'Military report on Tehran and adjacent Provinces of North-West Persia (including the Caspian Littoral)' [‎159r] (322/610)

but all villages also have ‘ irrigated ’ crops on which they depend
in case of a failure of the ‘ unirrigated.’ In low lying districts
the crops are entirely dependent on irrigation, and the cultiv
able area is limited by the water supply.
The primitive Persian method of cultivation by which the
surface of a wide area is just ‘ scratched ’ is most wasteful
and unsuited to the country, which requires ‘ intensive ’ cultiva
tion to secure economy in the use of the water and a heavier
yield. The soil generally is good and the experiments of deep
and thorough ploughing made at the Agricultural school estab
lished at Karaj in 1918-19 under M. Schricher, gave excellent
results.
The “unirrigated” land if very extensive is cultivated
once in three years, but most of it is cultivated one year and
left fallow the next. The “irrigated” land when possible is
left fallow every other year or 1 2 lucerne, beans, cucumbers,
etc., alternate with wheat-and barley, but in the confined moun
tain valleys with little cultivable land the people are often
obliged to grow wheat or barley on it every year, with the result
that the soil becomes very impoverished. Irrigated land of
this kind receives a small quantity of manure and ash.
The finest “ unirrigated ” crops are produced in Khamseh
and 3 Khalkhal, which have good spring 4 rains, and the yield is
often fifteen fold or more per seed sown. Elsewhere, for instance
in Dailiman, 10 fold is considered a good crop.
The best “ irrigated ” crops are raised in Khar, Varamin
and Shahriyar. Khar is reputed to yield up to 25 fold, and
Varamin up to 15 fold in good years, but recently the Varamin
crops have been attacked by blight and the yield reduced,
Shahriyar from 10 to 12 fold. The Saveh district yields about
10 fold.
In Kazvin, Kharagan, and the remaining districts
enumerated above 10 fold is a good yield frequently not
attained, the average being from 6 to 10 fold.
1 The school closed down for lack of funds in 1920.
2 These crops are called “ saifi ” or summer crops as opposed to wheat and
barley, which are called “ shatwi ” or winter crops. The term applied to the
whole area cultivated by a village in one year, i.e. embracing both “ saifi ” and
“ shatwi ” is “ ayish.” Thus if a village possesses two “ ayish,” one is left
fallow each year, and, if it possesses three, two of them are left fallow, and to
inquire whether the land of a village is left fallow one asks how many “ ayish”
it possesses (chand ayish darad).
* The wretched condition of this area has been mentioned in Chapter IV, para.
<u>, p. 168. Most of the land is now left uncultivated.
* See Chapter III, paragraph (b) rainfall, p. 146.