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Newspaper Page Text
California Farming Machinery Invades the Fields of Palestine SPURRED on by the call of prog fress and urged by. repeated peti tions of the great commercial heads of the old world, Americans are planning a peaceful invasion of the Holy Land, the home of the rugged pat riarchs of biblical history, that for cen turies has resisted the inarch of modern improvement and is surrounded by al most the same conditions that existed in the days of David, Micah. Hosea and the rest of the ancient prophets. Xo greater field for American indus try, according t^ experts who have just returned from Palestine *nd Jerusa lem exists. Constant missionary work of representatives of American business firms among the nativs is beginning to bear fruit/ and from an antagonistic attitude that has been unshakable for • years, the people have adopted a re ceptive spirit and F»om. anxious and willing to learn new things. American farming Machinery, ' partic ularly the large thrashing and plowing machines such as are manufactured in California, will be tho rirst of this coun try's nic.-hanical produrts to be experi mented with In J the Holy Land. One of the largest manufacturers of harvesting machinery in the United States has al ready shipped to Palestine several car loads of the latest, most improved reap ers, binders and harrows, besides sam ples of sowing and plowing machines. The success of this new venture i* being watched with undisguised inter est by European competitors. Farming methods used by the natives of Palestine and Jerusalem are most primitive. . Centuries have made little change in the cultivation of thc f soil. There is still the crude plow of one handlp, an iron/shovel bolted *to a crooked stick and drawn b>\ a camel. There is still the cruel goad, a' rod with a spike in one. end: that, is' used as an incentive to the ' dromedary, to »work faster, .and the „ harvesting and gleaning methods and- the thrashing castoma described •f n the -hook ,of Ruttt Btlll prevalL ', \u25a0 • Consul Tl-omas . R. Wallace of Jeru salem recently wrote to Washington that, conditions for the adoption of American -machinery were never bet ter than now. \u25a0. .. \u25a0 Particularly, in. Judea, bordering on the sea, the land is" rich and fertile and well adapted to all kinds -of agricul tural implements and machinery. - A campaign' of education has j been carried' on- for years by .representatives of American firms . among the natives of this section thathas for its end the abolishing of the-. "communal system." the greatest menace the Holy Land of fers to the. admittance, of inodorn-im« provements. - . \u25a0. - ' . The "communal- system" .destroys every incentive for. improvement -of land. The ground is apportioned every three years. and each person is free to do as he \u25a0 likes /with his portion. In some of the communities .each. .villager, or family owns a portion of the -farm' lands. The original farm is subdivided among the , survivors of each \ succeed ing generation until it eventually is in very small patches. | Efforts are bring made to induce* the holders of these small farms to combine their interests and farm : ".their." tracts jointly, according, to modern' methods. Under present conditions the poverty of the people .is the greatest obstacle that American merchants will have to face. The farmers pledge their crops every year before they are harvested and arc thus. kept destitute. - \u25a0\u25a0*/ .\u25a0 The land, while fertile.;does notpro duce one-tenth the size crops -that it should because of the inability of the natives properly to till the soil. .The crude plows used penetrate but an inch or two beneath the surface.'and no pretense is "made to 'turn* the ground over in smopth, furrows. : _ . - ; , V What, a marvelous change faces- the country of King David and Solomon." '\u25a0 What; a -change- will peonies .fnto thei lives of .the simple minded natives with the , inTroductlon.' of ' modcrr/.. California ; fanning machinery.'- To them jit' will be ; little short of, magic 'to see "the wonder- i ful mechanism bf^the lifelike harvesters at.work!-*;.,.r ,/\u25a0.\u25a0;.'\u25a0>\u25a0.•:'•;':•;///:\u25a0 ~> -\u25a0 £ T6 the American farmer who ; has" seen '>\u25a0'\u25a0 the labor fin; thei fields, reduced-, gradu-^ al ly,' step : at - aUimc,': year by year?? the . development -of the farm, machine: is 're garded i merely"; as *. a ; matter ~ of | course, j but Jotho-native ofrPalestine. who will ? have the _, result:- of a century's brains \u25a0 and. endeavor/at 1 his feet,.. tke^result's will be ' •;{•;, r - ; V ' ;\u25a0 { At, reaping- time;- the -brown skinned natives'; have been v accustomed \ to \ cut-, ting the j grain with hand' sickles 'and. carrying, it away/, in arrnfuls , to /bo thrashed /later ? between -I? clumsy ' logs, EtuddPdv.with; bits': of *iro,n:". ,. "The* chaff • they.- have-laboriously, blown .away/by V hand with" huge -fans. * .' :\u25a0% .':":" Now,; their -fields^ .will \he ~ plowed 'by,' up^^^ate-f.'tillinss f inachines,\.th<r". fur- : rows 'planted: /by/sowing 'machines,'- and;" when i-,thc^' crops will \u25a0/come*. that^ remarkable and al most 5 human; in Yen tloh; Hh'eV r eapi n g ; machine^) which ilwinvCut^thV-heads^ofi the 'rrpV; golden grai nr separate i i t' / from\/ the hiisks^and'.packjitintp .bags tready," for shipping,-: aU( j Cj.tlierir bind the v empty sheaves: 'with, wire, 'all; during one: trip across ll t he, lieiclsV.s^Thiis the .work that has- taken nhe;> farmers: of; Palestine ..a month"' to ' accomplish'- will be \u25a0 done "; for them.*in-a day..'. \u25a0 -i . ' ! - ; • .• •\u25a0" .''"\u25a0\u25a0 y JThOj'Arncr'iearis 'have boat en. other n a- Uons^t^l^lostinG" with ; their \u25a0 : mai;hiiir c; cry, f vm>. Germany <: anff i England ; have ; been*; working ' hard i in \u25a0 Syria -for," years. :.The V CQjonies;; established -by^ the -, Jews and'Germans-ini Syria" are? using ; up -to | date v machine.ry with sreat r sucpess.' and ; it is." largely; due/ toHheir example- that .'Americans have;; recently .had, "an .easier *time : withL-theVnatiyei^'of Palestine. [\u25a0•>„ * '/East; of ;Hhe< Jordan; the ;soil J is; rich 'and ."Jews," ar'e.^till jiD{T"*it .with sthc ?most ?\u25a0 improveo vcd fi -Dlow ;THo Francisco Sunday Call lng> machines/;. While they have not as _yet '.imported Ithe .'most .expensive combination., reapers,'" binders- ' and thrashers" they do- use good substantial machinery, -; such i as v one would | find ~ on ' some of In our/own land./, r-r/" y _'\^'-.^ '"- \~. ..-.'\u25a0' /.•\u25a0 ' ;•/ i\ .These. are rsignsrof advancement.' and as "Consul -Wallace' has said, "should ', be sufficient j indication-for^Amcrican^busi-' ness men 'to.warrant the giving of "more attention 10 trade In the Holy Land. The pictures used to > illustrate this •tory are comparisons of conditions exactly as they exist. The plow drawn by : the camels one can find any ' day In-southern Palestine and all over the country the . ox drawn harrow is as much in evidence as in the days when David tended his flock on the hillside. The illustration of the natives'reap ing is also an exact picture af things as they are today in the Holy Land. With the Introduction "of American farming machinery into the Holy Land and the destruction of the pernicious communal system would come. a won drous change into the lives of the poor peasants. The people are Intelligent though prejudiced against innovations^ When once they understand 'the value of tns new machinery it is safe to predict that much of the apathy which sur rounds their country will -be shaken off. Of course, there is . lots of opposi tion to the Idea of modernizing Pales tine, particularly from tourists and those who do not ,want the old biblical surroundings disturbed. What' more sacrellgious could be imagined than cutting down the famous cedars of Lebanon." Tet that is another thins planned by.. those who favor a regeneration of the Hold Land. \ There is little" being- done along these "^[ lines, however. Cedar brings a high * price in ; the English markets, and a short time ago a party of English and American capitalists at Jerusalem con sidered seriously „ the formation^ of a* company, for the purpose, . but nothlns came.of \u25a0\u25a0it:;', 1 1,:, i : -r';-.' - : -r\' : -.,:;-/- v ;: