Page 206 - 4 Persian Trade rep KUWAIT 2_Neat

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as distinct from pearling and fishing loata. The?e Tbc*c figures arc not included in the trade report.
include 30 having a capacity of over 300 tons, 21 Many smaller rowing boats were also built which it
of over 230 tons and 67 of 100 tons. Forty-seven is uxncccssuy to enumerate.
boats were employed constantly in bringing drinking
water to the town from Shatt-al-Arab. On an
average eight such boats arrive daily and bring Labour.
50,000 rations of water (worth £531 to the town. Tie price of labour remained nearly the same
The British Indian .Steam Navigation Company, a? fir the previous year. An unskilled labourer
Ltd., maintain a weekly 6ervi:c from India and carn-d from Is. 8d. to 2 shillings, a carp-entcr fit
a fortnightly service to India. The steamers owned 4 no 3 shillings and a boat builder from I to 8 shil­
and chartered by (1) The Hansa Steamship Company ling; per ditm.
cf Bremen, Germany and (2) Tie Stride and Eller-
aan and Buckn Lines of London also called
curing the year under report bat their service has Minerals.
rot been a regular one. The rare of friight by the Tic only mineral product worked is gypsum
British India Steam Navigation Company’s steamers mcrur, which is manufactured by the simple process
*aa £1-0-0 from Bombay and Karachi to Kuwait of firing rubbish in broad shallow excavations.
and from Kuwait to Bombay and Karachi was Then is a large gypso ferous tract on the out­
£1-13-4 per ton respectively throughout the year. skirts of Kuwait Town and it is found in several
Corntti’jnicafions.—Kuwait possesses a combined other parts of the principality.
Post and Telegraph Office worked by the Pos-ts “Oil” inlications in the shape of 2 bitumen
and Telegraph Department of th; Iraq Government. and oil Buritce springs exist in the hinterland but
Foreign rates of postage and telegram charges are wheuer the»e can be worked commercially has yet
applicable from Kuwait to the United Kingdom to bt seen.
and other countries. Mails for the United Kingdom
and the continent arc despatched from Kuwait
v i overland route, Baghdad—HaifaL. and take Domestic Animals.
If days on an average. Letters can also be sent by
Air Mail at Basrah both to Europe and India. Tb? most valuable domestic animals are camels I
Parcels from the United Kinzdom for Kuwait of which there arc large numbers, sheep, goats and
trice 3 to 5 weeks by the above mentioned Overland docA*ys of the latter many of a large white breed
route and the C. O. D. and Insurance systems are originally frem Hassa, art- found in the town. These
ai*o available. are simetimis over 13 hands in height and a good
one will cost about £20. There are abo some horses
The Kuwait Motor Transport Company which is and a few herald cattle.
aba under a Postal contract with the Iraq Post and
Telegraph Department for the conveyance of both
sea mails from India and Overland mails from Agriculture.
Basrah and rice versj continued to function between
Kuwait and Zubair, and maintained the road in good Xcrhcr Kuwait nor its environments can boast
condition. The fare by this Compact's motors of ary agricultural resources. There are no date
is eight shillings per seat and the joiroey each plantations cf any value, no fields and not many
way on an average occupies four hours. kitchen gardens. The villages to the south-east of
Kuwait supjly a limited but increasing quantity
of vegetables and melons. The agricultural centre
Sea Fisheries. in sb* principality is Jahrah which has greatly
improved during the year owing to the facilities
The only truly local produce of Kuwait is that afforded by cotor transport in taking the products
yielded by the harbour fisheries which are a valuable into town. There are over 2,500 date tree*. The
it. Besides boat-and weight-nets and line* staple crops are wheat, barley and lucerne, but
trap* or tidal weirs constructed of rec-d iurdlesare melon*, watermelons, pumpkins, beans aDd some other
also employed : the fish enter them with the flowing vegetables are also grown in increasing quantities.
tide and are left behind at the eLb. Tb* majority The aiove crops are mostly irrigated but s small
of the fish caught is consumed locally, tat a small amoonc of wieat and barley is grown by rainfall
proportion is dried and exported to Basrah and
alone. The agriculture of Jahrah might be consi­
elsewhere. derably increased if more money were sunk in it.
The msst irap»rtant agricultural centre is the island
of Fahckab where wheat and barley are grown
Boat Building.
with «tme success on the clayey patches, also soma
Fifteen boats of an aggregate value of £2,080 vegetables esjecially carrots which are of an ex-
w<ex« built in Kuwait during the year under review. ceptioially fire quality but the agriculture of the
Of these 3 tad a carrying capacity of ICO tons each. island m generally inferior to that of Jahrak.