'Military report on Tehran and adjacent Provinces of North-West Persia (including the Caspian Littoral)' [‎163r] (330/610)

perfectly clear after two months, or it may be filtered at once,
in which case, however, it is supposed to lose some of its flavour.
It is then bottled or sold in bulk.
Cotton will grow in Persia up to an altitude of 5,000', and
is cultivated in various parts of the plateau and in Tar am, hut
the most important crops in this area were produced in Mazan-
daran for export from Meshed-i-Sar and they had increased
enormously between 1 * 1905-1915.
The favourable conditions under which Persian cotton was
admitted into Russia, the facilities for export from Meshed-i-Sar
entailing no long land transport, and the success of the crop,
made cotton cultivation the most profitable and popular form
of agriculture with the Mazandaran 3 peasantry.
Land also was available without interfering with existing
crops. The rivers only provide sufficient water for a very
limited area of rice, which was the staple crop of the lowlands,
and large areas remained jungle clad or were used as pastures.
Cotton requires a drier sqil and in Mazandaran needs no
artificial irrigation, so that these areas, which were unsuitable
for rice, were well adapted for cotton cultivation.
It was grown chiefly in the vicinity of Barfarush and in the
plain between Barfarush and Ashraf. West of Barfarush and
in Tunakabun and 4 Gilan the soil is said to be too moist for
cotton to thrive.
The land utilized for cotton is usually left fallow every
other year, or wheat and barley may alternate with cotton.
Trenches are dug round the fields for drainage and the soil is
ploughed in autumn and a second time in spring before the seed
is sown. It requires to be well turned and softened.
The task of weeding to prevent the young cotton being
smothered is very laborious and is usually performed by women.
The crop is ready in October and must be plucked before
the weather becomes too cold.
The yield of cotton is said to average from 1,600 lbs to 2,200
lbs. per “jarib.”
Owing to the impossibility of export to Russia or via the
Caucasus there is now no market for Mazandaran cotton and
its cultivation has temporarily ceased.
1 See paragraph (6) above, Exports p. 267-8.
* See paragraph (a) above, Trade Generally, p. 260.
* The landlord’s share of the recently introduced cotton crop was much
less than his share of rice which was fixed by long standing usage.
4 The cotton exported through Enzallcame from Kazvln and other districts
and was not grown in GHan.
Cotton,