'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. I. 1918' [‎218] (227/568)

218
COMMEKCE AND INDUSTEY
tons in 1910, and is of inferior quality. The rice grown near Dizful
is said to be better, but the cost of transport is high, and by the
time it reaches Ahwaz the price is as high as for rice imported from
India.
Seeds.—The most important seeds exported from Mesopotamia are
millet, deri seed (also called idhrnh. a kind of maize), and sesame;
other seeds exported include beans, haricot, lentils
linseed, pulse, quince, and poppy seeds. Deri seed and millet are
sown when the water recedes from flooded land ; in years when the
river has been late in rising, or when there has been a rapid fall of
the river after floods, the crop has been a failure, and very small
quantities only have been available for exportat such times when
forward sales have been made in London the shippers have lost
heavily. Seeds are exported to the United Kingdom, India, Persian
Gulf ports, and the Levant A geographical area corresponding to the region around the eastern Mediterranean Sea. ; in 1911 a considerable amount of millet
was shipped, together with barley and paddy, to Antwerp and Ham
burg; sesame is exported chiefly to the United Kingdom, and also
to France, where there is a considerable demand for it. The
export of seeds from Basra varied in amount from 25,338 tons in
1908, valued at £190,039, to 11,017 tons in 1910, valued at £82,629,
and to as little as 3,799 tons in 1913. These figures include exports
from the Baghdad vilayet, from which there came in 1912 beans
(1,500 bags), deri (1,152 bags), and mash (10,123 bags), besides sesame
and other seeds in smaller quantities.
Prom Mosul sesame is at times exported ; this export was valued
in 1911 at £1,500. From Diarbekr there is at times an export of
pulse to other provinces.
Arabistan exports a certain quantity of oil seeds : in 1908 this
export amounted to 640 tons of linseed and sesame; the latter was
sent to France, the former to the United Kingdom, Germany, and
India. There has been also a small export of beans and lentils from
Arabistan through Koweit to Arabia and India, though this was
checked in 1909 by an export duty imposed by the Persian Customs.
Wool. —The export trade in wool from Mesopotamia has been some
what affected by fluctuations in the foreign demand : in some years,
as in 1907, when foreign demands were small, considerable quantities
have remained unsold ; in recent years, however, there has been a
good sale for wool in both Europe and America, and in the future
there should be no difficulty in absorbing any quantity which the
country can produce. The output has also in some years been
checked by adverse local conditions: a great amount of damage was
done to the flocks, and their numbers were considerably reduced, by the
severe'blizzard in 1911; in that year a large proportion of the wool