1926
November
The agricultural opportunities for Palestine are limited. Most of its area is occupied by highlands, suitable only for cultivation of olives. The area for fields is limited and to a great extent already used up. A number of major irrigation projects have been worked out, offering rich possibilities for spending considerable amounts of money. Opportunities for developing agricultural crops are far better on the other side of the Jordan, in Trans-Jordania. This country, which seems like a natural extension of Palestine and is immediately adjacent to Mesopotamia, is represented by an enormous level territory favourable for cultivation of cereals. Crops stretch over wide areas almost to the horizon. They consist mainly of hard wheat and the distichous, drought-tolerant Palestinian barley.
Barley harvest near Bethlehem, Palestine.
Whichever way you turn in Palestine, there are ruins of large buildings and traces of Roman roads. The authority of the Roman Empire reached as far as here. In the centre of Trans-Jordania, remains of a large outpost city with ruins of temples with Corinthian columns are preserved.
[] The agricultural character of Trans-Jordania is imprinted on the ruins of this Roman city. Conical stone mills, used for grinding grain on stones, are preserved here in large numbers. They are by far more perfect than the primitive and simple stone mills. In other words, here things were better in the past. Indeed, in ancient times the initial acculturation of bread grasses, wheat and barley, occurred exactly within this territory. There can be no doubt that in the past considerable amounts of wheat and barley were grown here, which was possible thanks to the development of an agriculture which made use of the plow. According to documented data, not only was Trans-Jordania the granary of Palestine but its grains were exported far beyond its borders.
Gathering tares from wheat in the stony fields of Bethel, Palestine.
The future prospects for agriculture in Palestine are not very clear. It is absolutely obvious only that the system of government and the building up of Palestine is not radical but often counterproductive. The surplus of intelligentsia, including agronomists, cannot really be assured of a rational application of their efforts. It is impossible to escape the detrimental effects of the national disunity and the discord that seem to be what is primarily being cultivated in this country.
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