'A handbook of Syria (including Palestine). London: Naval Staff Intelligence Department, June 1919' [‎229v] (463/738)

452 JUDAEA AND THE SOUTHERN DESERT
Cultivation here, as stated above, is largely in the hands of
Jewish and German Colonists, the chief crops being oranges,
grapes, and almonds; but the natives grow a good deal of wheat,
sesame, melons, and dhura. There are especially rich tracts in
the valleys east of Ludd, in the plain of Felujeh to the south
east, and around the large village of Mejdel. A scheme set
on foot a few years ago to dam the N. el-‘Auja near Feri-
khiyeh, to provide irrigation for some 4,000 hectares of land,
did not materialize. Sugar-cane would probably be a suitable
and profitable crop here ; it is already grown to a limited
extent, but the cane is only used for chewing.
(6) The lower Jordan. This locality produces large quan
tities of fresh vegetables for the Jerusalem market. For
further details of the crops here, see p. 658 f.
Farming operations in Judaea and in Palestine in general,
outside the colonies, are carried on on most primitive lines.
Efforts to introduce modern agricultural implements and
machinery among the natives have so far met with poor success.
The necessity for modern ploughs and reapers has not yet been
felt, and harrows are not used. The peasant is quite content
with his home-made implements, and climatic conditions, early
harvests as well as cheap labour render, for the time being, time
saving machinery almost superfluous. Moreover, the attitude
of the Turkish Government towards agriculture, as elsewhere
in Syria, has been one of almost complete indifference. The
increase in orange cultivation in the Jaffa and other localities
has rendered the question of irrigation a very important one
and on the more up-to-date farms modern appliances have
almost entirely taken the place of the old water-wheel or nd‘urah
for irrigation. Pumps of the barrel and chain and bucket types,
of improved patterns, worked by oil motor, have been exten
sively introduced by the colonists, but the natives are, for the
most part, still content to irrigate with the primitive ncTurah.
The crops often fail, especially the barley crop in the
Gaza district ; this is not due to the lack of fertility in
the soil, but partly to the scantiness and uncertainty of the