FARMING IN PALESTINE.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 4, Issue 122, 17 December 1915, Page 3 (Supplement)

FARMING IN PALESTINE.

ATHER .ABRAHAM'S WAY" STILL IN VOGUE.

Ifliurwt generally enters Pales>4y)the open port of Jaffa and up to Jerusalem by the single iw-gaugo railway winch connects l two places. He crosses the I'luin taron, and then the train slowly is the mountains of Judea to Jerui. In spring the Plain of Sharon

wn with fine wheat fields studded gorgeous red anemonies, and they the impression of fertility. This, rer, is soon lost after the traveltas been in the mountain coun>r a time. Unless he is a close obr und somewhat familiar with conla in semi-arid regions, his que®, woud probably be: —" Where is •ltd flowing with milk and hon.To understand the agricultural Mlities of Palestine, says a writthe "Scientific American," one remain some time in the country, tudy the conditions that here ob-

' country is decidedly unique in hysicul formation. The deep deion or geological fault lqiown its Fordan Valley, formed in prehistimes by volcanic action, divides roughout its entire length. The Ition is of Aarious grades of limeLor Nubian sandstone. In the t*in region of Western Palestine k>il is thin except in the valleys \ it has accumulated from the pg down of tne mountain sides. My places the old terrace, owing Bturies of neglect have broken I and to this is due the great loss fcfrom the mountain elopes, ■withstanding the fact that the BMn many places thin, in most [the limestone rock below is full

ge crevices and pockets, where ots of trees find considerable rich, mould. The soil is clayish, mixth disintegrated limestone, and wonderful adaptation for lioldnoisture, which fact is fully litrated by the raising of summer

HILL AND DALE, next characteristic which gives ine great advantages, especially it raising, is the very considerifferences in altitude found in so ft territory. Ihe country lies benorth latitude 30 degrees and 34 S, and the variation of altitude, >nsequently of climate, ranges iea-level to 2600 feet abovo at Jem, and falling to 1300 feet be-»-level at the snores of the Dead

country around Jaffa is well 4 to the growing of excellent a, dates, grapes and a number W fruits, us well as cereals, lei etc. 'ibis section is underlain apparently inexhaustible artestiertiow, which is being utilised I irrigation of orange groves. Plain of Sharon stretches bacn he sea for about fifteen miles to ithills, where the elevation is to to six hundred feet. On this may bo grown fine crops of barley, oats, and other cereals. Fruit, the fig, olive, almond and i thrive wonderfully. Theso weals and fruits are grown on Kier elevations, but mature late season. The fruit and vegeaarket of Jerqgglem is, thereluch prolonged, beginning early Mason and continuing late. RUS JORDAN YALLEX. Ibut far from least to be considjhe agricultural possibilities of id, is the wonderful Jordan Yal'his locality, though at present illy uncultivated, will no doubt jay become a most prominent in the development of the count stretches from tho Dead Sea »rd, a distance of bo miles, to to of lialilec.. Going out from ter lake, the river Jordan, with f 600 feet in 65 miles traverses ire length of the valley and into the Dead Sea 6,000,000 sweet water daily. This valley sn likened to a tropical oasis i the midst of a temperate cliThe altitude, or rather depresi the Lake of Galilee is 682 feet M-level, gradually falling off to 1300 feet at the shores of the ea. Hence, we Ifave a natural it of beautiful fresh Water 14 og by eight broad, its greatest eing 200 teet, with a daily eup--6,000,000 tous of water, situtlio head of 200,000 acres jt Ich alluvial soil seated in semiclimate.

NATUHAL PARADISE. Kaid by expert* tlmt the irrigathis valley by canals lending ie foothills is quite feasible and urn tbc section into a veritable >. Here, owing to tlie great erythmg grows with surprising to an enormous size. lAicerne a, under irrigation, produces »s a year. Bananas, oranged, tne, cotton, and all tlie fruits Di-tropica! cllhinto can be raiss cotton is perennial in growth n long, fine fibre. Fine wheat rlcy are also produced. The season is prolonged throughwhole year. The climate, very hot during the summer to most delightful in winter, f the Jordan Valley the hills » to a height somewhat greatjtoe western ridge. Eastern is a great plateau, well and fertile throughout its This is an admirable wheatdistrict, where no line wheat iy be seen as exist anywhere in Id.

fction has very few towns, us the inhabitants are nomadic i. Here a small number of Cirhave established themselves I villages. They are far more i than the Bedouins and en!le ground in such u way as to idant crops. IN BIBLICAL TIMES, here is the Beer Shoba district ern Palestine, celebrated for vhpat and barley, which, in a son, yields to-day, just a- iu ues, a huuaredfold. Tim 10also inhabited by Bedoi.in% culture is carried on by tho uetbods. It also has an artcsrfloiv which can be utilised for l. Water is found at a depth •JO to 50 feet. Much more i said of certain other lociilii as the rich historic Plain of 1 and the Valley of Dothun, ider proper cultivation, yield rops as the best land in the jates. But this is self-evident casual observer. Wluit needs exemplification , though well >d by the student of ngriculhow the now barren, rocky be transformed into producorchards. :OINTI»VS SALVATION, beeu mentioned, Palestine is a limestone country, and tlm c« wliich tho patser-by Hunks urse of the hind are its salIn other countries it is th« to fertilise all uncultivated were thin precaution neglcct. •ÜBsidorable 1 length of tiiue, it |ft' to yield profitable crops. PVn other hand, has been |r thousands of years absolute. It fertilisation. Furthermore, | manure it carefully coJJcct-

Ed from the fields, dried, and used for luel, so that the land u> robbed of what little it nnght get irom that material. What saves it is (he continual disintegration of the limestone, giving the soil that property that enables it to make use of the nitrogen in the aid. The nitrogen-gathering bacteria are present in every locality. Moreover, tiie porous rocks underground seem to nold the moisture thoughout the summer, so that it may be gradually utilised by tree roots and summer plants during tne long dry season. Where in the United States or in Europe could a crop of beans, peas, vegetable-marrow, watermelons, or cucumbers be raised absolutely without rain or irrigation? But it is constant, ly done here. When the fellah wishes to plant a summer crop he lets his land lie fallow during the rainy season and when he is reasonably sure the rain is finished (because the best result is obtained without any rain at all) he scratches the ground a few inches deep with his crude plough, such as Abraham might have used, puts in the seed, cultivates occasionally to keep down the weeds, and his crop is asured.

RUINED BY TAXATION. In some localities, as Bethlehem, fine olive groves exist on land no better originally than thousands of acres at present lying waste and to all appearance worthless. There is hardly a rocky hill anywhere in the country that would not offer good facilities for the thriving of these unique and exceedingly profitable trtes. But one asks, if this is the case why are not these hillsides everywhere green with the olive P For the simple reason that such a ruinous system of taxation has existed for so long that not oniy has the poor peasant been robbed of all am. bition to plant, but is only too glad to cut down these venerable trees and sell the wood for fuel rather than pay a tax that amounts to more than the trees yield him. The almond is another tree that thrives on rocky soil, and had Palestine a proper Government, so that tree planting would be encouraged, no Uoubt large almond groves would spring into being, as thi6 favourite nut is always in demand, and, not being of a perishable nature, is easily handled and exported. ABRAHAM'S WAY.

The fig tree probably adapts itself to rocky places better than any other. These may sometimes be seen growing upside down from the roof of a cave. All fruits are at present of common unimproved varieties. The is very deep-rooted among the natives that any endeavour to improve on the methods of their forefathers would be the greatest arrogance. And for this reason everything has retrograded rather tahn improved. " Abraham did it this way—God forbid that we should be better than our father Abraham." However, when the grafting of better varieties is practised the results arc most satisfactory. The matter of rainfall of this countryis of especial interest, because during the past sixty years that the record has been kept at Jerusalem by the Palestine Exploration Fund there has been a steady increase up to the present time from a yearly average of twenty-two inches to twenty-eight inches. The rain generally falls during tho six montlis from November to April. The remaining six months are rainless. There are the "former rains'' and the "latter rains." The "former rains" are very heavy and with storms, and come during December, January, and February. The "latter rains" are of a more showery character, and are necesary to mature the crops! which harve started with the "for <i.*r rains.' The natives begin ploughing as 6oon as the first rains have sufficiently moistened the soil. What would strike the Western leader as rather out of the ordinary is that the grape crop, which <s probably the most abundant of all the fruits and which includes numerous delicious varieties, is matured entirely without rain or irrigation; in fact, the leaves d« not appear before the dry season has set in. What is true of the grapes may also be said of all the 6ummer fruits, including watermelons. .kU mis goes to snow tiie peculiar piupeny oi soil ayu rocK coiuuiuai>oii ~u . iu a gteat measure to suncs up nils ample lunuiul tuat U may Oe utilised by piauis Uunug tlie summer. Lucerne, growu wiuiout irrigation in tlie vaiie\o, produces turee crops a year, ami uot suiter seriousiy, 11 at ail, iu living turougli the long ury season, as tuc roou> penetrate tue crevices ol the underlying iocks ana und moisture. Uue year it tell beiieath the writer's notice that the dr> season lasted eight months —that is, tins time elapseu before sufficient ran. tell to moisten the ground to a depth ot three inches—but this hardy piaut was not in the least injured. Around Jatta and tlaita some few thritty German colonics have been established, and modern tarm maeti.n'i - is used with very tine results, i' ui '.hermore, there are in various kv.d.lus throughout the country thriving agnculv iral colonies under the direc.o'i ot t' c Jews. These were started on funds donated by baron Edmund KotiisJu.a and other philanthropic Jews oi Europe. Palestine is essentially an agricultural country, as it lias absolutely no other resources, and iu past times supported a large population. Bat it should be understood that to restore it to its former prosperity would require considerable capital and a radical inform government. A LAND OF HONEY.

Though the Israelites came out ot the very productive land of Egypt, their destination was described as a land flowing with milk :ind honey. This light of facts concerning the producstatenient in most interesting in the tion of honey here. It is well-known to botiiuists that Palestine is the meeting place of the flora of three different continents, and this circumstance combined with the varied altitudes produces a condition most favourable to ben culture. Some years ago two brothers living in Jaffa went into the apiary business. They conceived the idea of furnishing the 'bees with material for honey-mak-ing throughout eight months of the year by eampiug' iirst at a low altitude and when the flowers of that locality were finished, moving the hives on camel back to a higher place, thus following up the consecutive blossoming of different wild flowers. They first lot them work on the orange blossoms around Jaffa, and this fragrant honey Wilis kept separate as wan that obtained from each succeeding flower which pervaded any particular district. Thus, tbev were able to label their honey "Orange Blossom,'' "'lJiynio,' etc. The data furnished by these gentlemen show a yield exceeding that yet known in any other country. By using modern American extracting machinery and replacing the e'uuhs. en« hundred hives produced six tons of hone.v during eight months lhiit is l'Ji.) pounds to the hiv«. The average vield in Australia ond America is thirty pounds to each hive and the maxu launVlilly. I'Vo'm these facts it is clear that this unique land is possessed ot greAt naturiil advantages over other lands, not only in ordinary agricultural possibilities, but in this interesting matter of producing lmuey.