the  cultiva- 
tion in  every  district.  Ganja  is  also  grown  in  the  tributary  mehals  of 
Orissa,  but  it  is  of  an  inferior  description,  and  finds  no  favor  with  the 
smokers  in  Bengal.  All  soils  are  not  equally  adapted  to  the  cultiva- 
tion of  ganja.  Light  sandy  soils  are  best  adapted,  and  the  plants 
reach  the  height  of  six  to  seven  feet.  Poor  warm  soils  sometimes 
yield  good  hemp  ;  stiff  clays  are  generally  avoided.  Extreme  mois- 
ture is  prejudicial  to  the  growth  of  the  plants ;  the  cultivation  begins 
in  August,  the  seeds  are  sown  broadcast  in  the  nursery,  and  in  a 
week  they  germinate.  In  a  fortnight,  when  the  plants  attain  a  little 
strength,  and  are  able  to  bear  transplantation,  the  nursery  is  broken* 
and  the  seedlings  are  sent  to  the  field  and  sown  in  rows  six  inches 
apart  from  each  other.  The  fields  are  not  large  in  size,  each  being 
on  an  average  fifteen  cottahs,  or  a  beegah.  The  soil  is  renovated 
every  year  by  the  addition  of  fresh  earth,  and  before  the  seedlings 
are  transplanted,  the  ground  is  harrowed  and  manured  with  oil-cakes 
and  cow-dung,  and  the  soil  thus  prepared  is  fit  to  receive  the  plants. 
When  the  plants  spread  their  leaves,  men  known  as  "  ganja  doctors" 
are  employed  to  pick  out  the  female  plants,  which  yield  no  flowers, 
and  are  injurious  to  the  crop.  Ganja  doctors  alone  can  distinguish 
the  female  organs  in  the  plants;  the  process  of  picking  is  repeated 
two  or  three  times,  and  when  he  cultivator  is  sure  that  all  female(?) 
plants  have  been  uprooted  and  thrown  away,  he  again  manures  the 
ground  with  cow-dung  and  liquid  oil-cakes,  and  clears  the  stems  of 
the  plants.  In  a  field  of  one  thousand  plants  some  four  hundred  are 
thrown  away.  In  December,  when  the  plants  reach  the  height  of 
four  or  five  feet,  ridges  are  opened,  and  the  ground  is  irrigated  and 
