118 



The Jolrxal of Herkditv 



Well, the results of this antiquated 

 system of culture arc: First, that the 

 stand of the cotton is very irregular; 

 second, much water is wasted by not 

 cultivating regularly; third, by not 

 sowing in rows, all of the weeding and 

 cultivating has to be done by hand; 

 fourth, in case of failure of water, as 

 occurs often, the small plots of land dry 

 out to such an extent, that the harvest 

 becomes almost nil. The alfalfa fields, 

 however, looked very nice and they 

 found this useful plant their steadiest 

 money-maker. In frtiit and vegetable 

 culture one could clearly sec that time 

 and knowledge were lackin..';. In general 

 one has to sympathize with such Ger- 

 man settlers who are willing to rough 

 it in such for-away corners of the Rus- 

 sian Empire, where they, at the utmost, 

 are able to become owners of small plots 

 of land, without having any of the 

 pleasures or culture of the more pro- 

 gressive races of men. 



THE USEFUL CAMEL'S THORN. 



The desert around Menv is quite 

 interesting. The camel's thorn, Alhagi 

 camelorum, covers tens of thousands of 

 acres of land. It was in full bloom and 

 its small pinkish-purple flowers, pro- 

 duced by the million, gave color to the 

 landscape, just like the heath in north- 

 west Europe does. This camel's thorn 

 is a very useful plant here. Firstly, it 

 is a great feed for the camels, who are 

 said to love this plant better than any 

 other wild herb. Secondly, it is mown, 

 dried and used as a fuel. Nearly all of 

 the bricks in the oases are baked through 

 the heat of this plant. Thirdh', it is a 

 great sand binder, growing even in 

 l)ure, sterile sand and as it is legu- 

 minous, it prepares the soil, by enriching 

 it, for better vegetation. As I move 

 along I may find out still more about 

 this plant. 



Beside the camel's thorn there also 

 grows a very spiny acacia-like plant, 

 in the desert. It is not ugly as a soli- 

 tary plant, but it is a bad weed on all 

 untrodden jjlaces; some Lycivims I saw, 

 too, and a few minor things, but as a 

 whole the desert flora is not rich in 

 species. One finds, however, in the 

 desert around Merw man\- canals. 



some still in use, some dried up; they 

 say that some of these man-made water- 

 courses are 3000 years of age and, if so, 

 there is surely "little new under the 

 sun", so far as irrigation is concerned. 

 The ])resent people here have a great 

 hojjc for the future as far as the bring- 

 ing-under-culturc of desert land is con- 

 cerned. Large, new canals are being 

 dug, new settlements started, and with 

 present high prices of cotton, people 

 can be comfortably off in some years 

 time. 



AT thf: i.\ii'i-;rial estate. 

 On June 16 we went to the Imperial 

 Estate, "AlurgaVj", where fine things 

 were reported to exist. We looked at 

 the very imposing avenues of the Kara- 

 kach, saw the fruit-orchards, where the 

 apricot trees were fully as heavily 

 loaded as in California, saw the nur- 

 series with fruit and ornamental trees 

 of many kinds. There are a few 

 varieties of apricots and of pears and 

 quinces, that seem out of the ordinary 

 and of which I hope to get scions or 

 plants. Well, after we had looked 

 around for a couple of hours we went 

 back to the police again and this time 

 found the chief himself, a tall, elderly, 

 soldier-like chap, who had looked up 

 all our references and had come to the 

 conclusion that when St. Petersburg 

 allowed me to take photos of trees and 

 l^lants, there wouldn't be any crime 

 committed if he also permitted me to do 

 so, but to be on the safe side he gave a 

 swarthy policeman to show us the 

 beauties of the place 



On Friday, June 17, we left Merw 

 again for Chartchui, this time with the 

 assistant, who had gotten his passports 

 into shajic. He is an honest fellow, who 

 serx'cd his three years as a soldier, and 

 loves the mountains better than the 

 routine work of his little farm. 



forest in moving sand. 

 On Saturday, June 18, we first paid 

 a visit to the police where we were in- 

 formed that, although i)hotogra])hing 

 was allowed in Central Asia, this district 

 was exempted from it, as it was in 

 Bokhara, and the Political Agent in the 

 city of Bokhara, alone had the power to 

 give that permission. No wonder that 



