'IRAQ AND THE PERSIAN GULF' [‎291r] (584/862)

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IRRIGATION, AGRICULTURE, AND MINOR INDUSTRY 449
in its tools and backward in its technique, partly because of the
ignorance and illiteracy of the fellahin 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. , but more because of the lack
of incentive for the individual cultivator to improve his land under
this system whereby the landlord secures the advantage of all im
provements. This general backwardness is illustrated by the low
rates of yield generally obtained. The following comparisons with
Turkey and U.S.A. are of interest; comparison with west European
countries such as England and Holland is even more unfavourable,
but less to the point.
Average yields in lb. per acre for IQ34-1935
Wheat
Barley
Rice
Tobacco
Iraq
. 291
5 i 5
963
672
Turkey .
694
816
2407
4 615
U.S.A. .
687
985
2038
873
The establishment of large farms, worked directly by their owners
with modern machinery, is generally prevented by the almost total
lack of a class of farm labourers working for cash wages. The expan
sion of the cultivated area, particularly in southern Iraq, is greatly
hindered by the general lack of population. Hence increase of yields
per acre is particularly desirable as a means of enriching the fellahin 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. .
Labour is specially short at harvest time, which is prolonged by the
primitive methods in use, and a lengthy harvest may interfere with
or even prevent autumn tillage and sowings. Basically water is more
valuable than land in the Irrigation Zone, and at present the improve
ment of irrigation in a particular area generally causes a shift of
population; the less well-watered land simply goes out of cultivation.
This tendency is greatly helped by the unstable character of the rural
population, a great part of whom have only settled down as cultivators
within the last century and have no lengthy attachment to their own
locality.
Soils
A general account of soils has already been given (p. 182). The
Department of Agriculture has been conducting analysis of the soils
of Iraq for a long period, but the material is not yet available for the
formation of a soil map. This work is most important in the alluvial
plains of southern Iraq, where there is a problem of soil salination.
In these soils fine gravel is generally absent, coarse sands and clay
content are low. Fine sand, coarse and fine silts are the principal
constituents, and the soils are classified accordingly as silty or sandy
A 5195 Gg