There are four sorts of apples grown, and that of Hezaresp may boldly challenge the productions of our European horticulture.

The mulberry, too, is larger, more varied, and sweeter than ours, and to this superiority we must, perhaps, ascribe the fact, that the silk of Central Asia is better than the Italian and French, and that a certain disease among silk-worms, common with us for many years, is there quite unknown.

The rearing of silk-worms came originally from Chinese Tartary, especially from Khoten, where, as M. Reinaud[28] correctly remarks, it was introduced in the first century of our era from the interior of China. Silk stuffs of native manufacture were known in Bokhara in pre-Islamitic times, according to the testimony of a certain Manuscript,[29] which treats of the ancient history of Bokhara. It is no exaggeration to assert that the cultivation, spinning, and dyeing of silk, is a still more primitive process in the three Khanats than in China itself, where industrial progress, no doubt, effected many changes, whilst here everything has remained as it was years ago. The Khanat Bokhara supplies most of the raw silk; it is produced in the capital, in Samarkand, and among the Lebab-Turkomans. Much also comes from the Khanat of Khokand, in the neighbourhood of Mergolan and Namengan. Khiva contributes but little, and this little is inferior in quality to the productions of the other Khanats, though, as competent judges have assured me, it is far superior to the silk of Gilan and Mazendran, in Persia. The manipulation, however, is very imperfectly performed. I was struck with the manner of winding off the cocoons, which were placed in a cauldron of boiling water and stirred with a broom, until a certain number of threads unwind themselves, which are then wound round the broom. The dyeing is almost exclusively in the hands of the Jews, the weaving is done by the Tadjik and Mervi, who, in accordance with the taste and fashion of the country, prepare only stuffs of glaring colours.

In former times, especially during the Arabian occupation, the silk stuffs of Central Asia were celebrated throughout the East; but when the cleverest of the artisans were transferred by the conquerors to Damascus and Bagdad, the old art gradually disappeared, and is now gone for ever, in spite of the efforts of Timur to transplant it back from Transoxania. How great is the quantity of silk produced here, is shown by the circumstance, that the greater part of the cotton stuffs, called aladja, that are generally worn, are strongly intermixed with silk; that not only the rich, but every man of middle rank, possesses one or more garments, several table-cloths and pocket-handkerchiefs made of silk; and that a considerable export trade in silk is carried on, not only with Persia, India, and Afghanistan, but to a large extent with Russia.

The cotton in Central Asia promises to become an important article for the future. It is cultivated in large quantities in the three Khanats, furnishing the material for the upper and under garments of every body, high and low, for their bed-clothes, and cloths of every kind. The cotton in Turkestan is better than the Indian, Persian, and Egyptian, and is said to equal the far-famed American cotton. At present, however, Russia alone consumes this article in her manufactures at Moskau, Wladimir, Tverskoy, &c., and in quantities which increase annually in a surprising degree. The manufacturers complain greatly of the clumsy management of the planters, especially of the insufficient cleansing of the cotton from the seeds, as well as of the dishonesty of the traders, who wet the bales, or fill them with stones, to make them heavier. Nevertheless, the cotton, which is imported from Khiva and Bokhara by Orenburg, is almost indispensable to Russian industry.

In Central Asia the cultivation of cotton is comparatively easy and convenient, the cotton fields requiring no irrigation, and the rain being considered, if anything, prejudicial even in the spring. A hard, stony ground, called Soga, is always chosen, and is ploughed once; on the whole, the cultivation of cotton is the least troublesome of all field occupations. According to the statistical dates of the Orenburg custom-house the greatest quantity of cotton is produced in the Khanat of Bokhara; this statement, however, rests upon an error, since the caravans of Khiva, when crossing the Jaxartes, frequently join the Bokhariots, or they give themselves out for Bokhariots; these latter standing on a much better footing with the Russians, whilst the people of Khiva are in very ill favour with them. I know from my own experience, and have convinced myself by frequent inquiries, that not only is the cultivation of cotton far more flourishing in Khiva, but its quality is far superior to that in the two sister Khanats. The pod, here called gavadje, is smaller than that of Bokhara; but the cotton is much finer and whiter even than the guzei sefid, that is, the first quality of Bokhariot cotton industry. The Central Asiatics themselves give the preference to the Khiva production, a fact which tends to confirm our opinion. In dyeing and weaving Bokhara stands pre-eminent, but the stuffs from Khiva are better paid in her capital than her own manufactures. They are exported to Afghanistan, India, and Northern Persia, and are a highly-prized article even among the nomads.

There is no doubt that the cotton of the oasis countries will one day considerably increase in value. Several circumstances of paramount and urgent necessity must combine to further this object. Above all things, it is requisite that important improvements should be introduced in the mode of cultivation; our European machines should come in aid of the cleansing and packing, and the roads should be rendered, as far as possible, secure. By these means the cotton would not only be improved in quality, but, without any great additional expense, the quantity might be considerably multiplied. It is very probable that Central Asia may one day, although not in the immediate future, be to Russia what New Carolina is to the manufacturing towns of England at the present day.

The immense increase in the exportation of cotton from Central Asia is shown very clearly in the Blue Books of 1862 and 1865, in the list which Mr. Saville Lumley, former secretary to the English embassy at St. Petersburg, has contributed. According to this official statement the Khanats exported to the value of—

Bokhara.Khiva.Khokand.
Roubles.Roubles.Roubles.
————————————
1840-18502,065,697470,78116,851
————————————
1853280,514133,799
1854509,600248,347The
1855513,023185,683dates
1856501,22536,050are
1857578,48366,776wanting.
1858634,64359,729
1859495,0652,274
1860721,89922,4294,907
————————————
Total4,234,412755,0874,907