ملف رقم ١٢٨٣\١٩١٣ الجزء ٥ "التجارة في بلاد الرافدين، إصدار تقرير تجارة جديد" [ظ‎‎١‎٣‎٤] (٢٧٠/٢٦٤)

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the fact that the water disappears from the Hai at the end of ^ June at the latest. Some of
the new season’s giain can be collected on the banks of the Hai in time to be shipped before
the Hai runs dry but a great deal is necessarily locked up until the following year. Lighters
crowd into the Hai from Kut as soon as the river is high enough to permit of a passage, but
they are never able to finish the transport work before the river runs dry.
AGRICULTURE.—The staple crop of the country is wheat, but the cultivators would
be prepared to put down whatever crop might pay them best. A large irrigated area could
be made available for cotton. Much rice is grown in the eastern area and also sesame.
Dizful used to be famous for its indigo and the industry would, no doubt, repay encourage
ment. The output would have to be increased by modern methods. The quality of the
indigo is said to be verv good. Cotton is an important local crop and the climate appears
suitable. It is noteworthy that dates cannot be grown in Dizful. Oranges do very well.
If a model farm were started, irrigated by centrifugal pumps and tilled by agricultural
machinery, local methods would probably be revolutionised, since the people are eager to
learn and" would readily adopt improved methods.. Pump irrigation would be much the
cheapest, as the Diz river carries* down large quantities of silt which chokes up the channels
and has to be cleared out every year at a heavy cost. The silt of the Diz has very little value
as a fertiliser. If an agricultural expert, perhaps from Egypt, could be deputed for a couple
of years, it would probably suffice to teach the cultivators how to do things for themselves.
Dizful has much greater possibilities than Shushtar, which is a dead town and which has
no market behind it, except for the Bakhtiaris in the winter. Shushtar is in a blind alley,
because the Luristan and Kirman trade must go through Dizful, while the Ispahan trade must
go through Ahwaz. The cultivable lands are not so rich in Shushtar as round Dizful and the
population is slender. Given security and irrigation in the Dizful plain, there is every likeli
hood that the mountain people will come down and settle in groups.
There is any amount of water power available at Dizful. Electric light and power for
mills and other industries could be delivered all over the town.
THE FUTURE AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT OF MESOPOTAMIA.—
1 J shall confine my remarks to Lower Mesopotamia as the prospects of Upper Mesopotamia
have been briefly discussed by Sir William Willcocks in connection with his irrigation
proposals, while we have had no opportunity during the war of supplementing the information
collected by him or of examining the present agricultural conditions of the country. Recent
developments have brought within the scope of practical politics unity of controP over
all the waters of Mesopotamia, and we may assume that the whole of Sir William Willcocks'
programme will materialise in due course under the guidance, if not under the direct direction
of a power, which will not overlook the requirements of Lower Mesopotamia, while promoting
the developments of the resources of Upper Mesopotamia. We may therefore assume that
water at any rate will be available in plenty for the exploitation of the agricultural possibilities
of the Basrah Vilayat.
2. On the basis of somewhat scanty revenue statistics I have arrived with some
diffidence at the conclusion that the cultivated area of Lower Mesopotamia does not exceed
500,000 acres. If this figure is somewhat below the mark it may be assumed that my
estimates of acreage yields are correspondingly exaggerated and for this reason my estimate
of area may, perhaps, be taken as the measure of the resources of the country on the basis of
the acreage yields assumed for the various classes of crops. The whole area of the Basrah
Vilayat including the lands to the east of the Hai river, deserts and marshes appears to be
about 17,000 square miles or roughly 11,000,000 acres, of which some 3,500 square miles or
million acres may be assigned to the unknown country between the Hai and Tigris, in
respect of which it is impossible to estimate the area under cultivation, while a further 7,500
square miles or approximately 4f millions of acres may be allowed for the main desert and
marsh areas. The remaining 4,000,000 acres represent the inhabited area of Lower Meso
potamia, a medley of marsh, desert, rivers, canals and cultivation, the last named
category apparently counting for one-eighth of the {f inhabited ” area and less than one-
twentieth of the whole area of the Vilayat, though doubtless a considerable portion of the
Hai area will have to be added to the total cultivated area as soon as it becomes possible to
investigate conditions there.
3. As in the case of acreage we have the most scanty information to work on as regards
population and more particularly as regards the proportion thereof which may be considered
effective from the point of view of agricultural development. Three million souls would be
perhaps as high a figure as it would be safe to assume as the population of the whole country
including Nomads and Marsh Arabs. This would give a density of about 174 per square
mile for the whole area and 480 per square mile for the inhabited area’'. Nomads and
marshmen have in the past shown a tendency to settle down when a favourable agricultural
opening offered and may be considered available for any further agricultural extension which
may take place in the future, but, on the other hand, we must remember that under present
conditions a considerable section of the tribal community, namely, the yeomen or armed
retainer class and the women, not only is not accustomed to work on the fields but considers
it a disgrace to do so. Under the unsettled conditions of the past, long' life has not unnaturally
not been an attribute of the Arabs and the number of Arabs incapacitated for work by age
is negligible. "We need, therefore, only exclude from the total prospective working population,
that section which consists of young children, yeomen, and in tribal areas, women perhaps
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