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The record is made up of 1 volume (76 folios). It was created in Feb 1919. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
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Mesopotamia]
CULTIVATION
77
divided into two classes, the higher land which
can command water throughout the rice season,
but is not always under water, and the lower
land which is always under a certain amount
of water. In the higher land rice is sown
broadcast, while in the lower it is transplanted.
(b) Products of Commercial Value
Dates. —The cultivation of the date palm is the most
important branch of agriculture in Mesopotamia, for
dates are the chief article of food, and usually the
most valuable export. The ex{)ort averages about
60,000 tons annually, and is capable of considerable
expansion. It has been said that Mesopotamia grows
80 per cent, of the world's total produce in dates.
Dates require a plentiful supply of water, and there
fore their cultivation is general only in the alluvial
tracts bordering the rivers in Lower Mesopotamia,
although the date palm is found elsewhere also. On
the other hand, flooding is bad for the trees, and causes
" date fever." Consequently the groves have to be pro
tected against floods by large dykes or " sudds." The
fertilisation of the blossom is done by hand, a few male
trees being planted among the female.
The chief centres of cultivation are:—
(1) The Shatt el-Arab Belt. On the right bank the
date palms form a continuous grove, half a mile
to two miles wide, between the river and the
desert. On the left bank the groves are younger
and more broken. The immediate neighbour
hood of Basra is probably the finest date-grow
ing region in the world. The date gardens of
the Shatt el-Arab are intersected by irrigation
trenches, connected with creeks along which
fresh water is forced by the rise of the tide, and
by this means fairly satisfactory irrigation is
obtained.
(2) The Baghdad Belt. On the right bank of the
Tigris at and below Baghdad there are eleven
About this item
- Content
This volume is a confidential handbook on Mesopotamia prepared under the direction of the Historical Section of the Foreign Office, dated February 1919. There is a table of contents which includes the following chapters:
- I: 'Geography Physical and Political', including 'Position and Frontiers', 'Surface, Coast and River Systems', 'Climate', 'Sanitary Conditions', 'Race and Language' and 'Population';
- II: 'Political History', including 'Chronological Summary', 'Introduction', 'Early period of Turkish Occupation, 1638-1834', 'Later period of Turkish Occupation, 1834-1914', and 'Commercial Developments';
- III: 'Social and Political Conditions', including 'Religious', 'Political', 'Public Education' and 'General Observations';
- IV: 'Economic Conditions', including 'Means of Communication', 'Industry', 'Commerce', 'Finance' and 'General Remarks'.
There is also an appendix which includes tables of 'Exports to Principal Countries from Baghdad', 'Imports from Principal Countries to Baghdad', 'Principal Exports from Basra' and 'Principal Imports to Basra'. This is followed by a section entitled 'Authorities' which is a bibliography of references used for the preparation of the volume. This section is divided into 'Historical' (including 'Confidential Sources'), 'Economic' ('Official' and 'General') and 'Maps'. There is a pocket at the back of the volume to house maps, but there are no maps present.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (76 folios)
- Physical characteristics
Pagination: The volume contains an original printed pagination sequence.
Foliation: The foliation sequence commences at the front cover, and terminates at the inside back cover; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/20/C190
- Title
- 'Mesopotamia'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:75v, back-i, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence