112 REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-94. [CH. VII.
district also receives
small imports from Tibet and Nepal. It is said that the
people prefer Yarkand charas to their own, and Mr. Stoker cannot
understand
in what, except cheapness, the superiority of the latter can
consist, for the home
produce must be far the purer of the two. Some charas is prepared
from
the wild growth, but it is doubtful if it enters the market. It
may, however, affect the
trade by satisfying the wants of a certain class of consumers.
There is still another
source of charas in the province, though it is not yet drawn upon
except by the
hillmen who come down to cultivate in the Kumaon Terai and the
Bhabar. The
wild growth of this region is made to yield the drug of which Mr.
Stoker had
succeeded in getting a specimen. The quantity made and used is
quite
insignificant, and does not appear to find its way into the market;
but the
possibility of preparing the drug from the wild growth of the low
country is
interesting.
Export of charas.
295. The export of charas
is only 45 maunds. It probably passes into
Bengal and the Native States
on the southern fron-
tier; but there is no definite information. The figure
may not mean exports from
the province, but it is reasonable to expect that there
should be a little trade in the directions indicated.
Import and export of bhang.
296. The imports and
exports of bhang are given as 1,644 and 1,263 maunds
respectively. It may be
doubted if these figures
have any value at all as representing the volume
of trade over the frontiers
of the province. The mass of the bhang trade
of course circulates within the province, and consists in providing
the
locally grown drug to local consumers. Regarding the external
trade, Mr. Stoker
writes: "A certain amount is imported from the Punjab, coming
chiefly from
Jagadhri, Kalsia, and Umballa, and some from Amritsar and
Hoshiarpur. Nearly all
of it goes to a few of our western districts. This is not because
of any failure in the
local supply, which is unlimited and inexhaustible, nor because of
any superiority
of the Punjab article, but apparently on account of the trade
connection of
some of the contractors with
the Punjab............. A little bhang also comes
from Bhartpur and Jeypore,
and perhaps from a few Bundelkhand Native States;
but in that direction we give more than we get. The amount is not
considerable,
and seems to be diminishing. Some of the bhang from Gonda and
Bahraich is
really grown on the Nepal
side of the border...................... A certain
amount
of bhang finds its way out
of the provinces to the neighbouring districts of
Bengal, the Punjab, the Central Provinces, and the Bundelkhand
States."
It appears that the contractors often buy the plant from the owners
or occupiers
of land who have collected and stored it. The purchase money would
seem
to include a price for the drug itself as well as payment of the
expenses
connected with collecting and storing it.
Rampur.
297. There is no separate
information regarding the trade arrangements of the
Rampur State. They form part
of the general
trade of the province. The amount of the State's
imports and exports cannot
appreciably affect the course of the latter.
Tehri Garhwal.
298. The same remarks
apply to the Hill State of Tehri Garhwal, with the
addition of the definite
information that none of the
products of the hemp cultivation carried on in the
State passes over its
frontiers into British territory.