The Tithes Are Farmed By The Turkish Government To Merchants And
Speculators In The Spring Of Each Year, When The
Ripening crops enable
all concerned to estimate the extent and quality of the year's produce.
The sale of the tithes
(By villages, nahies, or cazas, as may be
preferred) commences in March and ends on the 15th June, and whatever
tithes then remain unsold the Government undertakes to recover through
its own agents.
When the sales are effected the tithe-farmer signs a bond for the
amount, payable in six monthly instalments, commencing from the 1st
August, with interest on instalments not paid at due date. Each
tithe-farmer is required to have a sufficient surety, who also signs the
bond and is jointly and equally responsible with the principal. After
conclusion of the agreement, the tithe-farmer proceeds at once to watch
the fields in which he is interested and to estimate the yield. He sees
the grain cut, threshed, heaped, and insists upon its remaining upon the
threshing-floor until his claim is satisfied-the claim always exceeding
the stipulated tenth. For wheat, barley, and other grains, arrangements
have to be made by the cultivators for transit to the nearest port of
embarkation, on terms more or less unfavourable to themselves. Their
cattle are taken away for transport when most required in their own
fields, and they have to bear all the expenses of transit, except the
expense of the first mile, which is paid by the tithe-farmers.
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