"كتيّب سوريا (بما في ذلك فلسطين). لندن: إدارة استخبارات الأركان البحرية، يونيو ١٩١٩" [ظ‎‎٢‎٥‎٧] (٧٣٨/٥١٩)

■■11^———
508 SAMARIA (INCLUDING CARMEL)
oil-presses scattered about the district. The bulk of highland
Carmel is now, however, wild and untilled. Cultivation is tree on t
confined to certain parts of the narrow maritime plain, monaster
notably that part of it west of Haifa ; to valley bottoms, in cultivate
some of which the soil is exceptionally fertile ; and, in the commert
higher parts, to the neighbourhood of peopled centres, notably
Carmelheim, Daliyeh, Zimmarin, ‘Usufiya, Umm ez-Zeinat, andpe:
and Iqzim. Cereals are largely grown, chiefly wheat and i ^ eme
barley and, to a less extent, dhura, but practically all the crop citron
is consumed locally. Sesame, grown in the plain country, a few ii
is a product having considerable commercial importance in dates o
Carmel. therefor
The wheat and barley are sown on Carmel at the beginning plain fa
of the rainy season, the latter being harvested at about Stock-
Whitsuntide and the former three weeks later, Dhura and bution
sesame are sown in early spring, and both are gathered in 2,100;
August. There are extensive fields of onions, and water- sheep, 1
melons are grown on a large scale, both crops thriving best in Carm
in the light sandy soils of low-lying tracts. Leguminous are past
plants, including the pea, various kinds of bean, lentil, lupine, herbage
and chick-pea, thrive particularly well in Carmel and, of the whichiss
remaining vegetables, the cucumber, egg-plant, and tomato black Ion
receive special attention. flocks on
Fruit culture is a reviving industry in Carmel, notably incompai
vine culture, formerly an important staple, but which had survival c
fallen off here, as in other parts of Southern Syria, owing to valued on
the Moslem prohibition of wine. The culture of the grape Fowls a:
and the production of wine has, however, always been carried no ducks;
on by the Carmelite monastery, and the industry has been atYajur
taken up in recent years by the German colonists of Haifa and in many v
Carmelheim and the Jewish colonists of Zimmarm, the produce high,
being considerable; see further, I.D. 1203. Olive-trees often Other h
attain a great size in Carmel, and the most extensive groves Carmel an
are at TJsufiya and Daliyeh. Olives grow well also in the mis ^
plain round Tireh towards the foot of the mountains. Almond- irater-mi]]
trees were formerly more widely grown than at present, and ®ilswork f
were once so numerous in the valley of Tireh that this village bime-hm^