The juniper is common on the hill regions and poplars and willows grow by the streams. The Russian government estab lished a plant testing station to select shrubs to plant by the rail way and thus prevent it becoming sand-covered and at Marghelan there is a government forest station from which poplars and other young trees are distributed to cultivators, the quick growth of the poplar making it specially suitable for planting round orchards and fields. The former prairie fauna of the steppe regions is giving way to the drought resisting plants of the semi-desert steppe, among these the saxaul scrub is particularly useful in a region deficient in fuel.
Agriculture.—Duiing the civil wars and disorders following the 1917 revolution the irrigation canals, which need constant cleaning and repairing, were neglected, and the sown area much diminished. This period was followed by a complete disorganiza tion of the former system of water distribution, a disaster where every drop of water is precious. Only in 1925 was order restored and a new system introduced, based largely on the confiscation of water rights from former wealthy owners, and the redistribution under government control of water and of land from the large estates. In a region where life was based on tribal and traditional systems, with recognition of the chieftain as owner and controller, this change, following on the disorders of civil war, has made life difficult, especially as most of the inhabitants are illiterate and theref ore find new laws particularly difficult to understand. However the age-long skill of the cultivators, primitive though their methods may be, and the great fertility of the region, have resulted in the revival of agriculture and in 1926-27 about 7o% of the pre-war area was again under cultivation.
The Russian government attaches particular importance to cotton cultivation for the supply of raw material to the cotton factories of the Moscow region. Efforts are therefore being made to discourage the growing of rice, which demands a great deal of water; only on the left bank of the Chirchik in the Tashkent area can rice be cultivated without loss of water to other crops. Cotton from Uzbekistan, and especially from the Ferghana and Andijan district, supplied 4o% of the requirements of the Russian cotton mills in 1926-27. The number of small cotton cleaning workshops has been reduced and larger centres now give a greater output, thus 47 centres gave of the output of 200 centres which existed in 1913. In 1926-27 a large cotton factory was built with 40,000
spindles and another is under construction which will have 6o,000. These are the first textile factories in central Asia and their con struction will, it is hoped, supply Siberia with cotton goods at cheaper rates than the European factories because of lessen'd transit costs. In 1926 a cement factory was opened at Khilkov for the same reason. The railway linking central Asia with the trans Siberian line is being pressed forward rapidly, for this develop ment of cotton growing has made the local grain supply insufficient and the republic will depend more and more on imported Siberian grain. Hydro-electric energy for the cotton industry is planned and a station at Boz Su to supply Tashkent is already working. The impact of industrialism on this region of immemorial tradi tion is already felt, especially among the women, some of whom have abandoned the veil and have formed co-operative clubs, especially in Tashkent and Samarkand. Other products are wheat, lucerne, maize, sorghum, barley, melons, cucumbers, fruits, vines, oilseeds, millet and opium poppy. The almond is common in the Ferghana valley. In the small areas not dependent on irrigation, wheat and barley are the chief crops. In 1925 a government grant was made for the introduction of more modern agricultural imple ments, especially for cotton cultivation and for new irrigation schemes and the rapid increase of yield between 1925 and 1928 indicates that, granted settled conditions, agriculture should develop in a remarkable way in the next few years. Stock raising of sheep, goats, working cattle, horses, camels, asses, mules and pigs forms an important item among the nomad and semi-nomad tribes. It suffered even more severely than cultivation during the civil war, partly because of the commandeering of horses for army purposes and of the slaughter of sheep during the food shortage, but also because many herdsmen crossed the frontier during the troubled times. Even by 1927 the number of animals was barely 7o% of that in the pre-war period and the number of horses is still markedly below normal. Silkworm breeding is an Old and important occupation.