'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. I. 1918' [‎181] (190/568)

AGRICULTURE AND LAND TENURE 181
T
111 upper Mesopotamia the vine is common in the hill-country.
'fear r • vere vineyards produce a wine which has some local repu-
cri^i Nation. Other fruits more or less widely distributed are pome-
iiilontij: S rana tes, melons, water-melons, oranges, apricots, mulberries,
mkidii a mou ' P eac hes, plums, figs, apples, pears, and cherrifes. The
oranges of upper Mesopotamia are of good quality ; the fruit ripens
by December. The olive is cultivated in some of the lower hill
districts.
The figs, apricots, and plums grown in Mesopotamia are said to be
likii eX . , ; e i an ^ ^ as ^ een suggested that the dried-fruit industry
2 might be profitably developed. ^
Vegetables. —Among the vegetables of Irak are bamia (okra).
• ♦ <. _ v./ \J\AJ S i V VKAJ ^ V^J.VJL CV J y
onions, radishes, beet-root, cucumber, garlic, cabbages, cauliflowers,
ni P S ' carr ?H tomatoes, artichokes, lettuce, brinjals, cress, and
» tt pumpkins. Most of the garlic used in Irak is imported from Persia.
-• The cultivation of the potato is being introduced.
mm ^ n 0
importance, except near the larger towns. In the Basra vilayet it
MWf was only in suburban districts that the produce of vegetable gardens
. , . Befoie the war the cultivation of vegetables in Irak was of little
taUli
Mitt was regularly assessed for rent or revenue7 Elsewherr landlords
were usually content to receive from vegetable-plots such presents in
Itelt kind as their tenants might offer them. Recently vegetable culti-
Em vation has been greatly developed in the areas occupied bv the
, British.
Vegetables raised in Arabistan include tomatoes, lettuce, cucum-
iitW bers, garlic, and onions.
In upper Mesopotamia are grown bamia (okra), onions, cabbages
, Hid* carrots, beet-root, horse-radishes, tomatoes, cucumbers, pumpkins
iliothi asparagus, and peas. It is reported that the potato has been intro-
; : duced in the Mosul vilayet.
Cotton, r Tohacco,
Cotton—The cotton grown before the war in Mesopotamia was
l fOffltijl' not i . considerable in quantity, and for the most part was poor in
, i? J quality But much is expected from the development of cotton-
lift cultivation in Irak.
0(10 Cotton has been grown in northern Irak, mainly round Khanikin
and elsewhere, on lands watered by canals taking off from the Diyaleh
^ rf; river ' Mandali, and also on the Tigris near Baghdad, while small
^qn^trties have been raised in the Hilla district. In upper Mesopo-
^^tamia it is grown at Anah and Nisibin, and in the Urfeh—Harran
ji,tl(I*P lam > and al so in a number of districts in the vilayet of Mosul. It
is cultivated in northern Arabistan, e. g. in the Dizful plain.