1839.] Lieut. Irwin s Memoir of Afghanistan. 899 



tall. The two last are used in building, chiefly for rafters of houses, 

 and insects do not eat their timber. All the four species are cultiva- 

 ted, though some more than others. In Kushmeer and some other 

 places the twigs of willows are given to cattle. In none of these 

 countries are osier baskets made. 



138. It is probable that the high mountains have some English trees 

 which we cannot identify from the descriptions of the natives. The 

 birch is plentiful in Kushmeer, and also many places of the Belur 

 mountains, yet its bark is imported from Russia into Bokhara, where 

 it is used to stuff saddles — an article there manufactured of good qua- 

 lity. The only species of oak is that known in systems by the name 

 Quereus Bilote, which does not become a great tree. It is not found 

 in Khoorasan, or Toorkistan, or in the warmer countries towards 

 India ; the Cabulees call it Buloot. I know not what are the trees 

 called Seah, Chob, Bulhuk, Pudda, and Gurung, 



139. The mulberry grows wild over a vast expanse of country, yet 

 is rarely seen in the plains. It grows in the vallies of all but the 

 warmest hills. Its fruit is much improved by cultivation, and it has 

 varied into at least twelve varieties, all of them good. There is a 

 difference in their ripening, but the mulberry harvest generally speak- 

 ing coincides with that of wheat and barley in the same climate. In 

 various parts of Toorkistan the mulberry is very important to the 

 natives, furnishing a fruit, a doshab, and when preserved a considera- 

 ble article of food. Now here is it so important as in Punjsher, where 

 the natives grind it into flour, and this forms the chief food of 

 the country. The mulberry plantations are so extensive that they 

 are not walled in, and some individuals are said to possess ten thou- 

 sand trees, but this seems an exaggeration. A very good tree will bear 

 ten maunds of mulberries, and if the average produce be one-third 

 of this, it is calculated to support a far greater population than tillage. 

 The produce is little affected by the seasons and is remarkably equable. 



Silk is not made except in certain quarters. Kushmeer raises enough 

 for its own scanty consumption, but Peshawur and other countries of 

 the east are supplied from abroad, chiefly from Goojrat, and our pro- 

 vinces. To the west the first place which produces silk is Gundumuk, 

 in a temperate climate between Cabul and Jellalabad, but there is none 

 in Cabul or Ghuznee ; considerable quantities are raised in the Afghan 

 Khoorasan, but less than in the Persian part of the province and in 

 Toorkistan. Great quantities are raised in Khootun. 



1 40. The pistachio tree is confined to Toorkistan and that side of the 

 Paraparnisan which lies towards it, but it is little cultivated. The wild 



