Reports and Correspondence Relating to Persia, Including Trade and Trade Routes in Persia [‎13v] (26/252)

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REPORT ON TRADE OF PERSIA.
Number in
Table of
Statistics.
70
33
Glass and Glassware.
Wares of Glass.
Large quantities of tea glasses are imported. from Russia,
but the glass saucers for the same, and glass kalian (or water-
pipe) bowls are imported from Austria and France. There
is a fair trade in common wares, in which Britain does not
compete. The bulk of the fancy glass trade is imported through
Trebizond from Austria and France. Superior glassware, such
as table services, dishes, goblets, &c., find a market only in
Teheran, and are chiefly French Baccarat ware. There is a fair
consumption of glass sugar bowls, jugs, lamp-shades, lamp-
glasses, and fancy ware, mostly from Austria. The decorative
and artistic classes in these wares from Austria and _ France do
not meet with serious competition, but in all the inferior classes,
Russian wares are now displacing the others. There is said
to have been a marked improvement in quality and finish of these
Russian goods in recent years. See note under Mercery and
Hardware (P. 24).
Window Glass.
Import.-— -The consumption of window glass is comparatively
small, it is used only in the houses of the well-to-do.
Prices Teheran, Russian, krs. 80 to krs. 90 per case.
Belgian „ 60 „ 90 „
Gums.
Tragacinth.
Found in the districts of Shiraz, Yezd, Ispahan, Burujird,
Kermanshah, Hamadan and Kurdistan. It grows wild on the
hillsides, and the young plants give the best gum. The older
plants give a yellow tinged gum, but if burnt down yield white
juice from the stems. It has been questioned w'hether Persia
can continue to yield the large quantities now exported of this
article. The regions from which it is collected are, at any rate,
very extensive. Price at Shiraz in March 1903, first quality,
krs. 24 to krs. 28 per Shiraz man (say is. §d. per lb.) ; lowest,
krs. 10 per man (5 per lb.). Kermanshah, June 1903, first
quality, krs. 30 per Tabriz man (is. 8d. per lb.) Ispahan,
October 1903, first quality, krs. 60 to krs. 70 per shahman (say,
i*. 9!^. per lb.). Exported from Bushire and Bunder Abbas to
Britain and India, and from Kermanshah to Bagdad, also for
Britain. Russia takes perhaps one-fourth of the exports.
Insoluble Gum.
Export*~~Sent from Shiraz and Kazeroon regoins to Bushire,
where it is sorted and packed for export. Prices 1902, krs. 24 to
krs. 25 per Hashem man (8*. per cwt), and latterly, krs. 32
(\os. 6a.). Also exported from the Bakhtiari country via Ahwaz
and from Kurdistan vtd Tabriz.
Hides, Skins, and Leather.
Goat and Sheep Skins.
Largely exported to India from Gulf ports, also from
Khorassan and Azerbaijan to Russia. A bale of 70 goat skins
salted and dried weighs about 250 lbs. gross. Price, Krs. af to
krs. 5 (is. 9<(.) per skin. Freight, Tabriz to Batoum, Rbls. res
per poud. °
Number in
Table of
Statistics.
40
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