'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. I. 1918' [‎217] (226/568)

COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
may be expected about three times in every decade in Arabistan.
tt ^.^i a t^. was ex P 01 ^ e d for the most part from Mohammareh to the
United Kingdom Germany, and India. The barley export from
Aramstan in 1912-13 amounted to 2,947 tons; of this rather more
tnan one-half went to Germany, and the remainder to the United
Kingdom with the exception of a small export to the Arab ports ;
there was no barley exported in the two preceding years.
fee-Bice grown in Irak forms an important part of the export
trade ot Mesopotamia. The export of paddy has increased considerably
new rice-growing districts in the neighbourhood of Amara have
been opened up, and in 1911 especially, owing to the failure of
e Burmese crop, there was a big demand for Mesopotamian
paddy in the European markets. The amount of rice available
lor export is entirely dependent upon the supply of water for
irrigation; in years in which this is deficient, or when the river
uses late as in 1913, there is almost a complete failure of the crop,
and rice has then to be imported from India ; in years of scarcity an
embargo on the export of rice was imposed by the Turkish Govern
ment. There is a certain amount of speculation in the trade; in
some years large advances have been made to growers by buyers,
w 10 have lost heavily, and in some cases received no rice or paddy
at all. Rice grown in Mesopotamia is coarse in quality ; it is known
in the East under the trade description of' Persian' rice; it is packed
oi export in bags, weighing about 1-| cwt., and sent chiefly to the
U nited Kingdom for distilling and sizing purposes ; a small quantity
is sent to India as food, but Mesopotamian rice as a rule is not well
suited for eating purposes. In order to popularize it further with
jUiopean millers great care should be taken in cleaning the rice;
until recently it has been cleaned by hand-mill at Amara, and partly
Y aiK ^ Partly by machinery at Basra, where there is a large
steel cleaning mill. Rice exported from Basra is sent chiefly to the
United Kingdom, Germany, and Turkey ; paddy is sent to the United
Kingdom, Germany, and the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ports. The amount of
rice exported in 1913 was 2,274 tons, valued at £16,684; in 1907,
4,490 tons were exported. Paddy was exported in 1912, a very
exceptional year, to the extent of 64,996 tons, valued at £324,980;
in 1909, 6,750 tons only were exported.
In upper Mesopotamia a small amount of rice is at times sent out
from the Diarbekr vilayet to other provinces of the Turkish Empire ;
this has amounted in some years to a value of £15,000.
From Arabistan a small surplus of the rice, which is grown in
the Hawlzeh and Jerrahi districts, is exported through Basra and
Koweit; this has varied in amount from 1,156 tons in 1908 to 115