'Reports of administration for 1918 of divisions and districts of the occupied territories in Mesopotamia. Volume I' [‎192r] (388/470)

line throughout, these rates have been revised, and are now two annas six pies and
five annas respectively. r
The result of the count is as follows :—
( Fruit-bearing trees (‘ammar)
( Fruit-bearing trees (kharrab) -
(ii) Non fruit-bearing trees with trunks -
(iii) Three years old and upwards without trunks
157,479
172,565
148,873
198,836
Total - - 677,753
Revenue is only collected on fruit-bearing trees. From the large percentage
of non fruit-bearing trees the 1918 date crop cannot now be said to have been £n
average one, and Suq appears to have suffered in a minor degree from the blight
that prevailed generally this year. Items (ii) and (iii) will, therefore, be useful in
computing estimates of future revenue.
Ruling the count, every effort was made to prevent bribery and corruption
of the parties at woik. Fi\e parties in all were sent out, each one with a trust
worthy man—in three cases a B.O.R,—in charge. Apart from these, one party
remained with me at >Suq. As each party was visited in turn, it was possible to
check the work by iccounting occasional gardens. Several discrepancies were thus
brought to light.
The result of the count will be seen in Appendix A. The revenue from date-
trees, already collected, is more than double the amount collected last year.
As regards date revenue from the 1919 crops, to avoid another wholesale
count, and in order to arrive at a more accurate figure of fruit-bearing trees, two
suggestions are put forward. First, by careful scrutiny of the date revenue demand
register, any garden with a large percentage of non fruit-bearing trees can be
recounted; secondly, by the levy of a general increase all round of, say, 10 per cent,
or 15 per cent.
To sum up, the effect of the count has been, apart from increase in revenue,
that a record of rights has now been made. The date revenue demand registers
are in English and Arabic and give full details, such as name of landlord, tenant
and cultivator, as well as the number of trees in each holding.
Wheat and Barley Revenues .—It was definitely decided early in the year to
collect revenue on the shitwi crop at the “ ushr ”"(one-tenth) rate, as it was not
thought advisable, for political reasons, to charge the full “ khums ” (one-fifth) rate.
The crop was estimated by eye. The evils of this pernicious system are well
known, and need not be dilated upon here. The total estimate for the whole
district was as follows :—
Serial
Number.
Names.
Wheat.
Barley.
1
Shamiyah . . - .
Maund (168 lbs.)
2,450
Maund (168 lbs.)
3,241
2
Hachcham ....
2,981
1,382
3
Bani Sa'id - - - -
3,292
1.537
4
A1 ‘Asachrah
4,857
3,313
5
Hammar ....
1,828
5,836
Total
15,408
15,309
From Appendix A. it will be seen that the amount of revenue collected this
year from this crop was six times more than that collected from the 1917 crop.
Owing to the breaking of small bunds on the right bank of the river between
Junction Camp and ‘Akaikah, a large proportion of the Bani Khaiqan crops was
destroyed by floods.
There is every prospect of 1919 crop being an exceptionally good one, especially
in the Shamiyah district. The possibilities of this huge district are immense.
There are in Suq alone some 30,000 acres that could be put under cultivation
provided proper drains and channels were constructed. One of the future works
that the Divisional Irrigation Officer has in mind is to build a broad bund extending