FARMERS' REGISTER— FLOATING GARDENS. 



13 



cruise either on the African or Brazilian coast 

 hereafter, will obviously repay the liberal attention 

 that has been bestowed upon it." 



A short time after the visit of the brig Slaney, 

 the William Harris, a transport, landed at the 

 island a cari^o ol" live-stock, horses, hares, rabbits, 

 pheasants, poultry, p:u-tridges, &c., seeds of vege- 

 tables, agricultural implements, and a supi)ly of 

 necessaries lor the garrison, who all enjoyed very 

 good health. In return, she took a large quantity 

 of line turtle, with which the island aboimds; and 

 according to Capt. Leslie, it furnishes the finest 

 in creation," being " not only fat and large, but in 

 the highest perfection lor eating. Their weight, 

 in general, is from one to seven hundred pounds. 

 They are of all 1 ever tasted, the fattest and the 

 finest; all others I ever saw before bear no com- 

 parison with them." 



FLOATING GARDENS OF CASHMERE. 



From the London Penny Magazine. 



The city of Cashmere, being the capital of the 

 province of that name in Asia, is situated in the 

 midst of numerous lakes, connected with each 

 other, and with the River Vedusta, by cantds, 

 separated by narrow lines and insulated plots ol' 

 ground. Upon these lakes are floating gardens, 

 cut ofl" generally from the body of the lake by a 

 belt of reeds; the cidtivation of which is not only 

 very singular, but highly profitable, and worthy 

 of imitation in many parts of Europe as a re- 

 source lor raising Ibod lor man. The second num- 

 ber of the ' Journal of the Geographical Society' 

 contains a notice of the Natural Productions and 

 Agriculture of Cashmere, from which the follow- 

 ing account is compiled: — 



The city of Cashmere is subject to considerable 

 inundations, which have become annually more 

 frequent, through the neglect of the government 

 in not checking the accumulation of weeds and 

 mud, which diminish the depth, and consequently 

 increase the surface of the lakes. This has sug- 

 gested the expediency of a floating sup])ort by 

 which vegetables are cultivated in salety, deriving 

 as much moisture as is beneficial ^vithout the risk 

 of being destroyed. Various aquatic plants spring 

 from the bottom of the lakes, as water lilies, 

 sedges, reeds, &c.; and as the boats which traverse 

 those waters take generally the shortest lines they 

 can pursue to their destination, the lakes are in 

 some parts cut into avenues as\ it were, separated 

 by beds of .sedges and reeds. Here the farmer 

 establishes his cucumber and melon floats, by cut- 

 ting olF the roots of the aquatic plants about two 

 feet under water, so that they completely lose all 

 connection with the bottom of the lake, but retain 

 tlieir situation in respect to each other. When 

 thus detaclied from the soil, they are pressed into 

 somewhat closer contact, and formed into long 

 beds of about two yards breadth. The heads of 

 the sedges, reeds, and other plants of the float, 

 are next cut off and laid upon its surface, and 

 covered with a thin coat of mud, which, at fir.st 

 interrupted in its descent, gradually sink into the 

 mass of matted stalks. The bed floats, but is 

 kept in its place by a stake of willow driven 

 through it at each end, Avhich admits of its rising 

 and falling in accommodation to the rise and fall 

 of the water. By means of a long pole thmst 



among the reeds at the bottom of the lake Irom 

 the side of a boat, and turned round several tunes, 

 a (juantity of plants are torn off from the bottom, 

 and carried in the boat to tlie platform, where the- 

 weeds are twisted into conical movmds about two 

 leet in diameter at their base, and of the same 

 height, terminating at the top in a hollow, which 

 is filled with Iresli soft mud, and sometimes wood 

 ashes. The liirmer has in preparation a number 

 of cucumber and melon plants, raised under mats, 

 and of these, when they have four leaves, he 

 places three plants in the basin of every cone or 

 mound, of which a double row runs along the 

 edge of every bed at about two feet distance from 

 each other. No further care is necessary except 

 that of collecting the fruit, and the expense of pre- 

 paring tiie platibrms and cones is very trifling. 

 i\ir. ISloorcroft traversed about fifty acres of these 

 floating gardens of growing cucumbers and melons, 

 and saw not above lialf a dozen unhealthy plants; 

 and he says, he never saw in the cucumber and 

 melon grounds, in the vicinity of populous cities 

 in Europe or in Asia, so large an expanse of 

 plant in a state of equal health or luxuriance of 

 growth. The general depth of the floating beds 

 is about two liiet, and some of them are seven 

 feet broad. The season lasts for three months 

 and a hallj beginning in June. From the first 

 setting of 4lie ii-uitto the time of j)ulling, seven or 

 eight days are the ordinal-}^ period. Thirty fiiU- 

 sized fruit Irom each plant, or liom ninety to a 

 hundred from each cone, are the average crops. 

 The seed of the melon is brought annutdly from 

 Bahistan, and the first year yields fruit of from four 

 to ten pounds each in weight; but if the seed be 

 re-sown, the produce of the second year exceeds 

 not li-oni two to three pounds. Unless when eaten 

 to great excess, the melon produces no disorders, 

 and it is remarked that healthy peoj^le who live 

 upon this fruit during the season, become very 

 speedily liit; and the effect upon horses fed upon 

 this fruit is reported to be the- same. In the early 

 part of the season, cucumbers of full size sell at 

 the rate of about three for a piece of coin of the 

 value of a halfpenny; but as the weather becomes 

 hotter, and the plants get into full bearing, ten, 

 fifteen, and even twenty are purchased for this 

 price. It is calculated that every cone yields a 

 money return of about eighteen-pence. Allow- 

 ing six-pence for labour of every description, and 

 including also the tax, the clear profit is a shilling 

 for every two square yards. The yield of the 

 melon is numerically less, but the return of profit is 

 at least equal. No other vegetables are raised 

 upon the spaces between the cones, ahhough Mr. 

 Moorcrott thinks that onions, cresses, and other 

 useful vegetables might be raised upon them; and 

 water-mint grows spontaneously ujjon the floats. 

 Cashmere, or Cassimere, is one of the northern 

 provinces of India Avithin the Ganges. It is sur- 

 rounded by mountains, and from its beauty and 

 fertility has been called the Paradise of the Indies. 

 It contains upwards of 100,000 villages, is well 

 stocked with cattle and game, and is said to be 

 unmolested by beasts of prey. The people are 

 ingenious, and I'csemble the Europeans in their 

 persons, and the women are fair and tall. The 

 famous Cashmere shawls derive their name from 

 this country, though at present the supply tliat 

 QctuaJly coines fi'om it is compurulively small. 



