Show PUM 0 av M f VIM k ap fe t 3 modern farming in palestine lAre pared by national geographic society washington D a service UE last decade has shown greater TUB changes in palestine than have occurred since the beginning of the christian era the holy land formerly the outpost of the east and the inspiration of the west has become the meeting place of both nowadays modern tractors draw drawing ing a doben plowshares at once are seau beside the camel and the ass dragging the primitive nail plow of biblical times beneath the cavern where king saul sought the witch of endor runs the pipe line which will carry the mineral oil of iraq miles across desert and mountain to the mediterranean shore chore across the plato plain of dothan whence the ishmaelite caravan carried joseph into egypt speed high powered automobiles long lives lines of steel pylons nylons carrying electric energy generated by the alv river er jordan bring II 11 light bt across the plain of sharon to illuminate countless homes formerly dimly lit by olive collve oll oil lamps modern machinery delivering thou sands bands of tons of soap annually challenges the output of the soap bollers boilers of shechem now who ply their ancient calling beneath the frowning scarp of Geri zim where in accordance accordance with ancient religious religious rites the few surviving samaritana samaritans Samar Samari itans still celebrate their sunset sacrifice to meet growing needs a new port has recently been constructed at haifa at the toot of mount carmel in the only natural bay along the palestine coast there are speed boats on the dead sea and seaplanes sea planes on thelea of galilee Gal the creameries crea meries of a countrywide country wide jewish operative cooperative co replace the lordly dish in which jael wife of heber th the kenite brought forth her butter farming in palestine for centuries the arab cultivator has carried on the primitive methods traditional throw throughout bout the east yoking his feeble oxen his camel or his ass to a roughhewn rough hewn wooden plow he cultivates his wheat heat and barley millet and sesame in season he beats the fruit ott off his bis gnarled olive trees and his animals stamp out the grain on the threshing floor patches of unfenced land scattered around the village compose his farm large tracts are still held in common and are subject to periodical distribution while ancient custom releases herds of cattle to graze freely on the fields after harvest thus rendering difficult the introduction of any but conventional conent coment ional lonal crops impressed by the development created by jewish and german agricultural methods and aided by government agricultural inspectors the people are beginning to stir under turkish rule the cultivator paid his dues in kind and often money did not pass through his hands for months money Is now universal and the arab while learning its use may be trained in thrift initiative by the individual Is rare it Is easier to get a number of villagers to adopt a new idea by discus discussing sl 09 it with them together in the village meeting house than by arguing singly with each man by the creation of arab operative cooperative co societies distribution of improved seed the establishment of government experiment stations demonstration on plots and stud farms it Is hoped to better the lot of the farmer palestine has been a highway on the caravan route between egypt syria and asia minor and the east for so many centuries that public security has always been of major importance the romans recognized this and to protect their frontiers they flung their outposts the other side of jordan country well policed today palestine has a modern civil police force composed of british and palestinian personnel constables mounted on arab horses tor for service in the hills or on traffic duty in the towns vie via tor for smartness with the camel corps recruited from the red I 1 euln tribes of beersheba in the south most of their work Is behind scenes but the traveler who happens to be in jerusalem in the autumn and attends the annual police sports has opportunity of seeing them at work and play from demonstrations of first aid to tent pegging from a tug of war to a musical ride by camels followed by a display of camel jumping today reasonable security exists and the peasant la Is able to take his bis goods to market without the constant fear of being robbed on the way however occasionally the old time bandit ap pears in the hills and glies trouble to administration police and people before he Is wiped out before the war there were ere no roads la in palestine suitable for motor traffic iel indeed there was no need fur for alien tor for palestine boasted only one automobile instead of rough tracks and stony mountain paths a network of modern roads now covers the country from syria to the egyptian frontier from froia the mediterranean to the river jordan find beyond into the gaunt steeps of trans jordan desert routes to both the sinai peninsula and to baghdad are practicable for motor transport among some motor vehicles registered the ubiquitous bus built on to a truck chassis has ousted the horse ho redrawn drawn native cart and Is seen everywhere crowded bilth diverse passengers from eastern prelates pr elates to office clerks from inquiring travelers to veiled moslem ladles ladies plied piled around with suitcases and farm produce railways and planes twenty years ago a french line from jaffa to jerusalem and a narrow gauge line from haifa going eastward across the river jordan to join the pilgrim railway from damascus to the holy city of medina in the hegaz were Pale stines only railways war operations necessitated a line from the suez canal across sinai along the he maritime plain by way of the ancient towns of gazza and lydda the homo home of st george to haifa passengers may now travel in comfortable ale sleep ep ing and restaurant cars across the desert which moses took 40 years to traverse and cross the width of sinai and the holy boly land between breakfast and tea recently fishermen on the sea of galileo galilee plying their age old craft were startled by the appearance of a lying flying boat which dropping from the skies cleaved the waters of this sacred in land freshwater fresh water lake which nestles below sea level in a cup of the north ern hills galilee had bad become the meet ing place of land and sen sea planes on the airway between europe and eastern asia A s la in 1914 the only means of long dis tance communication was by shepherd boy to herdsman an shouting across mountain crag to hilltop from highland to valley today not only do networks of tele rele graph and telephone wires embrace the country making it literally possible to speak from dan to beersheba fro from in jordan valley to mediterranean coast but by land wire and wireless people nay may talk from jerusalem or jericho to europe or america palestine birthplace of religious as soc lations but hitherto solely an agri aerl cultural country Is beginning to stir with ith industrial life so far neither belthe r coal nor oil has been found in a corn com mercial quantities so for the creation of power the waters of the jordan and have been harnessed electric light an old sheik will tell you that the end of the war found the towns and villages of palestine places of darkness without a single street light most of us were asleep soon arter after sunset as the flickering light from an olive oll oil lamp was of little use the country Is now being surrounded by a network of pylons nylons conveying electrical energy generated by the waters of jordan south of the sea of galileo galilee avre erected regulating sluices and dams across both the jordan river and its tributary the these two sources are connected with a mile lung ion canal and the flo lowing NIng waters are diverted into turbines generating horse horsepower each the energy Is trans emitted across palestine at volts colts jerusalem la Is supplied with light diesel engines operated by ano ite er company A striking change in palestine Paes tIDe Is the modern method of building new types type haie bae largely superseded the cletur esque vaulted and homes of the arabs whose domed rooms necessitate walls a yard thick with immensely solid corners to withstand the weight of stone on the roof the cost Is now prohibitive and iron girders formerly unavailable are cheaper supports for flat roofs with the main towns doubling their population in ten years and the all jewish town of tel aviv which aich has sprung up beside old jaffa to a flourishing city of people town plan net neis have been active owing to tile the cosmopolitan origin of their builders every tonu form of architecture Is portrayed in the new homes types ot of central and eastern europe predominating restrictions on their height lofty buildings being erected country settlements are also adopting up to date practices and many a village tow now possesses charming villas jerusalem has a line fine new hotel aptly called the kinz king |