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 174 PRODUCTS AND MANUFACTURES

(Sesamum indicum) is a very common crop. It yields 14 maunds, or 120 Ibs. per acre. ‘Til is also extracted from the walnut and apricot. Rape seed gives the best oil for lighting purposes, and linseed for eating.

Cotton is grown to a small extent all over the valley, and both the fibre and the seed are used, the one for home-manufactured cotton cloth, and the other as food for cattle.

Tobacco is cultivated in many parts. And two very beautiful crops are amaranth and saffron. The former is grown in many places along the edges of the fields, and gives a purply crimson touch to the landscape. Its minute grains are first parched, and then ground and eaten with milk or water. It is especially used by the Hindu on festival days. The latter is grown on the plateau above Pampur, and when in blossom forms one of the sights of Kashmir. The plant is like a crocus, and the flower mauve and purple. A large space of the plateau is covered with it, and this sheet of colour adds @ strikingly beautiful effect to an already beautiful landscape. The saffron of Kashmir is famous for its bouquet, and is used as a condiment and as a pigment for the forehead marks of the Hindus. The flowers