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These canals are, with rivers and brooks, subject to the inspection of a public officer 
called the Prince of Water, and the water is distributed to cultivators, according to 
their wants, at fixed rates of payment. 
In the mountain gorges, where the form of the land permits, the snow and rain 
waters are arrested by thick walls and are collected in large basins, their level being 
raised so that they may overflow the soil. Chardin, whose “ voyage” is, perhaps, the 
most faithful and interesting that has been published, says: “There are four kinds of 
water in Persia—the rivers and springs above land, and subterraneous wells and con- 
duits called cariges. They dig at the foot of mountains for water, and when a spring 
is discovered it is conducted by subterraneous canals sometimes a distance of eight or 
ten leagues.” 
Besides irrigation the Persians employ the system of stercoration, so much esteemed 
by the Romans. They use the litter of horses to manure the land. They litter the 
horses with their own dung, dried and powdered, of which they make a soft, firmly 
united bed of two or three inches in thickness. Every morning the excrements of 
these animals are dried in the court-yard, and in the evening are reduced to powder 
by a little beating. As they lie all day in the sun they lose their odor, so that the 
stables do not smell badly. Another means of preventing this odor is also used, which 
is, to mingle salt with the barley that the horses eat. 
The countrymen carefully collect the impurities of the city streets and deposit 
them in bags, with which they load their asses. There are no public sewers in Persia. 
Each house has its private sewer, a hole about a foot deep, which is generally dug by 
the side of the dwelling. These are never offensive, as the dryness of the air dissi- 
pates the bad odor. ‘The occupants of houses which have no sewer outside arrange 
with some trustworthy countryman to take the sewage by the year, charging him a 
sort of rentage, which is commonly paid by the year, for the privilege of access to the 
house. These scavengers may be seen with their spades cleaning the ditches, and 
loading their asses or mules with their contents. They attend to their duties with 
assiduity, visiting these places weekly. Whenever a warm fertilizer is required, the 
excrements of men and pigeons, together with melons and cucumbers, are smoked. 
The countrymen say that there is a notabie difference in the fruits raised in those beds 
in which the manure is obtained from houses whose occupants eat much flesh, or drink 
the wines of Europe. This fertilizer is not laid upon the land without preparation. 
It is carried into the country, and there dried by the application of heat. It is then 
thrown into large ditches, which, when half full, are filled up with earth. Here, for 
two years, it is exposed to the action of snows and rains that knead the whole mass 
together. At the end of this time the fertilizer is ready for use. 
By means of this culture the soil of Persia, though sandy, becomes firm and clayey, 
and capable of receiving any kind of seed, producing two crops of barley annually. 
The land in the neighborhood of large cities is never at rest; for when one crop is 
gathered, another is planted. . 
Water is necessary to the fertilization of the soil, and a fruitful valley may be made 
a desert tract by the destruction of one of the expensive canals. Those parts of the 
country that are well cultivated indicate the prosperity to which the kingdom may 
attain. 
Throughout Persia there are great plains, which during the winter season are covered 
with water, while the bare, saity soil is parched by the summer sun. These vast sur- 
faces, if properly watered, might be rendered suitable for cultivation. 
The pastures of Persia afford food for numerous flocks of sheep that are owned by 
some of the itinerant tribes of the country, who do nothing for the amelioration of 
their species. Some of these sheep have tails weighing more than thirty pounds, which 
are a great burden to the animals. In certain places the sheep are assisted to carry 
this burden by alittle machine with two wheals. 
Kurdistan, a province possessed jointly by Turkey and Persia, exports many sheep 
and goats. Itis estimated that fifteen hundred thousand of these animals are sent 
yearly to Constantinople. A greater number are exported, but the length and diffieul- 
ties of the journey cause many to perish. It is a journey of sixteen or seventeen 
months from Van to the Bosphorus. The Ottoman army which fought the French in 
Egypt was almost wholly fed by the herds of Kurdistan. 
The provices of Northern Persia are very humid. They are covered with snow in 
winter, and watered in autumn, by abundant rains. The soil is rich and fertile, and 
many of the trees of Europe not only grow in it, but attain a great height. South of 
the mountains, on the contrary, the air 1s very dry. Light clouds float eastwardly ; 
without being resolved to rain. The soil in this section is therefore sandy and arid. 
No dew covers the plants, and no mist hovers over the highest mountain peaks. 
The rivers of Persia that flow into the Caspian Sea are very rapid. But those that 
water the plains of Ispahan, Kashan, and Shiras, have a more moderate current, and 
diminish in width as they become distant from their sources. Few run into the ocean ; 
most of:them being lost in the sandy plains. This progressive diminution favors their 
system of trenching. 
