The Thirty Districts

Cultivated land used by the Kirghiz is distributed along a strip ten versts wide along the border. The Kirghiz here have been farming for fifty years. In dry years, harvests are very poor. On newly cultivated land, wheat grows only to a height of five vershoks and partly dries out, so that it does not even need to be harvested.

The first year of sowing is relatively simple: the land is plowed in autumn, and the following spring it is sown. One lob of seed may yield fifteen lobs. For four consecutive years the harvests have been very poor, and many people have abandoned agriculture. Virgin early-spring steppe that has not been plowed can be cultivated for ten years. There are houses and livestock pens on the cultivated land, so the Kirghiz remain there until late autumn.

There is no cultivated land.

There is cultivated land in the Karagandy River valley, at Site No. 92. The soil is sandy, and millet is sown.

In the Sarkulak River valley, at Site No. 84, the Kirghiz have been farming for forty years. They choose lowlands because the soil there is deeper and feather grass forms continuous turf. The soil layer is four vershoks deep, with red sand underneath. The cultivated land may be up to half a verst wide and about one verst in area. The land is plowed in autumn. One lob of seed may yield five to ten lobs.

On newly cultivated land, wheat may produce seventeenfold in the second year in a good harvest, while in the sixth year it still produces sixfold in a poor harvest. The second year gives the best yield. The land lies fallow for six to fifteen years. Cultivated land is found at Site No. 87 in the north, Site No. 180 in the east, and Sites No. 68 and No. 86 in the west.

At Site No. 180 in the Sarkulak River valley, the Kirghiz have been farming for sixty years. They first began farming after a severe rodent infestation, the so-called aq tyshqan, or “white mouse,” when ground squirrels damaged the livestock. People choose lowlands because needle grass and feather grass form turf there. The land is divided into small plots called qula, meaning “light-colored land.”

After six years, old cultivated land becomes alabas, meaning that weeds and shrubs appear. These plots are then left unused and later cultivated again. Wheat yields range from one sown yielding twelve in the first year, sixteen in the second, eight in the third, and four in the sixth year.

The available translated material does not provide a separate description for District 5. District 11 refers readers back to District 5, suggesting that its conditions may have been discussed elsewhere in the original survey.

There is cultivated land at Sites No. 58 and No. 59. Agriculture here has existed for about eighty years. Old cultivated land was allocated to the village of Znamensky. Cultivation sites are chosen in lowlands because needle grass, zhauchia, and feather grass grow there and form continuous turf. The soil is relatively light. New land is harrowed twice, and sometimes this is not even necessary.

There is also cultivated land at Sites No. 181, 182, and 183. Agriculture has existed there for fifty to sixty years. People choose places with abundant ryegrass. The same place is cultivated for eight years, of which five are fertile years. Some plots alternate with salt marshes and may support three to five households.

Additional cultivated land is found at Sites No. 70, 203, 204, 75, 76, 205, 81, 210, and 211. Crops include wheat, millet, oats, and rye. The descriptions emphasize light soils, lowland locations, repeated harrowing, and cycles of cultivation and abandonment. On abandoned fields, various grasses and shrubs return, including sedge-like grasses, kurai, zhusan, feather grass, and needle grass.

There is cultivated land at Site No. 214. The soil is qara topyraq, one-quarter sazhen deep. Feather grass and aksheleu grow on it. In the lowlands, the soil is sandy, or qumdaq.

There is cultivated land at Site No. 218. The land cultivated here belongs to wealthy households with labor power because this type of cultivation requires six to seven horses. The soil is qara topyraq, one-quarter sazhen deep, with qyzyl topyraq underneath. Needle grass and feather grass cover the soil surface. Wheat, oats, and millet are sown, although millet gives poor yields.

Cultivated land is chosen in lowlands with quba and qonyr topyraq, where needle grass and feather grass grow thickly, although they do not cover the entire ground.

Cultivated land is chosen in lowlands far from the mountains. One plot may yield three lobs of grain. Qyzyldaiyq, or red wheat, is sown. By the fourth year, the land is abandoned, after which grass grows. The fallow land is left for five years. On old fallow land, one may harvest two lobs of grain; after that, it is left unused for another five to six years.

In the first year of fallow, kurai grows; in the second year, needle grass appears; in the third year, sparse needle grass and zhusan appear and gradually replace the other grasses. Aksheleu no longer appears on fallow land.

Cultivated land is chosen in small lowland plots where the grass is denser. One plot may yield four to ten lobs of grain. The grain obtained from Site No. 198 is mostly between fifteen and one hundred poods.

Cultivated land is found in lowlands. One plot may yield five lobs of grain. The original text refers readers to District 5.

Cultivated land is located in the southwestern part of this district, at Kyzylzhor along the Chagan River, near the Tokhtar, Kultabar, Sentas, and Bairausuk mountains. People choose lowlands because more snow accumulates there in winter, and after plowing, the soil clods break apart; in spring, the soil becomes easier to cultivate. Tobylgy shrubs grow here.

Because of a shortage of labor, the cultivated area is small, although the soil is darker and not difficult to cultivate. Millet is sown. Each plot may yield four lobs of grain. In the northern part of the district, in the Kyzylkainar River valley, the Kirghiz have been cultivating for twenty years. The soil there is relatively light. Land is cultivated for six years, rested for three years, and then cultivated again.

Cultivated land is found at Sites No. 264, 265, 279, 295, and Site No. 50. People choose lowlands for cultivation because the grass grows densely there. One plot may yield three lobs of grain. Afterward, the land lies fallow for eight years. Grain produces a harvest only in rainy years.

There is no cultivated land.

There is no cultivated land.

There is no cultivated land.

There is no cultivated land.

Cultivated land is located in lowlands where the grass grows more densely and there are fewer stones on the surface.

There is cultivated land at Site No. 219. People choose places where needle grass and feather grass grow, mixed with karagana and tobylgy shrubs. The soil is qyzylqonyr, or reddish-brown soil. The soil layer is six vershoks deep, with white clay underneath. This land is difficult to plow.

Autumn plowing is used. As soon as the new land thaws in spring, it is sown. Wheat yields one sown yielding fourteen; millet yields 150 to 160; oats yield fifteen. Potatoes are planted. Five poods of wheat and oats are sown per desiatina. Agriculture has been practiced here for twenty-eight years. Old fallow land is covered with shrubs.

There is no cultivated land.

The soil is similar to that of the previous district. The vegetation is also similar to what was described for District 20.

Cultivated land is found in the western part of Group No. 271, in lowlands where needle grass forms turf. Each plot may yield six lobs of grain.

In the western part of Group No. 285, the soil is qonyr topyraq, without obvious sandy components. There are small stones on the surface and large stones in the soil layer, called chatink. Cultivation is carried out on western slopes and valley lowlands, where needle grass and feather grass form turf. New land is plowed with six horses; old cultivated land is plowed with three horses. In the best years, wheat yields one sown yielding ten.

Cultivated land is located in the southwestern part of the Kyzylte River valley. The Kirghiz of Group No. 320 use spring water to irrigate cultivated land. People cultivate lowlands where needle grass and feather grass form turf. The soil is qara topyraq, one-quarter sazhen deep, with qonyr topyraq underneath. Cultivation has been practiced for fifty years.

The Marka clan groups in Chagan volost may have begun farming from 1900 onward. In summer the land is plowed twice; new land is plowed with four to five horses. Several groups also have cultivated land at Egezbulak. After seven years, when needle grass and zhusan appear on abandoned cultivated land, people return and cultivate it for three years.

Land suitable for cultivation is less than one desiatina, so each unit is calculated by poods. There are also four farming households from the eighth and ninth auls cultivating on pasture land. These are wealthy Kirghiz. They lease these lands as mayyn, that is, on condition that part of the harvest is paid as rent.

Cultivated land lies at the boundary between the western plain and the eastern mountains of this district, along the 48th parallel north. In the northern part of the district, in the Egezbulak Mountains, there is cultivated land belonging to the Zhumus volost. Dugout dwellings are built on the cultivated land, and the Kirghiz live in them until late autumn and early spring. Cultivation has been practiced for fifteen years. People plow up archa shrubs. Wheat yields one sown yielding four to six.

There is no cultivated land.

There is cultivated land in the Chinlas valley. The soil is qonyr. There are few stones on the surface; the soil depth is one-quarter sazhen, with qyzyl-tastaq-qum, or red stony sand, underneath.

There is no cultivated land.

Cultivation is shallow and only touches the first soil layer. In some places, at a depth of one-quarter sazhen, sur-topyraq can be seen. It is not touched during cultivation because doing so would make the soil saline. Beneath the arable layer there is also aq-qum, which lies directly under the softer soil.

Soil quality is also expressed in its ability to retain water. In several groups of Beskaragai and Moldabekov volosts, soil depth and texture determine whether land can be cultivated for one, two, or several years. Millet is sown. Group No. 455 once tried to sow wheat but later abandoned it; the attempt was unsuccessful. Old cultivated land later becomes good pasture.

There is no cultivated land.

Cultivated land is usually located in the lowlands of the northern half of this district, although there are also cultivated plots on higher ground when lowlands are difficult to cultivate because of tobylgy growth. Millet, wheat, oats, and other grain crops are sown, but after no more than five to six years they cease to yield harvests. By that time, feather grass and needle grass appear on the cultivated land.

In the southern half, millet is also sown, but the same plot yields only two or three harvests and is then left fallow until needle grass and feather grass reappear, about four years later. Seeds are scattered on new land and turned into the soil with a Russian plow. A harrow is not used because the land breaks into hard clay clods; instead, a wooden harrow with iron teeth is used.

In addition to millet, wheat and oats are also sown. In some cases, five harvests are first taken: in the first year wheat or millet, then wheat for three years, and finally oats in the fifth year. The plot rests for two to four years, then is sown once more with wheat and abandoned again for three years. After that, oats are sown, and the land is again abandoned for ten years.