CH. VI.] REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-94. 87
drug is the superior
product, and contains much less useless matter than the flat.
But it is plain that in both cases the process of manufacture in
Bengal is technical
and elaborate, and this is the point which it is desired to bring
into strong relief.
It may be noted that occasionally, when the weather is
unfavourable, the drying is
effected by fire, with the result that the ganja is discolored and
reduced in market
value.
The effect of the
manufacturing
processes.
224. Dr. Prain describes
the purposes which are served by the above pro-
cesses: "The drying process
(a) removes the watery
juices of the plants, and thus not only reduces its
weight as an excisable
article, but removes to a considerable extent the risk of
mould; (b) causes the comparatively inert small leaves to
shrivel, and so makes
their removal more easy. The kneading process (a) removes
more or less com-
pletely the comparatively inert leaves, still further reducing the
weight. The article
produced, being for its bulk more active in proportion to the
absence of leaves,
the more thoroughly they are removed, the better a sale does it
command; (b)
it presses together the resinous parts on which the active
principle is most plenti-
fully deposited. These being rendered somewhat sticky by the
presence of the
resin become more or less agglutinated, and are thus less liable to
fall off in transit,
and so reduce the active power of the ganja." And he discusses
these principles
with some care. The Commission would have been inclined to
attribute a great
part of the importance of the kneading process to its effect in
shutting out the
access of air to the interior of the ganja masses, and so tending
to delay their
deterioration.
Disposal of stick, leaf,
seeds, and
fragments.
225. It has been seen
that a great quantity of stick, leaf, and seed, and
not
a little flower head, have
been separated from the
bundles of prepared ganja. The stick may be used
as fuel. The leaf is
winnowed from the seed and thrown away, though it has been
proved by analysis to contain the narcotic principle in larger
quantity than ordinary
bhang. But it cannot be ascertained that it is used as bhang. The
seeds are
kept for the next year's culture, and the superfluity may find its
way into the
market. The seeds are not narcotic, and they are sometimes eaten,
besides
being used for the expression of oil and other purposes. The bits
of flower head
are, in the case of flat ganja, picked up and pressed into the mass
of the flower
heads again or burnt. The latter will probably depend on the
vigilance of the
Government supervisors. In the case of round ganja, they form the
"chur" or
"fragments" on which the excise tariff imposes the highest duty,
because in that
state the drug is absolutely free of leaf and stick.
Preparation of bhang.
226. Bhang as recognized
by the Excise Department is the dried leaf of the
wild plant. The drug
that enters the Bengal golas is
collected chiefly in the districts of Bhagalpur, Mon-
ghyr, and Purnea. But the
bhang of Patna, Benares, and Behar is also spoken
of as being of high quality. The preparation consists simply in
drying the leaves.
The plants are cut in April, the Chaitra Sankranti being
considered an auspicious
as well as a seasonable day, but the gathering goes on up to June
and
July. They are laid out in the sun, and one day may be sufficient
to dry them
so as to allow the leaves to be shaken or beaten off. The leaves
are collected
with precautions against the mixture of dust or dirt, packed in
bags, and so con-
veyed to the local gola, and eventually to the shops. The early
flowering stage
would seem to be that in which the plant yields the best
bhang.