Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-07-26
AMID ANCIENT RUINS
The Cars Cotton Plantation
in the Merv Oasis.
BEGUN AS EXPERIMENT
American Methods Introduced, But
Operation Is Expensive.
REGION OF HISTORIC INTEREST
First of Three Crumbling Cities Was
the Antiochia of the Ancient
Greeks.
BEGUN AS EXPERIMENT
REGION OF HISTORIC INTEREST
BY WILLIAM f. CURTIS.

BY WILLIAM F.. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence of The Star and the
Chicago Record Herald.
MERV, Turkestan. June %. 1910.
The soil and climate of the Merv oasis
are especially adapted to raising cotton,
and Immediately after Russian occupation
in the early eighties tons of seed were
imported from the United States and dis
tributed among the native farmers. The
ancient irrigation system was overhauled
and rebuilt by government engineers and
extended as far as the resources of the
Murghab river would permit. Two hun
dred thousand acres of the land thus
added to the cultivated area were made
over to Alexander II, a monarch of noble
character and benevolent disposition, who
established here model plantation and
colonized it with about 800 emancipated
serfs. The headquarters Of the planta-
ton, which are on an expensive and ex-
tensive scale, are located at the railway
station called Bairam Ali, about ten miles
east of Merv and Immediately south of
the ruins of the ancient city of that
name.
The cars plantation has never paid a
profit. Indeed, it costs an average of 1000
a year to meet the deficits. But, If the
privy purse were not behind the enter
prise. the management would doubtless
be more economical and the. expenses
were not increased. There are about 300
workmen, Russians, kirghiz Tehkes. At
ghans and other natives, under the direc-
ton of Russian superintendent. and
several assistants who are provided with
comfortable residences and are furnished
with most of their supplies.
Up-to-Date Equipment.
Several American experts have been
employed at one time or another to in
struct the colonists in the art of cultivat-
ing cotton and in the use of modern i'm
plements and machinery. There is a
Greek orthodox church where the en-
ployes may worship, a hospital and free
dispenSary, with surgeon and free
nurses. where they may go if they are
sick or injured. The repair shops are big
enough for dozen such plantations;
there is a ginhouse, compress and
cottonseed oil mill with American ma
chinery, bakery where the employees
can buy bread, a bazaar where they can
obtain other supplies, fruit-canning es
Establishment equipped with the latest APP
paratus, where tomatoes and other vege-
tables are canned and strawberry and
apricot jams and preserves are made for
the market. Everything is run by cleo
tricity generated with petroleum fuel :
The cotton crop Will average about 500
pounds to the acre, with 10000 acres UNI
der cultivation. Part of it is leased on
cash rental, part is worked by shares
and the remainder is cultivated by the
superintendent of the estate as model
for the education of the farmers of Tur-
kestan and for experimental purposes.
1t is altogether an expensive fancy plant,
with several purely ornamental features.
and great deal of the earnings are
wasted in the purchase of new machin-
cry that is not needed and in experiments
that are not always wise.
There is a decided difference of Opin-
ion as to the effect of the cars exam
pie. Some critics insist that it is per-
nicious and that it has done a great deal
of harm by misleading the native farm
ers into the adoption of extravagant
methods. The usefulness of such an es-
tablishment is always governed by the
economies it can teach, and, as one well
informed gentleman remarked, economy
is the only thing that is not taught on
the cars farm.