'Reports of administration for 1918 of divisions and districts of the occupied territories in Mesopotamia. Volume I' [‎222r] (448/470)

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it’ these are insufficient the crop fails. If rains are sufficient it will give a yield of
7 or 10 to 1. Cultivation on irrigated lands is called “ awaniyah 55 in Kurdish’.
One azhgir of water suffices 10 faddans.
The following are the rates of ploughing per plough:—
Methods 1 and 2, /.<?., where ploughed ground is ready—
Mule plough ... . 2,200 to 2,500 kilos per faddan.
Ox plough . . . _ 1^00 kilos per faddan.
Method 3—
Mule plough - - - . 1,000
Ox plough - . . _ 700 „
The latter is shortened not by the relative powers of the mule and oxen so much
as by the time available for ploughing and sowing.
Wheat and barley are cultivated in the proportion of 2 to 1 respectively.
This year, owing to the ground not having been ploughed and prepared last
spring, most of the crops this winter will be raised by method 3.
In ‘Iraq I believe the usual arrangement is—
1 plough : two oxen : per 2 fallahs Arabic for ‘peasant’. It was used by British officials to refer to agricultural workers or to members of a social class employed primarily in agricultural labour. .
In this district the arrangement is—
1 plough : two oxen : per single fallah Arabic for ‘peasant’. It was used by British officials to refer to agricultural workers or to members of a social class employed primarily in agricultural labour. .
The distinction is caused by the difference in extra labour in keeping up canals.
In Sanniyah lands the fallah Arabic for ‘peasant’. It was used by British officials to refer to agricultural workers or to members of a social class employed primarily in agricultural labour. , if advances of seed are necessary, expects to
receive them on a seed for seed basis. In Tapu lands, the fallah Arabic for ‘peasant’. It was used by British officials to refer to agricultural workers or to members of a social class employed primarily in agricultural labour. is expected to bear
all the expenses of cultivation and there are no rules as to the advance of seed by the
proprietor.
Kifri wheat is sought after in ‘Iraq for its pure quality—both for seed and for
making bread and cakes.
Summer Crops .—This year the most popular crop was millet (idhrah baidhah),
but it is believed this w r as because of its patience in shortage of water and
because of its great yield. In usual years only rice and simsim are growm.
Maize of the ‘Iraq variety —a miserable type—is growm.
Probably in future years wm shall find that rice is the most popular crop.
Certainly in the valleys in the hills, where the step-method can be employed, rice is
practically the only thing growm, besides vegetables, in the summer months.
The type of rice grown is a kind of Naqqazah. A famous rice is growm at
Zerdelikao in the Sulaimaniyah district.
Vegetables. - -Mostly grown in river-beds. A small circle is cleared of pebbles
and a hole dug and manure inserted, in which the seed is planted. Huge luscious
water-melons and sugar-melons are produced in this way.
Vegetables, especially tomatoes and brinjals, are also grown in the gardens.
--Government forests exist on the banks of the Diyalah at Shaikh Baba,
QaTah Shirwanah, Qarah Bulaq and between Bawa Nar and Piw r as, also at Hor al
‘Adhaim.
ForestationAn ideal track for forestation, if such is needed or intended, exists
in this area near Shaikh Baba on the Diyalah.
Fruit Trees .—The follow ing is a list of fruit trees in this district:—
Date-trees
Bearing.
- 1,000
Non-bearing.
1,215
Apricot
-
-
-
9 r )0
1,802
Plums -
-
-
-
379
246
Apples
-
-
-
90
129
Pomegranates -
-
-
-
- 1,382
721
Pig-trees
-
-
-
(3,664
1,891
N ut-trees
-
-
-
4
11
Vines -
-
-
-
250
100
Sweet lime
-
-
-
849
54
Mulberry
-
-
-
123
137
Sour lime
-
-
-
311
—
Orange
-
-
-
56
—
Walnut
-
-
-
10
—,
Vast numbers were cut down by the Turks.