438 
VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS OE THE PUNJAB AND KASHMIR. 
cold and slight frosts. The pots too, should 
be turned round in their holes to prevent their 
rooting through, and to break off any that do 
protrude. Alter this, they may be planted 
where you please as established plants. 
The raising of seedlings is an interesting 
process, not only with the view of obtaining 
a supply of young plants of the several species, 
but also to procure hybrid varieties. This 
has been already done in some cases, for the 
Magnolia S unhinge ana is a hybrid so ob- 
tained, originated by accidental fertilization ; 
and doubtless other instances have occurred. 
Loudon has appositely remarked, that when 
the attention of cultivators becomes more 
especially directed to this subject, many new 
varieties may be expected ; and the late Dr. 
Herbert has intimated some of the channels 
which it seems desirable such experiments 
should take. He thinks that some beautiful 
and hardy varieties might be obtained by 
fertilizing the seeds of Magnolia grandiflora 
with the pollen of M. tripetala, or M. con- 
spicita. Another cross which has been sug- 
gested, is between the hardy evergreen large 
white-flowered M. grand] [flora., and the small 
brown-flowered, but richly odoriferous, M. 
fuscata. Magnolia grandiflora, and M. pur- 
purea also, would probably yield a progeny, 
which would possess some interesting novelty 
in the distribution of characteristics ; and in 
this way a great amount of variety may be 
imparted to the genus — naturally one of the 
finest in cultivation. 
VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS OF THE PUNJAB AND KASHMIR. 
The conquest of the Punjab, the annexation 
of Sindh, and the colonisation of Labuan, 
have lately formed the fertile themes of dis- 
cussion and dispute. In most questions dis- 
cussion is compatible with a wide degree of 
knowledge, but in those matters connected 
with the wealth, the resources, the soil, the 
climate of a country, information would in all 
instances render controversy unnecessary. 
"We hear from one quarter that a country is 
barren ; from another, that it is fertile ; from 
one, that it is a deadly swamp or a naked 
desert ; from another, that it is a smiling plain, 
or a succession of verdant hills, with a rich 
and productive soil. Contradiction supplies 
here the place of argument, and facts only can 
arbitrate. On the subject of our policy in the 
Punjab, discussion has been particularly rife. 
Two fields of dispute have been marked out : 
the one, the justice, the other the wisdom of 
annexation. With the justness of the affair 
we have now nothing to do ; and as regards 
the wisdom of it, we can only interfere with a 
particular branch of it, which is, whether we 
have taken possession of a region whose soil 
is capable of returning fruit for seed, harvest 
for labour, reward for the toil of tillage. 
Nature is in most new countries the most 
busy agent to cover the surface of the earth 
with vegetation. We shall now ramble over 
the region, and take a few passing glances at 
its aspect, and from this the reader may form 
an opinion. It is well known that the Punjab 
is formed of hills of considerable height, plains 
of wide extent, and deep valleys. In the vast 
flat solitudes, sweeps of jungle and large 
grass flats predominate, while an occasional 
desert tract lies between the greener portions 
and the wild provinces beyond its borders. 
Along the foot of the mountain ridges usually 
extends a fringe of cultivated land, covered 
with luxuriant verdure, dotted with towns 
and hamlets, and tilled by a peaceful and 
laborious population. Everywhere, indeed, 
over the surface of the country, groves of trees 
and patches of cultivated land mark the posi- 
tion of villages, whilst in the neighbourhood 
of cities the surrounding plain bears a rich 
harvest, with orchards, gardens, and expanses 
of bright green grass, affording pasture to herds 
and flocks, both numerous and valuable. We 
cannot, in a sketch like the present, endea- 
vour to lay before the reader an account at 
once regular or complete, of the vegetation 
of the Punjab. Nor, did circumstances per- 
mit, should we choose at present to do so. 
Descriptions, laborious in detail, square in 
outline, and minute in particulars, may be 
useful; but, for the general reader, it is only 
necessary that an impression should be left on 
the mind, that he may possess an idea of the 
aspect and vegetable value of the country, 
which, to all intents and purposes, is enough 
for ordinary purposes. The other mode may 
be more correct, ours we fancy is the more 
agreeable, and to instruct and please is now 
our object. 
We enter now the outskirts of a city, where 
we find ourselves in the midst of fields, where 
crops of wheat of large and heavy grain, 
unequalled harvests of barley, and waving ex- 
panses of rice, constitute the principal features 
of the scene. The natives are at work digging 
wells, raising water, tending their oxen, or car- 
rying on the other processes of agricultural life. 
The produce in grain of some districts is very 
considerable, and serves both for the consump- 
tion of the home population and the staple of 
a thriving trade. The aspect of the plain, im- 
mediately before harvest time, is most luxu- 
