Page 437 - 4 Persian Trade rep KUWAIT 2_Neat

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Improved during the yoAr owing to the facilities {b) Kuwait is well known over tbc whole of tbc
afforded by motor transport in taking the products Persian Gulf for boat (nailing) building.
into town. The village has over 2,500 date trees, Figures regarding number and tonnage
under which wheat, barley and lucrene, melon, of boats built during the year under
water melons, pumpkins, beans and some other report appear on page 1 of Part I of this
vegetables arc grown in increasing quantities. The Report.
above crops arc mostly irrigated but a small amount (c) Fish Oil, boat sails, Topes, etc., etc., arc
of wheat and barley is grown by rainfall alone. also manufactured for local use.
The agriculture of Juhrah might be considerably 18. Nee Industries Introduced.—Nil.
increased if more money were sunk in it. The 19. Government Encouragement.—Nil.
second most important agricultural centre is the 20. Use of Electricity in Industry.—In view of
Island of Failakah where wheat and barley arc extremely backward state of industry the use of
grown with some success on the clayey patches. electricity in manufacture is unknown, and is hardly
The island also produces vegetables especially car­ likely to develop for some years at least if ever.
rots which .arc of an exceptionally fine quality 23. Demand for Foreign Machinery.—Demand for
but tbc agriculture is generally inferior to that of forcigu machinery is insignificant. The only machi­
Jaliral). nery used is in motor boats and launches of • 'hich
15. As will be seen from wliat has been said above, about a dozen exist at Kuwait.
from an agricultural point of view the value of land 22. Development of Mines.— Kuwait is, as far as
in Kuwait is very little. Except, in case of land is known, very poor in mineral resources. The only
surrounding the town, which can be useful for mineral product is gypsum mortar, which is manu­
building purposes, land is free and everybody is at factured by the simple process of firing rubbish
liberty to take up any unoccupied piece and develop in broad shallow excavations. There is a large
it. gypsiferous tract on the outskirts of Kuwait town
The Kuwait Government keeps no records of land and it is found in several other parts of the prin­
holdings, nor is any land revenue charged to the cipality.
cultivators. No. 2 well of the Kuwait Oil Company (a half
American half British concern) which hold the con­
Except, therefore, for a few of the tracts of land cession for exploration and development of oil in
in the environs of the town, which are held by Kuwait territory, produced oil of good quality and
private owners and which change hands as any pressure during the period under review.
other property does, land is not hypothecated.
(G) Communications and Transport.
(F) Industry.
23. General.—As mentioned elsewhere the chief
16. General.—As has been already stated Kuwait means of transport between Kuwait and other
has no industries worth < be name, of her own. The ports of the Persian Gulf is by the local dhows
reasons for this state of affaire are as under:— engaged in overseas trade carrying, as distinguished
from peirl fishing, etc., or by the steamers of the
(a) Shyness of Capital. British India Steam Navigation Company, which
(b) Limited and uncertain market. call here fortnightly.
(c) Influx of cheap Japanese goods as a result Besides the above and a motor road between
of low customs duty, which tends to Kuwait and Basra and another from Kuwait to
kill industrial initiative. Riyadh there arc no regular roads. This is due to
the fact that the interior though it consists of flat
17. The only manufactures of which Kuwait can and generally hard desert which can he traversed
boast are as follows :— in nearly every direction by motor cars, is not at
(o) A cloth called “ Darry Bisht ”, which is all an easy country to travel in. The great obatacle
manufactured as a cottage industry by is complete lack of supplies and extreme scarcity of
a primitive type of handloom and is water.
exclusively used for making “ Bisht ” The only regular means of transport is by camel
or Arab cloaks (known also as * Abbas). along definite routes.
This cloth is woven from sheep’s wool 21. Advent of the Motor Car.—In view of the
and the thread is spun locally hy poor undeveloped state of the hinterland it has not
classes of Arabs as a sort of spare time hitherto been found either convenient or profitable
job. It is usually available in lengths to employ motor as a means of transport. The
of G to 6 J yards, which cost one an average motor service between Kuwait and Basra carried
from £0-10*8 to £0*13*4 a piece. A roll passengers only. Camel, therefore, as already stated,
or piece, sufficient for one cloak, takes still remains the chief and indispensable means of
from 4 to 10 days to weave. transport.