"العراق والخليج الفارسي" [و‎‎٣‎٠‎٢] (٨٦٢/٦٠٦)

IRRIGATION, AGRICULTURE, AND MINOR INDUSTRY 467
Sheep
Sheep are bred in all regions outside the cultivated areas and the
marshlands. Their distribution corresponds to that of the semi-
nomadic tribes described in Chapter VII. In northern Iraq where
pasture is greatly restricted by agriculture east of the Tigris there are
two main pastoral regions. The first includes the northern Jazira
and the plains and foothills adjoining the Tigris and lower Khabur
in Mosul province. The second is the southern section of the Assyrian
plains and foothills between the middle Diyala, Jabal Hamrin, and
the Little Zab, extending north of the Little Zab into the Qaraj
desert and to the fringes of the cultivated Erbil plain. The shepherd
zone stretches south of the Jabal Hamrin to the lower Diyala and
continues west of the Tigris in the Jazira from the Jabal Sinjar to the
Euphrates canals. In southern Iraq the western and southern deserts
are a great pastoral zone. Between the two rivers a major pastoral
zone extends east from the fringe of the Hilla and Daghghara canal
system across the Shatt al Gharraf to the lower Tigris marshes. Be
tween the Tigris and the Persian frontier shepherd pastures reach
south-east from the Diyala canals to the Hawiza marshes.
All sheep-breeding depends on seasonal migration. In winter and
spring shepherds follow the growth of vegetation in the steppes and
deserts, and retire to the rivers and canals as the summer heat dries
it up, pasturing flocks upon empty lands close to the water-courses
and marshes or upon cultivated fallows, after making an agreement
with the cultivators whereby the fellahin receive a rent in animals or
their produce in addition to the manuring of their fields. This system
is not confined to the flat lands of southern Iraq but also applies to
the north, with the difference that a few shepherd tribes make an
extensive migration to the high mountain pastures of the Persian
border in summer and withdraw to the valleys and plains in winter
(Jaf, p. 373; Pizhder, p. 375; Herki, p. 377).
Sheep are bred principally for wool, but also for milk, meat, and
hides. Wool is a major export and is used for both domestic and
factory industries. There is also a valuable export trade in live
sheep, principally from Mosul province to Syria and Palestine; in
recent years part of this traffic has gone by motor lorry, a develop
ment which may increase the stability of the trade by rendering it
independent of climatic variation of the grazing.
There are four native breeds, Arabi, Karadi, Awassi, and the fat
tailed Tartary. The Arabi sheep, which is commonest in the plains,
has a fine crinkly fleece valuable for wool. The Karadi or Kurdish