1840.] Lieut. Irwin's Memoir of Afghanistan, 43 



barley is reaping. The earliest species are certain kinds of 

 mulberry, the plumb, and a kind of apple called Jaurisigurma. 

 The latest fruit are certain kinds of apple, which ripen in 

 the end of September and beginning of October. The apricot 

 is very abundant in Ghorbund. The grapes of Cabul are much 

 celebrated^ and comprehend many varieties and degrees of esti- 

 mation ; the earliest are ripe in the last days of August. The 

 fruit gardens of Cabul on the whole, occupy a considerable part 

 of the valley, and furnish one of the greatest exports of the 

 country. In Khoorasan the fruit is good, but it does not form 

 a prominent object of culture. The pomegranates of Canda- 

 har are large and good ; some are exported. The natives of Toor- 

 kistan boast of the goodness of their fruits, and probably with 

 justice, but little reaches India. The quince of Peshawur is 

 said to excel all others. The place produces no other fruit of 

 remarkable goodness. 



176. Hay is known in most of these countries, but not 

 in all places of them. We have already seen that most of 

 the pastoral nations trust the subsistence of their stock during 

 the winter to the withered grass still remaining in the pasturing 

 grounds, even though it have been buried to a considerable 

 depth under snow. I have already mentioned the custom of 

 the Hazard Ymaks, and others, of reaping the natural grass 

 of their pastures, to serve as fodder during the winter. With 

 respect to the provinces towards India, and formerly part of 

 it, their customs, in this respect, are the same as those of that 

 country. No natural grass is reaped for hay; the only ex- 

 ception I am acquainted with in the whole of those wide 

 countries, is the custom in the countries east of the great 

 Indian desert of cutting grass at the end of the rains. A 

 provision of grass is reckoned necessary to enable a town to 

 stand a siege. The cultivation of artificial grasses is (I believe) 

 quite unknown in India, but it is very common to sow certain 

 of the khureef products, such as jooaree and moth, with a view 

 to cut them before ripening for the stock. When so intended, 

 they are always sown thicker than usual, and called churee ; 

 part is given green, but more is reserved to be dry food 

 during the cold season. The same custom prevails in Cabul 



