Page 205 - UAE Truncal States
P. 205

Chapter Five

                their salaries was used for repairs on the falaj. In the Buraimi oasis,
                for instance, a masha of two Rupees for three hours in the  sum mer
                and one Rupee in the winter was paid by the owners of dale gardens
                in Mu'lirid, al Qatlarah, JImi and I-Iili, until the municipality took
                over the maintenance of all aflaj in the territory of the oasis controlled
                by Abu Dhabi.20 The work of 'arif required not only a conscientious
                person but also someone who could determine very accurately when
                to divert the flow from one channel to another, using a sundial by day
                and the movement of the stars by night.30
                  Some date gardens in the wadis and in the vicinity of the
                mountains are irrigated exclusively from wells, but in general a well
                in a date garden is used to supplement the supply of water during the
                periods between falaj irrigation. Oxen were usually used to draw
                water from these wells but in some cases even agricultural well-
                water was hoisted manually.
                  In /a/a/-irrigated gardens a few other fruit trees grew among the
                date palms. Citrus trees, (oranges, lemons and limes) were the most
                common; but mangoes, figs, mulberries, bananas, and pomegranates
                seemed to do well in among the date trees; grapes were sometimes
                grown over vertical trellises. Underneath the trees the soil produced
                some seasonal crops, the most important of which was lucerne,
                producing several crops per year and, if irrigated every three to five
                days, continuing to grow through the summer. Water-melons, sweet
                potatoes, beans, garlic and onions used to be the only other crops
                obtained from the date gardens until the introduction of other
                vegetables to the daily diet induced the oasis farmers to plant
                tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers and other vegetables during the winter
                months. Pulse, cotton, wheat and barley grown in the spring and
                juwari and millet sown in autumn were the principal crops obtained
                from fields outside the date gardens.31 This description is applicable
                throughout the oases of the Trucial States, regardless of whether
                they are situated on the coastal plains or in the interior.

                Desert gardens
                The date gardens in the Llwa and in other locations in the desert
                grew without falaj irrigation and with little irrigation from wells.
                There only the newly-planted date palms were watered regularly,
                usually by the owner carrying bags full of water from the well to the
                plant. The roots of date trees raised without irrigation tend to grow
               vertically rather than spreading laterally. They soon reach the water
               table, which is not very far down in the Llwa hollows and various

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