larger kinds, the berries of which measured from an
inch to an inch and a half in length. The mode of
cultivation; however, was to me more curious than
their flavour.* Towards the close of summer the
bunches are enclosed in bags, and cut off later on
to be suspended from the ceilings, and so preserved
through the winter as food, but not pressed for wine.
O f the manufacture of this I neither heard nor saw
anything in Bokhara, unless it were to some insignificant
extent among the Jews.f
We saw likewise in our garden many dwarf pomegranate
and fig trees, planted in what appeared like
sunken beds, the muddy-looking soil at the bottom
showing that it was so done for purposes of irrigation. +
T he fig-tree requires no peculiar soil, and only two
fingers’ depth of manure ; but as the fruit advances
towards maturity, the roots have to be covered with
water three days in the week. The crop is usually
from 70 to 140 lbs. from one tree.
* In grafting, the stem being cut, they raise the bark all round
for half an inch, though without removing it from its point; they then
peel the graft for an equal distance, and fix it on the stem, binding it all
round with the bark. The two soon unite, and next year the vine
yields fruit. In autumn a trench is made, and the tops of the vine
buried under the soil for the winter. The soil chosen for the vine
is half clay and half sand, enriched with from one to two tons of
manure to the acre. The ground is usually watered twice before
budding time, and once towards the end of May, when the earth is
completely inundated for 24 or 36 hours. A good crop averages from
40 to 50 tons to the acre.
t The 'Bokhariots use the grape for making syrup and vinegar, and
for drying into raisins. The last is done by exposing the picked fruit
to the sun on the housetop for three or four days, whilst the syrup is
made by treading grapes in a cylinder lined with alabaster, refining
the juice with pounded clay, and then boiling it to the solidity required.
J The pomegranate requires a more sandy soil than the vine,-and
that it be under water the whole of every tenth day. A tree springing
from seed can yield fruit in the fourth year. Bokhara pomegranates
are excelled by those of Shahr-i-sabz, where also is a peculiar kind with
They have two kinds of plums, yellow and black.
O f course, by October i ith, we were late for fresh fruit,
but I observed some of the siah, or black plums, on a
branch suspended in a shop, which, having told Yakoob
to purchase, I found particularly well flavoured. From
150 to 200 lbs. usually grow on one tree. There were
in our garden apple-trees, of which there are in the
khanate eight sorts ; but none of them autumn fruit.
These last are brought from Khiva, especially the
town of Hazarasp ; but I cannot say much for the
flavour of any I tasted in Central Asia, as compared
with good sorts in England. O f quince-trees we had
noticed abundance at Khokand and elsewhere.*
The various sunken beds, to which I have referred,
in the Bek’ s garden were connected by runnels with
the quadrangular pond near the women’s apartments,
and near this pond were shady trees and two or three
flower-beds ; but of flowers there were only three or
four varieties, and those of the commonest in England.
The Bokhariots cultivate flowers only to a very limited
extent— the rose, however, among them,— and then
not for ornament in the house, but simply to be carried.
Thus we looked thoroughly at our well-stocked
garden, and found that its far end almost touched the
city wall. I was minded to climb up and look over,
but was stopped by barriers and the swampy nature
of the ground. We had, therefore, to make ourselves
happy in confinement, and wish for the morrow.
small seeds, called bidone, or seedless. The Bokhariot gardeners
think the crop improved by the tree being dwarfed.
* They grow on almost any soil, and need little water. The fruit is
not eaten raw in Bokhara, but minced meat is mixed with them; the
seeds are administered in medicine, the pulp is used in soups, and, once
more, boiled quinces are prescribed as good against humours.