BULLETIN ON THE CULTIVATION AND MANUFACTURE OF GANJA IN MADRAS, BY MR. C. BENSON, M.R.A.C., DEPUTY DIRECTOR, AGRICULTURAL BRANCH, MADRAS.

The true hemp plant (Cannabis saliva), though grown here and there in most parts of the presidency in backyards, is found as a regularly-cultivated field crop in only two localities, viz., in the Malayali villages on the Javadi hills in North Arcot, and in one or two villages in the Bapatla taluk Kistna District. It is also raised to a certain extent in the hilly parts of Vizagapatam and Ganjam, but there seldom more than a few plants are grown by each person.

The Javadis are a low hill range covered with jungle, amongst which the Malayali villages lie scattered, few of them consisting of more than three or four huts. Each village has a small patch of land cleared for cultivation near by, and there, in almost all cases, a plot or two of hemp will be found growing. The Malayalis claim to be Vellalas, but excepts for purposes of trade and barter have little or no connection with the people of the plains. They also claim to alone possess the knowledge necessary for the manufacture of ganja—a practice which has been carried on, they state, in these hills from time immemorial. hey attribute the fact that the growth of the crop is confined to the hills merely to the ignorance of the people of the plains, and state that if the latter knew how to deal with the crop, they would easily grow it outside the hills.

On the hills cultivation is carried on in small plots, the natural fall of the ground preveuting any considerable tolerably level area being found in one place, although to a ceitain extent the plots are terraced. In these plots the Malayali raise the ordinary dry food.grains of the country for their own consumption, and with them the • hemp plant alternates, hemp not being ordinarily taken on the nine land in two successive years. The soil is free, friable, and open, derived directly from the rocks on which it rests ; thoroughly well-drained, and appears to be fairly fertile. For hemp it receives a heavy dressing of cattle dung, without which it is said to be hopeless to raise the crop. This manure is spread on the surface in May, or June, before the first rains allow of ploughing being begun. As soon as the land is sufficiently moistened, it is ploughed and the operation is repeated three or four times at convenient intervals until some time in July, when the seed is sown. Sowing is done by droppino-b the seed, at the rate of five or six sers per acre, in a furrow opened with a plough, the seed being covered with soil drawn over it by the feet of the sower. The seed is sown in rows about three feet apart, and during the growth of the crop the spaces between the rows are worked and kept clean by ploughing and weeding. The young plants appear in about a week after sowing, and when about three weeks old they are partially thinned out, and when they reach to a foot high they are earthed up by means of a plough, which is run along on either side of the rows. This latter process, aided by hand-weeding at intervals of about a fortnight, thrice repeated, keeps the whole land clean.

'When the crop is about four months old,.the anxieties of the cultivator commence and the crop has to be examined carefully and frequently, so that any male plants—called female by the ryots—may be detected and removed. Detection of the male plants is only possible when the flowers appear. Their entire removal is absolutely essential to securing a crop of ganja,, as otherwise the whole crop runs te seed. The removal of the male plants is a continuous process, going on as the plants are detected. Notwithstanding this care a certain amount of seed actually sets.

Some time early in January the harvest begins. It continues up to March. Plants are ready for cutting as soon as the leaf turns yellow and begins to drop. At the same time the spikes of female flowers also turn yellow. The crop is never cut on a damp or cloudy day.

In harvesting, the ripe plants are cut bodily, tied into small bundles, and carried to the threshing-floor of the village. There the spikes are stripped off the stems, with a few of the leaves, and the stems are thrown away. The material thus collected is spread out on the floor in the sun during the middle of the day for three, four, or five hours, and then loosely rolled in the hand to work out such seed as may have been formed and to break up the leaf that remains. This working also causes the spikes to stick to one another to some extent. The broken leaf is then winnowed out, collected, and powdered.

The manufacture then begins. A closely-woven bamboo basket is taken and dusted inside with leaf powder. Into it is placed a layer of the spikes an inch or an inch and a half deep. The spikes are then trodden under foot by a man working round and round on his heels in the basket four or five times : the man supporting himself on a stick, whilst the -basket is held steady by two others. If the basket be large enough two men d) the treading, grasping each other's shoulders to steady themselves. Layer over layer of the spikes is thus made in the basket till it is full, each layer being separated from the next by a little leaf-dust. When the basket is full, its contents are turned out on a piece of flat hard ground, and on the top of the pile a large flat stone is placed, upon which are piled other stones to weight and compress the heap. The weights remain thus till next morning at about 8 or 9 A.11., when each layer is taken out separately, broken into small bits, and spread in the sun to dry. Whilst spread out thus, the pieces are trampled on with the heel and turned over from time to time to secure proper drying. In the evening the pieces are again re-piled and weighted and next day again turned out to dry ; the process being repeated till the whole is thoroughly dried.

Great importance is attached to the thoroughness Of the treading, the sufficiency of the pressing, and the completeness of the drying ; the quality of the drug being said to depend on the manner in which these processes are carried out. If the cakes are not dried sufficiently they appear green, and are of inferior quality—good ganja being brown.
When fully cured the cakes are stored in the ryot's houses, where they are packed in date mats in bundles each containing 20 visses (say 60 lb.) and kept under pressure till sold to dealers.

In the Kistna District the soil, the conditions under which the crop is grown, and the method of manufacture all differ entirely from those described above, as much as they do from the practice in Bengal, according to Dr. Prain's description. It is only in one village Daggupad, in the Bapatla taluk, not far from the borders of Nellore, and about 15 miles from le sea coast, that any considerable area of the crop is to be found, although a little is also grown in one or two of the neighbouring villages. The country is a wide open plain of black cotton-soil, and from its appearance badly or poorly drained. The soil is not particularly stiff for the description concerned, being in fact a good stiff loam, and contains a considerable amount of kankar. On the land on which hemp is grown, the common crops with which it usually alternates are Jonna (Sorghum vulgäre), Variga (Panicum miliaceum, Dry paddy, Coriander, Tobacco, Indigo, Chillies.  The crop is grown in open fields, some near to, and some at a distance from the village, but all reasonably accessible. In some cases it is cultivated and handled by the ryot who owns the land; but more frequently the cultivation of the land, and all the cattle labour required is supplied by the ryot, and the planting and handling of the crop is undertaken by others - chiefly Muhammadans, of whom there is a considerable settlement in this village. Here, as in Bengal, the plants are raised in seed-beds and planted out, but except at the time of planting, no irrigation is resorted to after the crop is put out into the field.

The seed-beds are usually made on the bund of a tank, and are 6 feet wide by 60 feet long. The soil of these beds is dug up with, a crowbar and reduced to a fine tilth and levelled. Seed is thus sown at the rate of 4 or 5 sers (of 85 tolahs) to a bed ; two such beds supplying plants sufficient for an acre of land. The seed is covered with earth strewn over it by hand. The bed is then watered by hand and the watering is repeated daily for about two months as required. The sowing takes place in August. When the plants are 2 feet high they are lopped off, and in a few days numerous side branches are put out. The plants are then transplanted into the field.

Land intended for hemp may have carried a crop of hemp in the previous year-19 out of 118 acres planted in Daggupad* this year (1893-94) being said to have carried hemp in 1892- 93—but more usually the crop is alternated with one of those mentioned above. If it follows hemp, heavy manuring is necessary. Cultivation of the land for the crop usually begins with ploughing in July, and between then and _ October it is ploughed about three times and finally worked with the three-lined grubber (gorru, or seed drill used without its seed hopper and tubes). It is then marked off in 2 feet squares with a marker, similar to the guntaka, or scuffle worked without its share. At the angles of each square four or five plants are dibbled into a hole made with a stick, and then they are watered to set the plants. The crop is planted out in October.

The land intended for this crop is manured either with cattle manure or by sheep-folding, the application of manure being considerable when the land carries hemp successively year after year.

A month after planting the fields are hand-weeded, and about a fortnight later a plough is run between the rows, and the plants are earthed up slightly. Two months after planting out flowering begins, and then the removal of the male (here as elsewhere termed female) plants begins. They are cut off near the roots and thrown away. This work goes on continuously as long as male plants are found.

About February the plant begins to ripen and the harvest commences. It goes on till the end of March. The plants are cut bodily with the sickle, and are laid out in the field, where they grow for three days to dry in the sun. On the fourth day they are tied into small bundles of about ten plants each, and then piled, head and tail, in the field. The heaps are opened, and the bundles re-piled next day, the process being repeated over several days. When the quantity to be dealt with is small and space allows, the bundles are carried to the grower's house and there piled ; but in all cases the crop is finally carried to the house, and a month later the spikes are removed. Each spike is plucked off by hand and then they are spread out on a hard floor in the open for one night in the dew to soften and become pliable. In the morning the spikes are collected and stored in large gunny-bags, being packed closely therein by a man treading them down into the bag. The produce is then ready for sale, and may be kept for as much as two years.

In both localities it is stated that of late years the area planted with hemp has been reduced, the price offered for ganja having fallen with the restriction of the demand owing to the introduction of the system of licensing retail vendors.

A few years ago, the crop was also grown to some extent in one village in the Pulivendla taluk, Cuddapah District, but its growth there has now been abandoned. It was then grown as a garden crop, in rotation with garden korra (Setaria ilalica) or garden ragi (Eleu8ine coracana), the plants being raised in seed-beds and then planted out. The method of manufacture adopted there appears to have resembled that still followed in Kistna.