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found oaks, maples, poplars, holly, cherry, hawthorn, horse- 

 chestnut and dozens of other genera that reminded me of home. 

 The cause of this great difference seems to be that the snow, 

 which does not fall at all on the plains, lies much longer on the 

 northern side of the mountains and keeps the ground damp 

 enough for plants to get well started. On the Indian side it 

 does not lie at all after ordinary storms, and there are scarcely 

 any peaks with permanent snow. As a result the climate is 

 much the same as that of the Punjab except for the gradually 

 increasing effect of altitude. 



Fig. I. Even in July the sheltered valleys in Kashmir may have plenty of 

 snow. On the slopes are found alpine plants in great variety. Amarnath, Kashmir. 



Each summer we started for Kashmir by two-wheeled cart 

 as soon as college closed in June. Kashmir proper is a wonder- 

 ful valley about eighty miles long and from twenty to twenty- 

 five miles wide. It is in the heart of the mountains and is 

 nearly 200 miles from the plains by the Jhelam valley route. 

 Politically Kashmir comprises several hundred thousand square 

 miles of mountainous country including western Tibet, but 

 most of the people, and most of the cultivation is in the valley 

 itself. 



The first twenty miles is nearly level and the plants I noticed 



