Coll 28/41 ‘Persia. Trade Reports. Kerman 1924–’ [‎68v] (136/313)

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fact that New York is the chief market for these
nuts, may be considered to be remarkably good.
The out-turn of raw cotton in the district of
Rafsinjan was slightly below normal, the plants
having suffered from various pests. The market for
this commodity, however, remained dull and large
stocks were still unsold, both at Rafsinjan and in
Bombay, where several consignments had been
despatched by local merchants, at the end of the
year.
Unusual frosts in the early spring caused consider
able damage to the fruit blossom, and there was
therefore a scarcity of fruit, especially in the plains
throughout the province.
(c) Introduction of new crops and new methods
(machinery). —No new crops have been introduced
and the same old and primitive methods of cultiva
tion prevail.
Orders were received from Tehran at the end of
the period under review prohibiting the cultivation
of rice in this province. Up to now the province
had been producing on an average some 200,000
Mans (600 tons) of rice in the year, and this amounted
to perhaps some 25 per cent, of the province’s total
requirements, the balance being imported from
Resht and Mazanderan. No substitute for rice
has been found so far, unless it be indigo, for which
there is at present very little use.
Activities on the part of land-owners to plant more
pistachio trees continue. More attention is also
being paid to the cultivation of mulberry bushes
with a view to reviving the silk industry. The
cultivation of saffron at certain places in the province
is slowly on the increase.
Fresh proposals by the local authorities for the
establishment of an agricultural farm were submitted
to Tehran at the end of the year.
(d) Fixation of prices and Registration. —The local
Municipality are supposed to fix prices of the articles
of food-stuff, and to make necessary alterations
from time to time. The official rates thus fixed,
however, are seldom adhered to except nominally,
and experience has proved that interference on
behalf of the local authorities in this respect is
usually harmful. A Registration Office was opened
in Kerman in August and started functioning in
the latter part of November. The Kerman town and
environs were divided into different sections, the
time allowed for the registration of property in each
section being two months, which was always extended
to three. As pointed out elsewhere in this report,
the opening of this Office contributed considerably
towards the tightness of money, as the ordinary
property-owner can ill afford the payment of the
registration fees, and, in the majority of cases, has
to borrow money for the purpose at high interest.
A large number of houses, however, remain un
registered at the time of writing, and, the time
allowed having already passed, the property will have
to be declared ‘ ownerless ’ unless further graces are
given by the Government.
(e) Irrigation, more or less water. —Water for
irrigation in this province is obtained, as heretofore ,
chiefly from the under-ground water channels,
varying in length between 15 and 25 miles, and, to
a lesser extent, from streams dependent on rain
water.
Of the channels which were damaged by the
floods of 1932, many are still out of order and, the
rainfall during the year having been below normal,
many of the streams failed, and large areas of land
were therefore either uncultivated or yielded only
a small amount of produce. The authorities are
still studying the possibility of finding water for the
irrigation of the new avenues in Kerman town,
but the problem was still unsolved at the time of
writing.
The question of artesian wells has been considered
by the authorities from time to time, but, as usual,
the matter of finding funds has been the chief diffi
culty. It should be remembered that attempts
made to find water by this means more than 30
years ago, with the assistance of the British Con
sulate, by the engagement of a British engineer
from India, failed after a few trials.
(/) Extent to which land hypothecated. —The mort
gaging of land against loans continues to increase,
and it is estimated that about 30 per cent, of the
total landed property in the province is at present
thus hypothecated.
6. Opium.
The out-turn for the opium harvest was slightly
less than the year before, the amount of crude
opium delivered to the Monopoly godowns being
about 2,000 Tabriz Mans. The amount of taxed
opium issued to the shopkeepers by the Monopoly
authorities for local consumption in the province
during the year amounted to about 3,500 Mans, the
shortage being made up by supplies from other
provinces.
The total income of the Monopoly Department
on taxed opium was above one million rials, probably
a record figure for Kerman. Proposals for the
levying of taxes on acreage having been turned
down by Tehran, the taxes are still levied on prepared
opium at the rate of Rials 0-50 per miskal. No
opium left the province during the year for export
purposes.
7. Industry.
(a) State of Industry generally. —Carpet weaving
continues to be the main industry in this province.
The amount of carpets and tribal rugs exported
during the year, amounting to Rials 12,076,000, as
compared with Rials 9,725,000 in the previous
year, indicates a decided improvement, which was
chiefly due to a large number of orders having been
received from New York. The crisis in America
appears to have had a beneficial effect, temporarily
at least, on the Kerman carpet trade, the uncertain
future of the dollar, and fear for its further deprecia-