VITI8 



KASII.MIK AND K \N\\SU< siFERA 



Viticulture 



:iinent.-d on. It can and does produce wine, and no one eajt 

 thai it> win.- industrv of the futun- mav not }* rnr ,,n,- ., 

 comm.-rnal triumplis. -he great 



<-'i <>n ih. 'in. tin- \ it, .-\.ir.is of Kusliinir have not as yet proved 

 access anticipated, , in d M , IH'.KI it became at the vine* 



wen- suiTei-in*; fn.m //////.,.,, With r- Uwreooe 



(VnU,-;i ../ l\<nshmir, 1895, 3 ite^ that ,-ines were at 



oner imported, and are now gradually replacing the unhealthy Bordeaux 

 plants." 



Commenting on the declm,- of the production of the eating grape, 

 Lawrence observes that the people cut down their good vines in order to 

 a\ old the exactions of oHicials. "The grapes, v State 



vineyard at Raipur in the Sind Valley are delicious, and effort* are being 

 made to reproduce the Raipur vines in other parts of the valley. With 

 the decline of the eating grapes, there has been an attempt to introduce 

 the wine grape, and at present there are 389 acres of vineyards on the 

 shore of the Dal Lake. The vines were introduced from the Bordeaux 

 disti ' Perhaps the vines of Burgundy would have been more suit- 



able to Kashmir. Costly distillery plant was imported and set up at 

 Gupkar on the Dal Lake, and wines of the Medoc and Barsac varieties, 

 sometimes good, sometimes bad, have been manufactured year by year." 

 " Besides the Medoc and Barsac, which are sold at Gupkar, a large amount 

 of apple brandy is distilled and finds a ready sale." " The vineyards are Appto 

 under the direct management of the State, and, in spite of supervision, 

 the vines do not receive the sedulous cultivation which alone can give 

 success." "The business in present circumstances does not pay." ['/. 

 Sruythies, in Agri. Ledg., 1894, No. 15, 24-5, 27-8; Coldstream, Vine 

 Cult, in Kanawar, in Ind. Gard., Aug. 14, 1898 ; Kept*. Agri.-Hort. 

 Gardens, Lahore.'] 



United Provinces. Practically nothing of a definite nature has been U. Prov. 

 written regarding grape cultivation in these provinces. The vine is said 

 to fruit well in most districts throughout the plains, but the grapes are Ussatod far 

 quite unsuited for wine manufacture. On the hills, however, it is other- 

 wise, since at Kumaon, Kanawar. etc., a fairly large industry exists in Kanswie. 

 vine cultivation. In Kanawar the vine has been cultivated since the 

 <>arly classic period, and several writers have spoken in hiirh terms of the 

 vines of Dehra Dun (Ind. For., 1889, xv., 313-5). In the Reports of the 

 Botanic Gardens at Saharanpur will be found some information regarding 

 the experimental cultivation of foreign, mostly Afghan, varieties. 



" In Upper Kunawar," says ('leghorn ( Journ. Agri.-Hort. Soc. Ind., xiii., 382). 

 "the vine is extensively cultivated and ripens its crop at an elevation of 

 43,000 to 9,000 feet. The first plants are seen at Nm )mr. l.ut the > lunate there .000 to /* 

 is not suitable; beyond the Miru ridge which intercepts the heavy rlmi.!*, the *'** 

 smaller amount of rain favours the ripening of the grapes. The vineyards o<-' 

 sheltered situations, generally on the steep slope ftimn; the river. The vines 

 arc supported on poles three or four feet from the ground, connected by horizontal 

 ones. The fruit hangs below the shade of the leaves, never exposed to the 

 A considerable portion of the crop is dried on the house-top and stored as raisins 

 for winter use, but without care, and many grapes are spoiled in the process. 

 For several years the crop has been deficient, the grapes dropping off before 

 they were ripe from unseasonable falls of rain and snow. This year, 1864* the 

 rainfall was moderate, but the O/*MIN or vine disease appeared in the valley, 

 and destroyed tunny vineyards. The fresh fruit is exported to Simla for sale 

 in kiltcu or large hill baskets, and the small seedless grapes dried are also sold 

 there as ' fine Zante currants ' at 2 rupees per pound. At Akps, and Poari the 



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