'Military Report on S.-W. Persia, Vol. I. Bakhtiari Garmsir' [‎23r] (50/168)

33
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On the average, however, it is found that a mill working 10
hours 'per diem can grind about 1,200 lbs. of grain, under favourable
conditions. The mills in each district appear to be sufficiently
numerous to supply with flour as large a force as can be supported
by the district in question, so little anxiety need be felt on that
score.
Small quantities of excellent mineral o*il, nearly as good as that
sold in India for signalling purposes, is obtained from the ‘ ‘ White
Oil Springs on the Sfushtar-Eamuz road. The quantity obtained
is about 6 tins (commercial size) a day. The whole produce
is at present sold in Shushtar. (See gazetteer note under this head.)
Pack animals and horses are fed entirely on barley and bhusa,
hay never being obtainable, and gram unknown. The bhusa is of
indifferent quality in many places, as no arrangements are
made by nomad tribes for preserving it from decav, the straw
being piled together on the ground and left to rot, if it be not used
bexore tbe next harvest. Its commercial value is usually very
small, as it is not easily portable, and thus no market can be found
for it. Under the influence of a regular demand, however, the
price soon goes up to far above Indian rates.-
The barley of the country is of fairly good quality, and, if
necessary, could be issued ground in place of wheat flour.
In most of the large villages, the Bakhtiari KLans have
stores of barley and wheat, the collected tribute of the neighbour
hood, and the expropriation of these would often go far to relieve
the Commissariat, and provide the force with food, without incon-
veniencing the inhabitants, who would sell other things more
willingly if their own stores of grain were spared.
Green fodder is obtainable in March and April of normal years,
but in small quantity. Ninety-five percent, of the area "under crops in
the district is entirely dependent on rainfall, the failure of which in
volves the failure of the crop. Sowing large areas is, therefore
accompanied with an element of risk, which tends to restrict
the output of wheat in favourable years, and this fact must not
be lost sight of in estimating the capacity of the district to export
.. T ^ ere is ' h° wever » no doubt that only the indolence of the
Bakhtiari, and the absence of any sufficient incentive to exert
himself, prevents the normal outturn of grain, even from this
comparatively unfertile hill district, from being doubled.
The whole district affords admirable grazing from March
till the end of May, and very little bhusa need be consumed during
these months. From the end of May onwards, the only grazing
fit for horses and mules is afforded by the green shoots of the
07 I. B.