PALESTINE'S FUTURE

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 107, 30 January 1920, Page 7

PALESTINE'S FUTURE

FREEDOM FROM TURKISH MISRULE

IMMENSE AGRICULTURAL

POSSIBILITIES

It is no exaggeration to say that no j country bids fair to lltnciit more as a result of the war than the sacred and historic land of-Palestine. That it will emerge, as the result of the great upheaval, into a more prosperous, contented, and happy land, thu?i> who aro acquainted witn'its recent history and have followed closely the course of events in this quarter of the globe, are all agreed (writes Harold J. Stej-;tone, F.R.Ii.S.). It is immaterial whai foi'm of government is finally decided upon, for Palestine's future lies ent.rdy in the reforms —political, economic, and social—which will lie awl are being rapidly introduced now that tho Turk who lias misruled the land for so many centuries, las gone.^ Hero we must remember -.hat Palestine is in many respects a remarkable and a unique tract of country. In area it is about as largo as Wales, and, like Wales, is very mountainous. It is full of lulls and valleys, with herb and (hers a rolling plain, ii'et it boasts of every kind in soil, from sand and broken l.mcstone to rich, red, and chocolate loam. Every variety of climate, too, may 'bo experienced, and both temperate and tropical fruits and vegetables cultivated. Palestine is essentially an ngri3iiltur.il country, ono of tho richest, if properly developed, in tho world.. Did not Joshua describe it as a land flowing with milk and honey? And ho was fight. Some low years ago two brothers living in Jaffa, weiit into tho apiary .business. They conceived the idea, of furnishing the bees with material for honey-making throughout eight months of the year by camping first at a low altitude nnd when the (lowers of that locality vero finished, moving tho hives on camel back to -a higher place, thus following up tho consecutive blossoming of different wild flowers. The result was remarkable. Ovor six tona of honey was obtained from a hundred hives in the single season, a yield per hive of nearly three limes that obtained on any of tho great honeyi'aims of America or Australia. But tho Turks put such a heavy tax r.n tho honey that tjio experiment was discontinued. It was tho Turkish taxation that killed all development. Vineyards and orchards /ere taxed to such an extent that it hardly paid to cultivate them. I have known farmers _ around Bethlehem cut down .venerablo olivo trees simply because they could not afford to pay the Turkish charge upon them. : The agricultural possibilities of tho land aro immense. The country around Jaffa is well adapted" to the growing of excellent oranges, dates, grapes, and a .number of other fruits, as well ns cereals This section of tho country is underlain by an apparently inexhaustibleartesian underflow, so water can 'bo easily tapped for irrigation purposes. On tho great. Plain of Sharon, which stretches back from the sea to tho foothills of Jerusalem, fine crops of wheat, barley, and oat? are to be liad, while here, too, the fig, olivo, almond, and apricot thrive wonderfully. Then to tho south, moro particularly around Beersheba, whero today, as in 'Bible- tiinea, wheat and barley still yield a hundred-fold to the sower, much could bo dono in increasing the area under, cultivation. The wonderful Jordan valley, which is to-day practically uncultivated, could be turned into a veritable paradise. Experts from the irrigation department of the Egyptian Government,- who have visited the region since the British occupation, declaro that by running canals from tho Jordan', down which'six million tons of sweet water rush daily, a quarter of ,a million acres of deep, rich, alluvial soil,' with a semi-tropical climate, could be reclaimed and rendered fruitful. Tho various Jewish colonies scattered up and <lown tho country have shown, in a small way, tho unique agricultural possibilities of this wonderful land.

Hero a word of explanation is necessary. The ordinary traveller visiting Palestine is surprised at tho stony charactor of llio ground, and imagines that it can never 1)D made fertile until they arc cleared away. Hut theso very stones are its salvation. In other countries all cultivated land has to be fertilised, or it would cease to yield its increase. Palestine, on the other hand, has been farmed for thousands of years without fertilisation. The farmer has only to sow and reap, not to manure his land. It might almost bo said that tho yielding of fruit is an unassisted function of such soil as Palestine boasts.

The fact is, tho country is formed of various grades of limestone, and it is in the crevices and pockets of this limestone Tock below the meagre scattering of soil that the roots of tho trees and plants find their stores of rich, moist mould. The limestone is continually disintegrating, and its dust imparts to tho clayey soil a wonderful canncitj' for holdill" moisture. If the fullest advantage were taken of this action it would transform the rocky hills into fruit orchards. Tho wilderness and tho solitary place couldjje made glad, and tho desert could rejoice and blossom as tho rose. For tho fig tree, the first of trees to be mentioned in the Bible, will grow anywhere in Palestine, adapting itself even to the rockiest places. The grape is tho most abundant of all Palestine fruits, yet it'matures without rain or irrigation. And what w true of the grapes may also bo said of all summer' fruits, including the watermelons. It is tho soil and rock combination which stores up the ample rainfall so that it may be utilised by the plants during the summer.

Much could be done too in developing the fishing industry of the Sea of Galilee. These sacred waters .'.hound, as in New Testament times, with excellent varieties of fish, but only a small quantit.v is taken. What is sorely needed is better transportation facilities for carrying the produce to the towns. Then it has been known for years that tho wholo of tho Dead Sea basin is exceedingly rich in all kinds of minerals—a veritable Klondyke, if properly worked. The finest 'and purest bitumen is obtainablo here, as well as an excellent sulphur. Then in Byzantine timns copper mines wore worked near the south end of the Dead Sea. Marble, porphyry, and other fine classes of stone abound, as well as phosphates, ennl, and oil. Salt is here in great quantities, yet under Turkish domination Ill's commodity, though to bo found in tho country, was always imported from Smyrna, and England. In the days of Solomon, Jerusalem boasted of an adequate water supply, brought to the city from distant pools by means of an aqueduct. Yet for centuries, under Turkish rule. Hie city depended solely up:m the rainfall, collected on the flat roofs of the houses and in'cisterns, for its water. Ono of llio first tilings the Br'tish accomplished when they entered the land -was to give Jerusalem a watcr-supnly., Jerusalem has now an abundance of pure water, and Hie death rate of its inhabitants has dropped to that of other'.western rifics. Tn fact, Jerusalem has been modernised. II? streets nro now regularly swept, and law and order firmly established. Much has been done too in the construction of roads which were badly •needed, for the first time, too. Palestine has been made easily accessible to the outside world. If is now linked with Kg.vpt by rail. All the country needs is a stable government, the introduction of many needed reforms, enonuiagoniont of the peasant to till the soil and ready access to the markets'of 'he world. All that is now assured, and the Ifolv Land, the most sacred of countries, is destined to become prosperous and happy, and regain something of its oast glories as a result of the great world conflict.