Machine summary:
ABDUR RAHMAN KHAN* CHAPTER VII HAPTER VII deals with plants that were generally cultivated in Andalusia (Muslim Spain), with an account of their chief varieties and characteristics-nature of soil required, methods of irrigating and manuring them.
i § ('-') says that olive branches or twigs after being cut should be buried in the ground for seven days and planted without delay on the eighth.
The next section deals with the cultivation of Rand (also known as 'As and Dhamast-plants with long sweet-smelling leaves and yellow coloured fruits.
Ibn Hajjaj quotes Yunius as saying that the guava plant thrives best in 'barid' (cold) soil with excess of water.
It is best to plant the twig of a good class of tree (on a Thursday when the moon is on the wane), in a pit three spans deep filled with soil unmixed with manure.
Ibn Hajjaj in his book states, on the authority of Qastus, that fig trees can be planted both in spring and autumn but wet ground is not.
To strengthen its growth it is recommended that cotton seed be burned with' Utrujj or orange wood and its ash be mixed with wine sediment and fermented, then dried and ground to powder and sprinkled on the roots and twigs of the lemon tree.
Its root is cut and planted in gardens where it grows well and bears fruit.
According to Yunius the grape-vine must be planted in good soil well mixed with manure, and the mixture sprinkled on its roots also.