VITIS 



VINIFBRA 



Kashmir 



"Viti- 

 culture. 



Varieties Grown. 



Races Grown. 



Early Maturity. 



Seasons. 



Panjab. 



Peshawar. 

 Kohat. 

 Kuram. 

 Bannu. 



"Vineyards 



ofKashmir. 

 Wine. 



Red and White. 

 Brandy. 



THE GRAPE VINE 



Liber Serapionis, 1473, 35 ; Nicolo Conti, Travels in the East, in India in the 15th 

 Cent. (ed. Major), 15; Ain-i-Akbari (Blochmann, transl.), i., 65; also (Jarrett, 

 transl.) ii., 350; Ligon, Hist. Barbados, 1657, 80; Maiidelslo, Travels, 1662, in 

 Olearius, Hist. Muscovy, etc., 34 ; Ta vernier, Travels in Ind., 1676 (ed. Ball), ii., 

 282 ; Ovington, Voy. to Suratt, 1689, 8, 234, 303 ; Vigne, Travels in Kashmir, 

 1842, ii., 53 ; Hoffmeister, Travels, 1848, 372, 377-9 ; Bentham, Rev. of Targioni- 

 Tozzetti, in Journ. Hort. Soc., 1855, ix., 156-7 ; De Candolle, Orig. Cult. Plants, 

 1882, 191-4 ; Joret, Lea PI. dans VAntiq., etc., 1904, ii., 280-1.] 



VITICULTURE AND WINE AND RAISIN MANUFACTURE. 



According to Woodrow (Gard. in Ind., 1903, 227), " The favourite 

 varieties of grape that are grown in Europe have been introduced many 

 times into India, but with few exceptions fail to become established." 

 He then mentions the following forms as having been acclimatised and 

 as being cultivated successfully in India generally : White Mascadine 

 (safed angoor) ; White Portugal (Cashmeree or White Tokay, valayati 

 angur) ; Black Monukka (bae-danae angur) ; Black Hamburg (hubshee 

 angur) ; and Faquira. Details regarding the methods of propagation, etc., 

 as applicable to India, are given in detail in the same publication, but 

 space does not permit of full treatment in this work. Perhaps one of 

 the most important points to which attention should be paid, is the in- 

 fluence of atmospheric moisture. The fruit will not ripen when once 

 the rains have broken, so that early maturity stock in direct adaptation 

 to climatic conditions is essential. Firminger (Man. Gard. Ind., 1904, 

 271) states that " the driest and hottest period of the year is when grapes 

 ripen finest. This will be March in the Deccan, May in the vicinity of 

 Calcutta, and June in the Upper Provinces." 



Panjab. Henderson remarks that "in many parts of the Panjab, 

 the vine thrives quite as well as in Europe," and Baden-Powell (Pb. 

 Prod., 271) enumerates twelve different forms recognised there. Practi- 

 cally no information, however, is available regarding viticulture in recent 

 years in the Panjab. The reports of the experiments carried on at the 

 Agri-Horticultural Gardens of Lahore contain little information, and are 

 mostly a record of failure. While that is so, there are several very dis- 

 tinctive grapes regularly sold in the larger towns (such as the small seedless 

 grape of the Delhi market) that seem well worthy of special study. Sly 

 (Agri. Journ. Ind., i., pt. iii., 268-9) discusses the fruit culture of the 

 North- West Frontier Province. He says that 4,000 acres are under 

 orchards, of which 2,700 are in Peshawar. He then discusses the grapes of 

 Peshawar, Kohat, Kuram and Bannu. (For raisin Vinegar, see pp. 1 1 10-1.) 



wines of Kashmir. But the interest in Upper India centres very largely 

 in the vineyards of the State of Kashmir. In the time of the Emperor 

 Akbar, as already indicated, wine production was a very general industry, 

 and held then a much more important place than at the present day. 

 During the time of the Emperor Jahangir, the grapes of Kashmir were 

 improved, but shortly after the decline set in which has been already 

 alluded to. Coming down to modern times, the subject next assumed 

 interest in 1876, when the late Maharajah Ranbir Singh took up the enter- 

 prise of vine-growing, and in 1885 had 352,525 plants in his various vine- 

 yards. At the Calcutta International Exhibition of 1884, red and white 

 wines and also brandies made in Kashmir from the pure juice of the grape 

 were exhibited, and obtained a gold medal and were highly commended 

 for purity and excellence. This circumstance has often been overlooked, 

 and the old tradition of India not producing wine been every now and 



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