IRRIGATION IN TURKESTAN 37 



is done with a forked stick shod with iron, drawn by oxen or horses. Camels 

 are extensively used as beasts of burden, and the donkey is also much in 

 evidence. 



The climate is of the most pronounced continental type, very cold in 

 winter and hot in summer. The precipitation in the valley regions is from 

 5 to 10 inches per annum, but in the lofty mountains is very great, and is 

 mostly in the form of snow. 



The largest river in Turkestan is the Amou Daria or Oxus, which rises in 

 the high mountains of the Hindu-Kush and Kuen Lun. It is nearly 2,000 

 miles in length, 800 miles of which are the valley portions of the main stream 

 from the junction of the Panj and Vach, its principal tributaries, to the 

 Aral Sea. Innumerable small diversions for irrigation are made from this 

 stream and its tributaries in the rude way characteristic of primitive peoples. 

 There is still a very large unappropriated flow of water, but the small declivity 

 of the river and the undesirable character of the land outside of its immediate 

 valley have so far not attracted the investment of capital. 



The valley of the Amou Daria for a width of over 60 miles is occupied 

 mainly by sand dunes almost bare of vegetation and constantly shifting under 

 the action of the wind which prevails from April to September, inclusive. 

 In the winter months it blows more from other directions. It is said that 

 twelve years ago trains passing through this region averaged less than two 

 miles per hour on account of sand obstruction, and had to carry a crew of 

 laborers to shovel sand oflf the track. During the last twelve years efforts 

 have been made to cover a zone along the track with vegetation to break the 

 force of the wind and hold the sand in place. An Experiment Station was 

 established at Farob and in 1898 the propagation of native plants was begun. 

 Seeds of the native desert shrubbery were planted in a nursery, where the 

 sand was covered with brush and staked down to keep it from blowing away. 

 The young shrubs were transplanted from the nursery to a zone one thousand 

 feet wide on the west side of the railroad track and five hundred feet oni 

 the east side. About 15 to 20 per cent of the plants grew and spread by 

 natural seeding. The vegetated area is now more than one thousand feet 

 wide on each side of the track for a part of the distance, and great benefit 

 has resulted. The work is still in progress. 



The plant most successful for first use is Alhalla Kamolorum, which 

 grows most easily and abundantly. After a good stand of this is obtained 

 Salsola is introduced, which grows first as a parasite on others and finally 

 crowds them out, growing larger and being thus more effective. 



The most important and best constructed irrigation system in Turkestan 

 is on the Estate of the Czar, on the Murgab River, with headquarters at the 

 historic town of Byram Ali. 



The first recorded irrigation construction in the Murgab Valley was under 

 the authority of the Sultan Sanjar in the Twelfth Century, who built a dam 

 about 60 miles above Byram Ali and irrigated over 50,000 acres. The location 

 was at the very head of the Valley, where the sand dunes begin to encroach 

 upon the river. 



