Mesopotamia reveals itself only as a land of troubles these days. Unruly tribesmen disturb the peace of the country, wherever they find themselves in a majority, and wage war against small detachments of troops. They have always done so, and apparently will continue their work until taught a thoroughly sound lesson, when they may appreciate that self-determination does not include the total divine right of misgoverning others. But while they have been monopolizing the stage, more important. though less sensational work has been in progress for the good of the world. This is cotton growing, and it seems now to be definitely established.that many thousand acres of the country will later on be available therefor. An early experiment in this line proved a failure, owing to salt in the soil, but later attempts in the vicinity of Bagdad have been completely successful, both Egyptian and American varieties having thriven in the soil. And here already we can see the results of the persuasive methods which are a characteristic of British occupation of such parts. A neighbouring sheik, it is reported, has agreed to culitivate cotton upon a cooperative basis, the Agricultural Department providing seed, machinery and the necessary instruction. It would be interesting to learn what the sheik in question formerly did with his) tribesmen; were they the same sort of marauding nomads as gave trouble both to British and Turks during the war and still are a dangerous quantity to-day? At any rate it is satisfactory to know that some of the population are ready to grow cotton for an oecupation, and when the conservancy and irrigation works, which must inevitably arise before prosperity smiles over the country, are carried through, we may perhaps hope for more industry and less brigandage.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.