It is impossible for me to say how many square miles of cultivated land, or of land capable of cultivation, the three Khanats possess. The frequent wars and unsettled times sufficiently explain the numerous ruins of former flourishing colonies. Of the Khanat of Khiva thus much at all events may be assumed, that the area of territories laid waste and turned into deserts is larger than the land at present under cultivation. With the exception of a few single productions, with which the three Khanats carry on an export trade among each other, and with Russia, only so much of the rest is grown as is required for home consumption. There is no doubt that not only might the quality of all present productions be essentially improved, but also considerably multiplied.
A short survey of the productions of the three Khanats will help to explain and confirm in detail all I have hitherto stated.
Wheat and barley are the most important among the cereals grown in the oasis countries of Turkestan. There are four kinds of wheat:--
1. _Bukhara budayi_ (Bokhara wheat) is considered the finest; it has a long, thin, and reddish grain, with a greenish top. Of this sort the delicious bread is baked, in the preparation of which the town of Bokhara excels, and which is famed far and wide under the name of _shirmaye_ (milk-marrow).
2. _Tokmak bash_ (cuneiform top) has a round, thick grain; it is very substantial, and most like our wheat. The best quality is found in Khiva.
3. _Kara süllü_ (black-haired) has a thin and dark-brown grain; it is chiefly used as food for horses, not being of a particularly good quality.
4. Yazlik (summer-fruit) takes a very short time to grow; it is exceedingly light, and, when used, is mixed with other kinds of wheat.
Barley is not so good in Central Asia as in Persia or Turkey. There is, besides the usual sort, an inferior one, called _karakalpak_ in Khiva, which is here used, as everywhere in the East, as food for horses. The average prices of all cereals are exceedingly low, as compared with the countries of western Asia. The price of a Khiva batman of the best wheat varies from two to three tenge (one tenge, seventy-five cent.), whilst barley costs often less than one tenge, and seldom more.