'IRAQ AND THE PERSIAN GULF' [‎306v] (615/862)

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474 IRRIGATION, AGRICULTURE, AND MINOR INDUSTRY
considerable. The Baghdad factories have in all 7,680 spindles and
85 looms and employ 975 workers; during the war they have been pro
ducing 552,000 yards of cloth a year. There are two grades, winter
cloth, all wool, 57 inches wide, weighing about 14^ oz. a yard, and
summer cloth, 57 inches wide, of cotton warp and woollen weft,
weighing about 9! oz. a yard. About 100 tons of knitting wool are
produced, most of which is exported.
Six workshops in Baghdad and one in Mosul produce knitted
woollen goods such as socks and pullovers. It is notable that though
carpet manufacture in domestic workshops and bazaars is extensive,
no fine rugs are made in Iraq, the so-called ‘Mosul rugs’ being
made in Turkish Kurdistan. Other fine rugs on sale originate as the
offerings of foreign pilgrims to the Shia shrines.
There is a small artificial silk factory An East India Company trading post. at Mosul producing 14 tons of
silk cloth a year from imported yarn; part even of this is woven on
hand-looms in private houses.
Tanning and Shoes. There are many tanning yards throughout
the country producing half-tanned goat- and sheepskins, mainly for
native use. The single tannery producing fully tanned hides at
Baghdad closed down in 1937, but is about to be reopened (1943).
Leather for footwear is imported. Bazaar workshops provide the
bulk of the footwear needed. Only 7 out of 22 registered shoe fac
tories at Baghdad have electrical machinery. The largest has an
annual capacity of 30,000 pairs.
Bricks and Tiles. The brick industry is extensive, as clay is the sole
building material in the plains. The building expansion of the last
fifteen years has encouraged the use of modern methods, though the
delta alluvium does not require elaborate treatment. Works are
numerous near Baghdad, the largest producing 40,000 bricks a day
in summer, and half as many in winter. Three tile factories near
Baghdad produce fair tiles for roofing, but glazed house tiles are poor.
Miscellaneous Domestic Needs
Small ice and soda-water plants are found in nearly all towns.
Nine ice factories at Baghdad have a total capacity of 270 tons re
frigeration, and thirty elsewhere produce 200 tons. A carbon dioxide
plant for the central supply of the soda-water industry was built in
1940, 9 miles north of Baghdad. It produces 1 ton a day from 800 kg.
of gas oil. There is a small plant at Baghdad for the production of
pressed glass-ware from the remelting of broken glass, with a potential
output of 11 tons of glass in 24 hours.