File 1283/1913 Pt 5 'MESOPOTAMIA TRADE Issue of new Trade Report' [‎28r] (51/270)

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would do sufficiently well for building. The latter is not very thick—-
a feet or two at the most—but its upper and lower boundaries are parallel plane
surfaces, which would simplify quarrying.
Road Metal .—Attention has been drawn in (Eeports Nos. 1 and 5) to the
eminent suitability of the larger pebbles of the conglomerates and gravels,
when broken up, for road metal.
AGRICULTURE.
Agriculture for a variety of reasons remains in many of its phases in
’Iraq in a simple state. The Arab Farmer has the ability for better things as
witness his excellent cultivation of early summer vegetables near towns. All
Agricultural Implements used at present are hand-made. They consist of a
wooden plough with iron point, a spade, a hoe and a sickle. Cheaper and more
efficient implements could be made by machinery. Sample machine-made
spades have already found favour. There are openings not only for the
simplest but also for the most complicated Agricultural machines. Before
the War a Mosul farmer imported reapers and a local company has now been
formed in Mosul which contemplates the introduction of the latest power
machinery. The Agricultural Directorate offers facilities for trials of new
machinery on its Central Station at Baghdad. Machines which pass the
trials can be demonstrated on the five District Stations. Purchasers and
vendors are awaiting the result of the trials with great interest.
Until recently the only complicated Agricultural machines have been
pumping sets. The great popularity of the types introduced was due to the
provision of skilled personnel to erect and maintain the pumping sets coupled
with a plentiful supply of spare parts. These are the crucial conditions for
opening new business. Locally trained mechanics have proved efficient m the
past and are quick to learn. Agricultural labourers trained in the use of
western machinery are available now.
Openings exist for Dairying appliances, Grass and Wool presses. Flour
mills and Oil mills as also for artificial manures. There was and is a demand
for reliable vegetable seeds. Improved varieties of fruit trees com man
attention.
Enquiries have been received for imported stallions. Ayrshire bulls ha\e
done well. The size and general stamp of the progeny is most encouraging.
Barley and Dates form the bulk of the export trade in Agricultural
produce. They have been dealt with elsewhere in this report. I he aiea
under cultivation is capable of enormous extension. Cotton of high qua.!
has been successfully grown on Experimental Farms and there is eveiv
expectation that a considerable area will shortly be placed under cultivation.
COTTON.
Mr. Philby’s preliminary note on cultivation of cotton is printed as-
Appendix VII.
Since it was written Messrs. Crapper and Hodgkinson on behalf of the
British Cotton Growing Association have visited Mesopotamia and haA^e
expressed an opinion which is extremely favourable as regards the prospects
for the development of cotton cultivation. They are satisfied that Meso
potamia possesses both a soil and a climate to grow excellent cotton m large
weights per acre, and that we may hope for a large production during the next
few years The limiting factors at the moment are : (1) Comparatively small
population—3,000,000 people; (2) irrigation and drainage requirements; (3)
cheaper and more direct transport facilities required; (4) instruction and
scientific methods and machinery to be employed. The Government experi
mental farms have shown surprising and delightful results.
IRRIGATION.
The functions of the Irrigation Department are twofold—
(1) Irrigation.
(2) River conservancy and flood protection.
Paradoxical as it may seem at present the second is more important than i
the first The reason is that any Arab will co-operate with the Department ta
bring water to his land, but there is not nearly the same eagerness to do hard
work on flood banks, the direct benefit of which to the worker may not be
annarent to him However the bulk of the heavy work on flood protection has
been done, and the task of the future will be chiefly one of maintenance.
The Department of Irrigation was formed as a Military Department in
February, 1918, and so continued until March 1919, lyhen it came under the
control of the Civil Commissioner, exercised through the Revenue Secretary.
In the period while it was a Military Department its expenditure amounted to