'Mesopotamia' [‎63r] (125/152)

Mesopotamia]
EXPORTS
115
elude the whole of the trade, a good deal of which goe^.
overland to Constantinople and Russia, bheep and
lamb, goat, fox, and stone-marten skins, and ox and
cow hides, are the articles of this class most commonly
dealt with at Basra. The trade in untanned skins has
decreased in recent years. The skins are exported to
England, France, Germany, Austria, the United
States, and the Levant A geographical area corresponding to the region around the eastern Mediterranean Sea. ports, as well as to Russia and
other parts of Turkey.
Wool. —The average annual export of wool trom
Basra amounted for the period 1904-13 to £238,000.
The wool is of three kinds. The Arab wool, clipped
from the Arab sheep reared in the plains, has a crinkly
staple of fine fibre and a bright appearance. Karadi
wool, clipped from the Kurdish hill sheep, has a long,
coarse, and hairy staple, and is chiefly used for carpets
and other heavy goods, Awassi wool, clipped ii'om
sheep which are a cross between the Arab and Kurdish
sheep, possesses some of the characteristics of both.
Mohair is clipped from the Angora goat. The
value of the export from Basra has decreased in
recent years, and averaged only £11,400 in value for
the period 1909-13 as against £28,000 for the previous
five years. The export mostly goes to Great Britain,
Germany, and France, and to other parts of Turkey.
Among miscellaneous exports are carpets, gall-nuts,
gum tragacanth, and liquorice.
Carpets—This branch of trade represents a value
of about £52,000 annually. The import of Persian
carpets from Kermanshah fell off very much between
1910-14, and the trade is now mostly in carpets
manufactured in Mesopotamia. The chief buyers are
the United States, Great Britain, Egypt, France, Ger
many, and India. . i i
Gall-nuts are produced by the eggs deposited by the
gall-fly on the oak-trees growing in the hills of
northern Mesopotamia and Kurdistan, and are used in
tanning. They are collected by the tribes, and are sold
to dealers in Mosul and other towns in the vicinity of
the hills. Their commercial value depends upon their
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