THE FRUIT CULTURE ON THE HIMALAYA. 139 



to adulterate ghee. But now the demand for walnuts in the plains is great for 

 those grown in Kulu. In Jaunsar, beyond Chakrata, they are also very fine, 

 especially the thin-shelled variety. ConsideriDg how easily the fruit can be 

 distributed to distant markets, walnut cultivation ought to prove a very pro- 

 fitable undertaking. The chesnut is another tree of which it is very desirable 

 to extend the cultivation in the Himalayas, but the didiculty is to tind a soil 

 and climate where they do well. Sir Edward Buck has devoted much trouble 

 to encouraging the growth of this tree in the neighbourhood of Isimla, 



Mr. Carleton's experiments with oranges in Kulu have shown that the 

 Malta Orange can be grown successfully on the lower hills up to an elevation 

 of 4,500 ft, " In California, ' he says, •' orange cultivation is extending up to 

 the rich valleys of the Pacihc slopes, and i see no reason why in these lower 

 hills, orange cultivation should not be a success, I learn that oranges sold 

 from the Grovernment garden in G-ujranwala, and other gardens, usually fetch 

 from 5 to 8 rupees per hundred, and it is quite certain that Maltese oranges 

 sent to the Simla market in April, when there is little fruit for sale, would 

 fetch Rs. 8 and perhaps Rs, 10 per hundred. An orange tree. 8 years 

 old that gives an annual crop of over 200 oranges could give the owner a pro- 

 fit of 16 rupees, and that only on hi feet square of ground,"' 



Many other kinds of fruit can be grown successfully in Kulu, such as 

 strawberries, gooseberries, currants, raspberries, tigs, &c,, but they are all of 

 too perishable a nature for safe carriage to the nearest market. There is no 

 reason, however, why they should not be preserved either as jam or bottled 

 fruit, and the same suggestion would apply equally to peaches, apricots and 

 pears. The art of preserving fruit is one quite apart from that of its cultiva- 

 tion and requires a very different kind of experience. These two industries 

 might, however, be undertaken by a company employing experts in each 

 department, and such a business, if properly managed, could not fail to be a 

 very profitable one. instead of importing year by year enormous quantities 

 of jams and bottled fruits, India ought in reality to become an exporter of 

 such things. Even now, some of the jams made by natives at Simla and other 

 hill stations are very far superior to much of what is imported from lingland. 

 Excellent liqueurs can be prepared also from peaches, apricots and cherries 

 grown on the Himalaya. 



There are many other localities on the Himalaya besides Kulu where fruit 

 culture and fruit preserves might be undertaken with profit. The most im- 

 portant existing fruit orchards are those at Mahasu near Simla, which were 

 started about eleven years ago. To Mr. A, 0, Hume and Sir Edward Buck 

 their existence and continuous development are due, and they are now in a 

 flourishiiig condition under the control of the Simla Municipality. These and 

 the Government Gardens at Mussoorie and a few nurseries under the charge 

 of the Forest Department are the only establishments where any results are 



