'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. I. 1918' [‎224] (233/568)

224
COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Diarbekr sheep to the value of £200,000 were exported in 1910. In
1912 the sheep and goats sent from Diarbekr to Egypt and the
interior were valued at £90,000, and in 1913 at £150,000.
(e) Cattle and Buffaloes. —Cattle are exported from Mosul and
Diarbekr to Syria, to other parts of Turkey, and to Egypt; the export
from Mosul increased in value from £15,000 in 1907 to <£30,000 in
1910, and in 1912 it amounted to £27,000; in the same year cattle
to the value of £2,000 were exported from Diarbekr. Buffaloes are
sent to Kaisarieh and Erzerum; the buffalo-hides are of consider
able value, and are sent to other provinces of the Turkish Empire.
Liquorice. —The trade in liquorice, which is almost entirely in the
hands of Messrs. MacAndrews, Forbes & Co., an American firm con
nected with the Tobacco Trust, has at times been considerably inter
fered with by the Turkish Governments which formerly imposed
heavy taxes on the liquorice root; in 1909, however, the Turks
granted facilities as to taxation, and a special officer was appointed to
supervise the trade at the custom-house at Basra, with the result
that the output was considerably increased. No liquorice paste has
been manufactured in Mesopotamia; this is due to the fact that
liquorice in a raw state enters America duty free, whereas the paste
is subject to a prohibitive duty. There is a small export of liquorice
to the United Kingdom and to France, as well as to America. The
average value of the root before export from Basra is about £5 per
ton. The number of the packages of liquorice exported annually
from Basra has varied from 48,778 in 1909 to 13,052 in 1912 and
38,521. in 1913, valued at an equal number of pounds sterling;
export duty was nominally 1 per cent, but amounted really to almost
2 per cent, owing to the various custom-house charges, stamps, &c.
There has been an annual export of liquorice from Mosul valued at
from £2,000 to £3,600.
Galls and Valonia. —Gall-nuts are produced by the larvae from the
eggs deposited by the gall-fly on the oak-trees growing in the Kurdi
stan hills. The galls are brought down by the tribesmen in mixed
parcels to Mosul, where they are sorted and graded ; in years in
which there was political disturbance in the hills the trade was
adversely affected. Three sorts of galls are dealt in, viz. blues,
greens, and whites ; the first of these contains the most useful
tanning properties, and was most in demand in Europe ; greens
were less in demand for export, though some were shipped to India ;
large quantities of whites are used by local tanners, but in 1913
almost the whole of the export of white galls was taken by Germany.
In recent years Germany has taken about one-half of the total export
of galls, the United Kingdom has taken about a quarter, and the