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The Jewish Agency for Palestine

Institute of Agriculture and Natural History


AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION

B u l l e t i n 10.

i;
THE FELLAH'S FARM
by I. Elazari-Volcani Director Agricultural Experiment Station.

Tel-Aviv, September 1930.

PREFACE. This monograph, of which the descriptive chapters were published in Hebrew in the year 1928, is intended both as a sequel to the study which preceded it on "The Transition from Primitive to Modern Agriculture," and as an introduction to a series of studies of various types of farms in the grain beit of Palestine. Some of these studies have already been published in Hebrew, while others are now ready for the press. The chief types of farms in question are: the grain farm, the dairy farm, the farm in transition, and the monocultural modern farm. Descriptions of these types are given not for the sake of description per se, but as bases for analytical comparison between them. Certain tendencies and factors are emphasized, some points being described in detail; while others, which are not required for the purpose in mind, are passed over more summarily. The tendency in Palestinian agriculture is to change from old forms to new. The function of the transformation process is the uprooting of what is bad in the old methods and the absorbing what is good from the new ones. But the reality is not always so exact. Uprooting what is bad in the old is apt to involve \he uprooting of the good at the same time. Not everything new that supersedes the old is beneficial, and often it happens that discrimination is not exercised. We find at times within III

from the Hebrew

Joel-Hazalr Printing Press; '/Zincography M.Pikovsky.

the old methods, which are based on ancient traditions, worthwhile elements meriting use in the accepted new systems. The ideal practice is to seek out the good elements in both tradition and modern practice, and to amalgamate them. When agriculture is found in a transitional phase, two factors are at work, namely, mechanics and biology. The first mechanics replaces primitive implements by complicated machinery. The second involves the improvement of breeds and seeds, increased productivity of the soil by the use of manure and fertilizer and. increase of returns by changes in the cropping system. The first method requires a considerable investment of capital, but the second can be introduced gradually, at a small cost, and withoutsudden and radical changes. The problem here is: in how far can a primitive farm be improved during its early transition stages by the use of biological methods alone, which do not require sums to be invested beyond the means of the primitive cultivator, and which do not suddenly force him out of his accustomed habits and methods of work. These problems are not peculiar to Palestine alone, but apply to all Oriental countries. In many respects Palestine may be regarded as a field of investigation and research. Within its borders, the oldest of the old and the newest of the new cross each other's paths: traditions going back thousands of years operate side by side with the latest technical achievements. Therefore, Palestine can play the same part in agricultural economics as an experiment field does in agricultural technique, the results being intended not only for its own benefit, but for application to agriculture on a large scale. This monograph deals with economic and technical problems only. Problems of agrarian policy and credit will be dealt with in a special study.
IV

In gathering data on which to base a scientific inquiry into the fellah's farming, peculiar hindrances are met with. The fellah is suspicious of everyone who tries to pump information out of him. His crops will increase or- diminish according to the supposed identity of his questioner. If the latter is suspected of being a Government tax collector, the yield will shrink to less than nothing. But if he is imagined to be a prospective purchaser of land or a bank agent, the crops will exceed anything to be expected from the most fertile regions. The facts change in the twinkling of an eye. In a certain instance, one questioning a fellah in this regard replied to him, 'if the crops are so small, we cannot allow you the credits we had intended." Whereupon a second fellah promptly appeared upon the scene, and pushing the first aside as a "dunce," asseverated that the yield was three or fourfold as large. The figures given in the present study are derived from the following direct sources: 1. The Palestine Land Development Company had large tracts of land in the Valley of Jezreel which were worked by tenant farmers until transferred to the new colonists. The threshing floor and the fields were supervised by watchmen in the -employ of the Company, and an exact record of the crops was kept from year to year. The records of ten years (19141923) for an area.of 10,000 dunams which were cultivated by 50 or 60 tenant farmers, have here been summarized. Mr. YochevedsonPevsner, chief superviser of this district, handed these records to the author each year, together with notes of his observations of the habits and customs of the tenant farmers. 2. The farms of Ben-Shemen and Huldah, which were administered by the author from 1909 to 1919, were like small

islands of modernity among the fellah farms. The fellahs' threshing floors were close beside our boundaries, and it was possible to determine the yield of their threshing floors exactly. Records of observations were made each year. Experiments, were also made with the methods of fellah cultivation. During the War, because the farm animals had been requisitioned, Ben Shemen was obliged to lease part of its land in the Jiills to fellahs. These fields continued to be supervised by the farm, and exact records were kept of their crops. A similar source of information was the settlement of Beer-Tuviah, where a group of labourers worked "under the direction of the writer. 3. Good relations with the Arab neighbours at the placesmentioned facilitated the gathering of data. The fellahs understood that the questioners had no motive but to study conditionsand to devise methods of increasing the yield. For the firsttime they saw the marvel of how the "sowing of salt increases the crops." For many years the writer's assistants gathered data, in various parts of the country. 4. At the Experiment Station at Gevath, the Division of Rural Economics co-operated with the Division of Agronomy on an. area of 250 dunams, which was divided into economic units. One of these, comprising 60 dunams, was turned over for cultivation to a fellah from a nearby village, and special records were kept of the results over a period of five years. In describing the working methods of the fellah, the writerhas relied on his own direct observations. The references toancient Jewish folklore are drawn from the Talmud > and other primary sources, while those bearing on fellah folklore are all based on Prof. Gustav Dalmann's latest book, entitled "Arbeit und Sitten in Palastina."
VI

The author wishes to express his thanks to Mr. Yochevedson-Pevsner, and to Mr. Klivaner, assistant in the Division of Agronomy, for their constant aid in the assembling of material ; to Mr. Kostrinskyr assistant in the Division of Agronomy at Gevath, for keeping the records; to Mr. Ezrahi-Krishevsky, meteorologist of the Egyptian Government, for working up the meteorological data; and to Messrs. Sussman, assistant in the Division of Rural Economics, and Rosolio, secretary of the Institute, for their aid in arranging the statistical material.
Agricultural Experiment Station Division of Rural Economics.
Tel-Aviv, Palestine July 1930.

I. E l a z a r i - V o l c a n i .

VII

CONTENTS
Chapter One: Waiting for the rain
Page-

The rainy season , . ; Ancient customs surviving at the present day


Chapter Two : Seasons of agricultural work,

2' . . 10
16

Season of sowing The harvest season


Chapter Three : Cropping system

18; 2,'?
29

Shelef and kerab T h e. k e r a b s a c c o r d i n g t o t h e i r i m p o r t a n c e


Chapter Four: The harmonious structure

29. . . . 31
39-

External appearance and structure Investment capita! Income and expenditure


Chapter Five : T h e w a y o f life o f the f e l l a h

40 43 49
51

1. 2. 3 4.

The fellah's working day . Size of farms The household of Hie fellah The communal organisation
.

51 54 ,57 59
. 05

Chapter Six : The Fellah's farm under experiment .

Plan of experiments 70 Types of farms u n d e r experiment 74 Results of experiments i n fields of t h e feilah . . S3 Results of experiments i n modern farming . . . 90Chapter S e v e n : Modernising t h e fellah's farm . . . . 9 7 First transitory stages in modernisation of a primitive farm 97 Improving the fellah's farm with his present instruments of production 107 Modernising the fellah's farm in accord with geographical distribution of farming systems . 116The sums required for the improvement of the fellah's farm 123-

TABLES.
Page

Seasonal rainfall. Monthly means in millimetres . . . . 11 Mean temperature 12 Calendar of operation on a fellah's farm (80100 dun.) , 19 Calendar of operations on an Arab farm in different seasons 20 A. Chemical analyses 20 B. Mechanical analyses 20 6. System of farming and specified crop returns of Arab tenants 33 7. System of farming and. specified crop returns of selected Arab tenants 34 8. System of fanning and classified crop returns of Arab tenants 41 9. System of fanning and specified crop returns of selected Arab tenants 42 10. Returns of Arab tenant farmer in Valley of Jezreel . . 45 11. Returns of selected Arab tenant farms 46 12. A. Income and expenditure of a 12 feddan farm in Galilee 55 B. Income and expenditure per feddau 55 13. System of farming and crop returns on various types of Arab farms 50 14. Income and expenditure in various types of Arab farms . 50 15. Rainfall at Gevatli Experiment Station 71 16. Calendar of operation in Arab farming experiments, Agr. Exp. Station Gevath 85 17. Working days. A. Wheat experimental field at Gevath (Arab farming) . B. Durra experimental field at Gevath (Arab farming) S6-87 18. Income and expenditure of Arab farm under experiment in Gevath 88 19. Returns per dunam on experimental plots, Arab farming 88 20. Comparative expenditure of different types of farms . . 109 21. Standard of living on farms in transitory stage in different settlements 110 22. Areas, seeds and yields in Tel-Adass 117 23. Cash income and expenditure and net farm income at Tel-Adass 118-119 24. Density of population in Palestine 123

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

ILLUSTRATIONS,
facing page At the spring . . . frontispiece Arab village in the hilly country XII Arab village in the plain XII "Water wheel ("Sakia") 1 Watering goats . 1 Palestine rainfall map 8 Map of Palestine soils 9 Mending the plough 16 First ploughing 16 Preparing the seed bed and sowing 17 Harvest of wheat 24 Loading ' 24 Feeding stubbles 25 First threshing with animals 28 Threshing with the thresliing board 28 Final threshing with animals . . . . . . . . 29 View of the threshing floor 29 Bamia field 32 Durra field 32 Sesame field .33 Water melon field 33 Making sun-dried bricks 40 Bin for chopped straw 40 Making mud oven for native bread 41 Winnowing the grain crop 48 Winnowing and sacking 49 Fellah adobe hut 56 Bedouin hut of matting and branches . . . . 56 Fellaheen dwelling house , . . . , . . . . 57 Bedouin tent, the wife making butter 57 Arab plough . . . . ' . 64 Ancient Hebrew plough 65 Modified Hebrew plough 65 Hoeing sesame 72 Sesame threshing floor 72

XI

H e a p of d u r r a . . 73 Sieving grain 73 T h e feliali c o m i n g t o w o r k 82 S o w i n g s e s a m e with, a f u n n e l 82" W h e a t field w i t h o u t fertilizer . . . . . . . 83W h e a t field fertilized 83 F e l l a h w h e a t field, a t G e v a t h ...-.;. . . . 8S W h e a t field following g r e e n m a n u r e . . . . . 88Sowing in strips 89 Cultivated, fallow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89'. M o d e r n i s i n g , a g r i c u l t u r e . . . . . , . . . . . . QSHarvesting with binder . .. . \, : . ' . . . . . -97 T h r e s h i n g w i t h m a c h i n e . . . . . . . . . . 9 7 G a u l a n b r e e d cow 104 C r o s s b r e d cow, A r a b a n d D u t c h . , . . . . . 104 C r o s s b r e d cow, A r a b a n d D u t c h . . . . . . . -. 1 0 4 C r o s s b r e d cow, B e y r o u t h a n d F r i e s i a n . . . . . 105C r o s s b r e d cow, B e y r o u t h a n d F r i e s i a n . . . . 1Q5C r o s s b r e d cow, B e y r o u t h a n d F r i e s i a n . . . . . . 105P a s t u r i n g s h e e p o n t h e hills of B e n S h e m e n . . 112 C a r o b . g r o v e o n t h e hills of B e n S h e m e n . . . . 1 1 3 S u g g e s t e d g e o g r a p h i c a l d i s t r i b u t i o n of theC : f a r m i n g s y s t e m s i n P a l e s t i n e . . . . . . . . , . 120C o r n p a r a t i v e v a l u e s of p r i n c i p a l c r o p 'J"; r e t u r n s i n P a l e s t i n e . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 1 Old c a r o b t r e e o n r o c k y g r o u n d . . . , . . 1 2 4 Garob. p l a n t e d o n r o c k y g r o u n d . . , . . . . 1 2 4 K o c k y g r o u n d before p l a n t i n g . 125 Y o u n g o r c h a r d o n t e r r a c e d r o c k y g r o u n d :. < . 125-

XII

THE FELLAH'S FARM


For the land whither thou goest in to possess, .'
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But:the land w h i t h e n y e g o to p o s s e s s it i s ' water of

a land,,of,hills and valley, a n d drinketh

the rain of. heaven. A land which the Lord thy G o d careth forj t h e ' e y e s of the Lord thy G o d a r e always upon-it from the beginning of the' year ;even unto the>end
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Chapter
"Water wheel

One.

WAITING FOR THE RAIN. The ancient Hebrews used to divide the year into two definite periods the season of the rain and the season of the sun. This division corresponds to the character of the country, which has no' transition periods of any length, like spring and autumn in--other countries. From the.:middle-";of- Gheshv.an (October)'to .the middle of'Nisan (April); rain:.falls:.at intervalsfor .about-.forty-or:fifty, days, and' to /an; amount-.. of/from five hundred-to-six-hundred-millimetres. For seven.monthsthe-.country s is-dry-without-a' drop; of rain,- '.and:: the /sun-- reigns', supreme.'.In' l -the Jordan -Valley-'the- rainy- days'.are-fewer/the: rainfall less,: and the:;days' of hoi sunshine^ more; numerous." In the.'Negeb the rainfall only amounts, to. from two; to three.hundred millimetres^, andeven this-is not regular every year. Years of drought in that district are- nothing unusual./

iS^-'-Ur-^; i';' ;V;

Watering goats

Summer winds. The summer heat is tempered by winds that blow regularly from the sea from morning to evening. The soil as it becomes heated in the course of the day causes the layer of air upon it to rise, and the cool.air from the sea rushes in to fill its place. In the night the process is reversed. The earth cools more rapidly than the surface of the sea, and air currents are borne from it in the direction of the sea. Thus nature makes provision for alleviating the toil of the day and for assuring the repose of the night. In the mountain region and in the plain which is open to the sea these air currents sail along in the shape of light breezes in their two contrary directions. The prophet also refers to the "dry wind on the high places" (Jer., IV, 11). In the valley and in the clefts in the mountains, and especially in the valleys of the Jordan, these winds rage as if they were trying to break out of a prison, swirling round and round and raising clouds of dust. The burning east wind which blows from the Arabian desert for a few days in the year is not oppressive in the winter, but is exceedingly oppressive in the spring and summer, raising the temperature to 35-46C. The rainy season. The rainy season is the time of water storage for animals and plants. The inhabitants of the mountain region dig cisterns in the rock for reservoirs, and the waters collected during the few rainy days in a deep hole, protected by the cover of a thick stone, supply man and beast during the whole long summer period. The Fellah stores up the rain in the layers of the soil itself all over his fields for the nourishing of his summer crops by breaking up its surface with his light plough and laying it open to^the rain, by preparing a good tilth before sowing, and by breaking up all the hard surface which forms after the later rains. Summer plants do not see a single drop of rain during the whole four months of their

growth. Only the heavy dew which tails at aignt tuicauw them. .On an average, dew falls on 64 out of 92 summer days (about 2/a). In the Jordan valley there is no dew either, and its products, such as sesame, do not thrive in unirrigated fields. Thus the loose layer (mulch) formed by the light "nail plough" protects- the moisture stored in the ground against excessive evaporation and preserves it for the benefit of the plant, just as the stone protects the water in reservoir for living creatures to drink. The features of the soil. The soil of the plain, which is light and easy to till, forms a comparatively short and quite narrow stretch extending parallel to the coast from Caesarea in the North to the village of Khan Yunnis in the South, its other side being formed by a zigzag line following the chain of the mountains. The soil of the Negeb which borders with the southern desert is also not heavy. On the other hand the whole of the plain and all the valleys are composed of heavy soil. The Shephelah, most of Sharon, the plain of Acre, the Valley of Jezreel, Upper and Lower Galilee, and the Valley of the Jordan the soil of all these contains from thirty-five to forty percent of clay. When this soil is very moist it becomes highly compact; it sticks to the plough, dulling its edge, and the clods turned up by the plough hang on to one another and become solid blocks. Trying to walk over this heavy ground after rain is like putting on boots of clay which grow thicker at every step until by their weight they chain the wayfarer to the spot. On the other hand, when this ground is dried by the summer heat, it becomes as hard as brick*). During the last four months of the summer the ground has a gloomy and. morose appearance. The blazing sun extracts from it the last remnants of moisture which are stored in it from the rainy season. The surface of the ground yawns and splits into clefts, like a tree split by the heat after it has lost
) See table 5 p. 20

its moisture. It looks like a chess-board the lines of which are crooked and so deep that the traveller may have a nasty fall in them. Even the soil which has been loosened and broken upby sesame ploughing is under the apparently unbroken surface full of clefts and ruptures, which, however, are not so deep and broad as those in the unploughed fields. The whole land looks as if it were prostrate and fainting from thirst, with ten thousand mouths open to catch a drop of water the very emblem of thirst. The first signs of rain. From the beginning of Cheshvan (November) the tiller of the soil begins to scan the clouds and to wait for the rain. Animals and plants are exhausted by the summer drought. The heat begins to abate. The nights become cool. The sky which was of an unbroken blue throughout the summer begins to be covered with fleecy clouds. The twilight displays gorgeous colours. Expectations, however, are not always realised. Sometimes it is a case of "winds and vapour and norain." The land is blessed or cursed according as the rain falls or does not fail at the proper time. The "reward and punishment" of the chosen people in the promised land were not reserved for the future world, but were dispensed in this world, "And I shall give the rain of your land in its season, the former rain and the latter rain, and thou shalt gather in thy corn, thy new wine and thine oil. And I shall give grass in thy field to^ thy cattle, and thou shalt eat and be satisfied. Take heed to yourselves lest your heart be deceived and ye go astray and serve other gods... And thy heavens upon thy head shall be as copper and the ground which is under thee as iron... The Lord shall make the rain of the land ashes and dust, from the heaven it shall come down upon thee until thou art destroyed." According to the Rabbis, God waters (he Land of Israel himself and the rest of the world through a deputy. And the keys which.

God keeps in his own hand and does not entrust to a deputy are those of the rain and the resurrection of the dead. The rain in its time. The fertilising rains are those which begin in Marcheshvan (November). The first day of rain, say the Rabbis, is like the day on which were created heaven- and earth. On that day he who has a field of his own says the blessing "Shehechayonu", he who has fields belonging both to himself and to others says "He who is good and doeth good", and he who has no field says "We give thanks to thee, 0 Lord our God, for every drop that thou hast sent down to us." The blessing is said from the time that there is a good quantity of water on the ground, and bubbles rise from the rain on the surface of the water, and travel to meet one another. The first rain is called "yoreh" because it tells (moreh) people to plaster their roofs, to bring in their produce, and to make preparations; also because it comes down (yored) gently, and does not sweep away the fruit or wash away the seeds or break the trees. With rain in its season the earth is neither drunk nor thirsty but it absorbs in moderation. When the rain is excessive it washes off the surface of the earth, which does not then yield its fruit. The benefit of the rain in the winter season depends upon its distribution. It was an accepted maxim in rabbinical times that the earth can only absorb the rainwater according to the degree- of its hardness. Torrential rains at the outset simply run off the surface of the baked, parched and thirsty ground; they do not penetrate right into it, and do not fertilise it. Only the surface is moistened, and the lower layer is left with its clefts as it was. When the rain is delayed, those plants which are commencing to take root in a hard and dry layer suffer, and they are in danger of dying or becoming stunted. When the ground has been thoroughly, moistened in its upper layers, the torrential rains run off from it, since it is too parched to absorb

them, not merely is all this water lost, but it lays the plants flat, it carries away the superficial layer which has been tilled and fertilised, and spoils whole portions of the fields. Particularly severe damage is done by the torrential rains in a low country when they sweep down from the mountains. Neither the ground hardened by the heat of summer nor the ground moistened in the middle of the winter can absorb the rain except when it comes down gently and is distributed over a long period. The ground receives more benefit from a rainfall of four hundred mms. distributed over a long period than from six hundred coming in heavy falls and at short intervals. The "Malkosh" is the latter rain. When it comes as it should do, it falls in a peculiar way, in straight lines as if with a plummet. Sometimes the large drops catch the rays of the sun and assume a peculiar colour. The latter rain also comes down with a special rhythm, the drops seeming to dance upon the ground. Distribution of rain. Marked differences in the rainfall are observed even in one district and in places distant only a few miles from one another. Sometimes the clouds will pass over the fields of one village and pour their blessing upon those of another close by, so that what'is a good year for one may in certain cases be a bad year for the other. The precipitation, rain and dew, may sometimes differ in one and the same district as regards quantity or seasonal distribution to such an extent as to decide the character of the farm and of crop rotations, whether there is to be cereal farming, dairying, summer kerab- or black fallow. On a tract totalling 30,000 dunams, for instance, within the Nuris Block, it has seemed necessary, at any rate for the present, to introduce three systems of crop rotations. At one spot, indeed, just before Beit Shan, summer crops are scanty, while they are medium in

another and above medium in a third. On a 50,000 dunam tract in. central Esdraelon, between Nahalal and Afuleh, the harvests vary not only because of the difference in the holding capacity of the soil but because of the difference in precipitation. In' one place clover will give three crops, in another one or perhaps two, and not too abundant at that. Nor must it be forgotten that the keeping of cows for dairying depends to a considerable degree on the success of the clover crop. The withholding of rain is one of the worst plagues of the country. The period of growth is thereby shortened. The months of Tebeth and Shebat (January and February) are the coldest in the year, and- growth is particularly delayed by the cold of the nights. The success of the crop depends upon the lenght of the period allowed for growth, and is conditioned by the time when the cold comes whether when the plants have already managed to strike root and can therefore resist the cold, or whether it attacks them when they are still tender. Sowing at the end of Cheshvan (November) allows the plants time for development before the cold nights of Tebeth (January) come. Late sowing falls just in the cold time. The lack of latter rain as a rule bodes evil. If there was not much rain in the winter time, the winter plants will not find enough moisture for their sustenance. The ground splits under them and rends asunder the bed of their roots, and even those that are left of them are as it were imprisoned in thick clods, and in this way they are cut off from their sources of sustenance. A rainy year also hampers their development because the upper layer of soil becomes dry in any case, and the stalks on which the sun beats from above are not able to draw sufficient moisture from below, and the consequence is that as they have no opportunity to swell out they become shrivelled and stunted, when they are full-grown, even if the stalk in its early stages reaches a fair height.

Prayers for rain. The rains themselves are divided into falls first, second and third. The Hebrew word for this "rebiah" itself symbolises the fructification of the earth when it comes into contact with the rain. In the days of Herod so we are told rain used to come down in the night, then in the morning the wind blew, the clouds scattered, the sun came out and the earth dried. In the good days, according to the Talmud, the rain used to come on Wednesday and Saturday. The rain used to come down in the night, and the next day the wind would blow, the clouds scattered and the sun came out, and everyone arose to his work, thus showing that they were doing the work of Heaven. The Rabbis say that since the day of the destruction of the Temple the rains have not come down from the "good storehouse." In ancient times fasts were decreeded on account of the delay of the rainfall. If the seventeenth of Marcheshvan (November) arrived and rain had not yet fallen, the students of the Beth-Hamidrash alone used to fast Monday, Thursday, and Monday. If the New Moon of Kislev (December) arrived and rain had not yet fallen, the Beth-Din ordered the whole community to fast three days, Monday, Thursday and Monday. If these went by and there was still no answer, tne Beth-Din ordered three more fasts, Monday, Thursday and Monday. During the whole time of these three fasts they were forbidden to do work by day, to do more business than was absolutely necessary, to build or to plant, and to give greetings to one another; they were to be like men who were in disgrace with the Almighty. If Nisan (April) came and the sun reached the beginning of the constellation of the Ox, they did not fast any more, because rain at that season was nothing but a curse, seeing that it had not come down since the beginning of the year. On each day of the seven last fasts, following service of prayer used to be observed. The Ark was brought out into the

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FTZT1 Dun,

public square, and all the people collected there, wearing sack cloth They put ashes on the Ark and on the Sefer Torah in order to increase their sorrow and to humble their hearts. One of the people took some of the ashes and put it on the head of the Nasi and of the Ab-beth-din in the place where the Tefihn rested, so that they should feel shame and repent, and each one took and placed some on his own head. After that they used to call on a "Zaken" and "Chacham" to rise among them while they sat; if there was not among them one who was both Chacham1' and Zaken" they called on a Chacham"; if there was neither "Zaken" nor Chacham" they called on one with a good presence. He addressed to them words of reproof as follows: "My brethren, it is not sackcloth and not fasting that will produce the desired effect, but repentance and good deeds; for so we find in the case of the men of Nineveh that it is not said -and God saw their sackcloth and their fasting', but 'God saw their deeds.'" After this one had finished his admonition, they stood up in prayer and appointed as a reader one who was fitted to pray on these fasts. And this is the kind of man who was fitted to pray: one who was well versed in prayer and practised in the reading of the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings; one with several young children and no money, but who did hard work in the field; one who did not count a bad character among his sons or the occupants.of his house or all his relatives who were connected with him, but whose house was free from sin; one who never had a bad name in his early days; a man of humility and well liked by the public, and one who had a good voice and could sing tunes. If with all these qualities he was a Zaken" as well, he suited perfectly; if he was not a "Zaken", since he had these qualities, he was fitted to pray. After prayers all the people went out to the cemetery and prayed there. If rain began to fall while they were

fasting, it depended on the state of the ground how long they should wait before breaking their fast. If the ground was very dry they waited till the rain had penetrated in a handbreadth; if it was in a medium state, two handbreaths and if it was tilled,, three handbreadths. Ancient customs surviving at the present day. Like in ancient times, most parts of the country are dependent rather ,011 the rain from heaven that on the chasm that yawns beneath. The thought of the cultivator is fixed as in a vice within the eternal contradiction between the two Titans that alternately rule the land sun and rain. It is according to them that he divides the seasons and lays out his fields, it is they that form the centre of his prayers. The notions of "Shitta" and "Saiff" that are prevalent among the fellaheen correspond exactly to the notions of sunny days, rainy days and drought. The notion of "days of fullness" has been preserved intact. (Jemot ha-hamma, jemot hag-gesliamim, jeme garid, jeme rebia). Though the worship of Baal has come to naught, his name has not dropped away with the passage of centuries and beliefs. "Ard baal" and "Ard Shaki" are current expressions with the Fellah of to-day, just as in the Mishnaic period. "Beit-ha-Baal" and "Beit-ha-Shalhin" served to distinguish between the land belonging to heaven and that belonging to the pit. The prophets of Baal were put to the sword. The Lord of Hosts was avenged by Elijah on the brook Kishon, when they had proved themselves unable to bring down the rain either with their cries or by cutting themselves with knives and lancets till the blood gushed out upon them. Up to this very day the soil bears the name of Baal. "Rain is the Lord of the soil", says the Talmud. And even now the rain of heaven is regarded as a bridegroom coming forth to fructify the earth, his bride. "The rain in its time" is the greatest of heaven's blessings
10 11

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even to-day. The signs of the times may have changed, but not the times themselves, nor yet the notions of the times. "El Vusmi", nothingelse than a translation of the idea of Yore (early rain) as it stands in Saadya the Sage, exists in the every-day speech of the Fellah. They distinguish between the first early rain beginning five days before the festival of St. George in Lydda, and the latter early rains coming a fortnight later. "The Yore in its time" falls on that very days, i. e. from the 3rd to the 16th of November. The entire of period lasts from October 18 to November 18, roughly corresponding to the month of Heshvan, or its 8th day, as it was fixed in the Mishnaic period. When the skies withhold their blessings, they try to bring them down by prayers and supplications, by cries, exhortations, and sacrifices. Each district has its local rites. There may be a procession of girls in the twilight after the evening meal, beating empty petrol tins containing pebbles, in. order to make even more noise. They knock at the doors of the houses, and are sprinkled with water. An old woman marches before them, a handmill on her head, on top of which a rooster shut in a basket crows lustily to call forth divine compassion. A pitcher of water occasionally replaces the hand-mill. A white cock and a black hen are carried along and beaten at intervals so that^ they may cry all the louder. Grain and flour sifters are carried on the head to symbolise the famine threatening man and beast. Sometimes an old woman riding a donkey backwards and carrying an infant grinds an empty hand-mill. These figures are meant to personify innocence. The old woman can no longer do wrong, while the infant has not yet tasted sin. The rooster represents the domestic animals. Elsewhere they carry an effigy through the streets, water being sprinkled thereon from within the houses. The effigy is dressed like a woman. It is made like a cross, a pitch fork
13

12

fastened to a beam. A white kerchief marks the place of the head. All these customs, as Dalmann relates, conform with the prevailing religious belief. They are an outgrowth of ancient customs dating from the times of the Baalim, of self-lacerations and sacrifices and limping at the hip. The processions, the noise, the cries, all are of the essence of the ceremonial. The turning of the mill is expected to produce a change in the weather. The pouring out of the water is not a mere gesture, but is meant to set the higher powers in motion, to draw the compassion of God to all his creatures, man and beast, woman, children, the crowing cock, the mewing cat, the bleating sheep. The ancient Jews, monotheistic as they were, rejected the idea of any intermediary between them and their God, for the Lord of the World alone causes the wind to blow and brings down the rain and the dew himself, having dominion over the fruit of the soil neither through an angel nor an emissary. Their needs were symbolised by the ceremonial incidental to worship in the Temple: the joy of the drawing of water, the libation of water, and circuits about the altar. After the destruction of the Temple these ceremonies were transferred to the Synagogues in the prayers for rain and dew, the harvest festival or the Feast of Tabernacles, and the festival of freedom, or Passover, the knocking with sheaves, and the going round in a ring. These ancient customs are the basis of the Fellah's prayers for rain. The ceremonial part of worship has dwindled. If rain is not forthcoming they content themselves with holding prayers in Mosques and schools. In the Jerusalem Mosque there are special prayers for rain. After the prayer the cantor turns his robe to produce a change in the weather. Occasionally they carry out a public ploughing ceremony in the presence of a priest or layman. The gathering wears its clothes on the wrong side.
14

Now as of old the land still depends on the bounty of heaven in most of its districts. Now as of old the greatest wisdom in the tilling of the ground lies in the knowledge of the tiller how to improve it. The secret of this improvement is the skilful storing of the water in the layers of the earth, and the economic use of it Then with proper ploughing and with a good cropping system the husbandman can establish his dominion over the earth and compel it to respond to his demands.

15

Chapter

Two.

SEASONS OF AGRICULTURAL WORK. The festivals of Israel are fixed for the most part according to the seasons of agricultural labour: the counting of the Omer from the feast of Passover, the feast of first fruits, and the feast of in-gathering. Now as of old the work of the threshing floor finishes in the farm of the Fellah at the end of Tishri (October). From harvest time to in-gathering man and beast pass from the confinement of the clay hut to the unconfined threshing-floor under the open sky. That is then where life throbs both by day and night. The harvest passes, the summer ends, the threshing finishes, and the threshing floor is emptied of living creatures and the last remnants of produce. Then commences the great work of household renovation, the women taking command. It is they who gather dry grass in the fields and bring it home on their shoulders, who mix mud for mortar and crush to powder the animal dung when it has been dried.. A mixture of these materials with stubble serves for plastering the roofs and the walls. Under the diligent hands of the women the walls are clothed with new coats of plaster. The low coneshaped straw-stacks are renovated with a new coat of moist plaster. The men after the hard work of the threshing-floor now sit with their hands folded and chat idly, raising the while their eyes to heaven- appealingly; for without the early rain thehusbandman cannot go out to his work in the field. The first rain. The first early rain which deserves the name moistens the soil to a depth of about 20 nuns. It is only
16 First

Meurliug the plough.

then that the Feilah can begin to open up the field. The work commences with a procession of the.elders of the village to the field to measure out to each one his portion. The measurement is made with an ox-goad about two and a half metres long, or with a rope. They then fix the individual plots, the plot 'extending the length of the field to which each Fellah is assigned with a breadth of one to three ox-goads. When the measurement has been finished, the time of ploughing begins. The plough of the Fellah is light, corresponding to his beast. The combined strength of the two of them cannot make so much as a deep scratch in the dry soil left by the harvest, much less peel off the crust of the ground. Consequently as a rule the Fellah does not plough the ground as it is left after the harvest, but only after the rain has fallen. He is practically compelled to do this by the nature of his implements and the composition of his soil, which for the most part is heavy. Only where the dry ground left after the harvest is light the Fellah does not wait for the rain to open his field. In such places there are some who even sow before the early rain (Afir). Many, however, wait with their sowing till the rain comes not only because before then it is impossible to sow, but also to allow time for the sprouting of the weeds, which they can destroy with the ploughing, thus assuring the cultivated plants against the attacks of the noxious ones. Opening furrows. - The opening up of the field is done with rough ploughing. The furrows are open and are usually distant 20 centimetres from one another. The object of this is to open up the tight ground to the penetration of the rain, which will be retained in the open furrow and so water the smooth surface. Ground which is ploughed finely with narrow and close furrows is not so receptive of the rain as when it is ploughed with open furrows.
17

then that the Fellah can begin to open up the field. The work commences with a procession'of the elders of the village to the field to measure out to each one his portion. The measurement is made with an ox-goad about two and a half metres long, or with a rope. They then fix the individual plots, the plot extending the length of the field to which each Fellah is assigned with a breadth of one to three ox-goads. When the measurement has been finished, the time of ploughing begins. The plough of the Fellah is light, corresponding to his beast. The combined strength of the two of them cannot make so much as a deep scratch in the dry soil left by the harvest, much less peel off the crust of the ground. Consequently as a rule the Fellah does not plough the ground as it is left after the harvest, but only after the rain has fallen. He is practically compelled to do this by the nature of his implements and the composition of his soil, which for the most part is heavy. Only where the dry ground left after the harvest is light the Fellah does not wait for the rain to open his field. In such places there are some who even sow before the early rain (Afir). Many, however, wait with their sowing till the rain comes not only because before then it is impossible to sow, but also to allow time for the sprouting of the weeds, which they can destroy with the ploughing, thus assuring the cultivated plants against the attacks of the noxious ones. Opening furrows. The opening up of the field is done with rough ploughing. The furrows are open and are usually distant 20 centimetres from one another. The object of this is to open up the tight ground to the penetration of the rain, which will be retained in the open furrow and so water the smooth surface. Ground which is ploughed finely with narrow and close furrows is not so receptive of the rain as when it is ploughed with open furrows.
17

T a b l e 3.

Season of sowing. The time of sowing is when the rain penetrates to such a depth that the plough does not touch dry ground. Winter plants, viz. beans, karsena, and early lentils, barley and wheat, are sown by broadcasting over the open furrows. The plough is then passed crosswise over the field so as to cover over the seeds which have been sown with a fine ploughing, with narrow and close furrows. The ancient Hebrews distinguished between rough ploughing and fine ploughing, between the furrows for opening and furrows for sowing, between ploughing after the harvest and ploughing after the rains. These ancient terms are preserved in the language of the fellah till the present day, to denote his operations. System of ploughing. The Arab plough is like the ancient Hebrew plough. The latter, however, seems to have been more complicated. Its distinguishing characteristic is that it cuts the surface soil and does not turn it up. It performs, very slowly it is true, but very thoroughly, all the functions for which a combination of modern machines is required a plough, a roller and a harrow. Its great virtues are that it does not bring up. clods, that it does not press or crush the moist earth, .but flits' as it were over the ground with its coulter which resembles a duck's foot in its base, and that it penetrates the ground with its point which is sharp and long like the head of a spear. It produces the requisite loose and broken crust by itself without the aid of other implements. The Fellah has only one garment which he wears both day and night. From the point of view of cleanliness and comfort this of course leaves much to be desired. But the ploughing of the Fellah is above reproach. His field, prepared for sowing, is never inferior to that prepared by the most perfect implements, and sometimes it even surpasses all others. The defect lies only in the slowness which calls for modification in .order to adapt the working process to the rate of speed in our time.
18

Calendar of Operation on a Fellah's Farm. (80100 Dunams).


Working days

<ind of operation

Season
Men

Working days (animals) Oxen Camels

Women

Children

Opening furrows Sowing Opening furrows First ploughing Second ploughing Sowing of chick peas durra Third plough, of sesame Sowing of sesame Weeding Weeding and hoeing Pulling chick peas Harvest of barley Transport ,, Pulling of beans Transport Harvest of Faenum Graecum Transport of Harvest of wheat Transport of ' Wheat & C Barley Beans Chick peas Faenum Graecum Harvesting of durra Transport Threshing Harvest of sesame Threshing Total

Nov.-Dec.

Dec-Jan.
Jan.-Feb. February March > April
j

5 12
00.

.
_

15

36 10

l3'/2

24
24 12 3 12 6 _

(8 2
1 4 2 _

May
n

2 12 4 5 2
3 ll/a

June
n
n

5 1

_ 1 4 _ 1 1

1 2V2 20 4

June-July
n n

5/,

70 20 8

June-Sep.
n
)i

15
10 3 i )

20
8

20 8 1

)>
>>

))

U\

i)

2 @

2
/'

1 31 i

August
> >

&

Sept.-Oct. September October

u 3> ( /'3'
"4 147

8 4 2 262

a
2
1

_ 11

75V2

19

T a b 1 e 4.

Calendar of operations on an Arab farm in different Seasons.


Rain and Idle days

Seasons o 3. V a Nov.January Feb.March April'4 May Vs May- /* Nov. Total


1

78 59 45 183 365

24

10 15 l ! 13

12 2 3 16 4

19

25 1

24 i 4 ! -

- 1 19 ~ I 7 33

101 ! 101 I 69 17 ! 20 i 101 146 128

52

39

T a b l e 5.

A. Chemical Analyses (calculated on dry matter) in %.


Locality Dagania A Nahalai Ben-Shemen
Uepth| H2O I

CaCo,

Cl

Salts Org. Soluble Matter in Water

0-60

7-00 0-18 0-37|39-25 0-2110-0060! - ! 0-085 i I i 0-30 11-17 0-20 0-54 7-54 0-12! - j 1-26 j
I 0-161 | 0-70 i

Not every Fellah is accustomed to clear out and weed his field. Those who do so look chiefly for the darnel, the thorn and the mustard which grow among the winter crops. A good Fellah devotes his whole energy to preparing good the rotation crops (kerab); in this way he automatically destroys the weeds and prevents them from injuring the winter crops sown in these fields. The weeds which are left after the ploughing among the kerab are plucked up by hand or dug up with a hoe after in the months of Adar and Nisan (March and April). The sowing of winter crops, leguminous and cereal, goes on from Kislev to Shebat (December to February), and is determined by the time when the rain falls and by its distribution. The time of sowing varies in different parts of the country. It is eailiest in the Negeb. In the Shefelah and in Sharon it is earlier than in the Emek, and there it is earlier than in Upper Galilee. After the sowing of the winter crops is finished, the preparation of the summer crops commences. This is done in various ways. Preparation of the kerab. The preparation of the kerab also begins with opening up the fields. Open furrows are dug specially suited for absorbing the rain. After the rain has come down on the first open ploughing a second is made. Just before sowing durra there is another ploughing and before sowing sesame two. The sowing of summer plants differs from that of winter crops. It is not done like the latter by broadcasting. Durra is sown from a funnel, the upper part of which is joined to the handle of the plough while its point touches the share. The ploughman fills his hand which holds the handle of the plough as full as he can with seeds, and lets them drop one by one into the funnel from which they fall on to the surface of the moist layer in the midst of the open furrow. The dust of the
21

0-50 10-351 0-17 0-431 15-8

B. Mechanical Analyses (size of particles in mms.).


Locality Dagania A Nahalai Ben-Shemen
Depth < 0,01 i 0,01-0,05 0,05-0,1 0,1-2,0 Total Water Capacity

0-60 0-30 0-50

10-2 49-75
28-88

30-1

37-1

i 22-5 17-21 34-29

99-90 99-76 99-93

14-51 j 18-29 17-54 ! 19-22

*) The income of 12 during the leisure days, derived from outside work, isIncluded in the account of income and expenditure of the Fellah's farm (see Chapter IV),

20

dry crust then covers over the seeds and the germination is assured. Sesame is sown in two ways. One is like that of sowing durra, only to the side of the ploughshare is attached a board like a wing about twenty centimetres. broad which sweeps aside the loose dry dust and so clears a way for the sesame seeds to fall on to the moist layer which has been opened. The object is twofold. On the one hand the germination is assured, and on the other it becomes easier for the tender seeds to spring up, as they have not to break through the thick crust, a task which is sometimes beyond their strength. Under this method the covering of the seeds is made with . moist loose dust. The second kind of sowing is called: "shegag parhah.", i. e. sowing with two ploughs. One plough opens a furrow with wings on each side. Behind it comes the sower a young lad who with his hand throws the grains through the funnel into the furrow which has been opened on moist soil. The second plough then passes after the sower through the open furrow, and takes the moist dust from the side for covering. Thus, while the first plough is returning to open the second furrow for sowing, this one closes the first furrow with the dust of the dry crust. Peas and durra are sown before the later rains, sesame after them. Rain injures the sesame whether it comes down on it before the germination or after. Before germination it closes the dust of mulch and prevents the sprouting of the seeds. After germination it causes a splitting of the ground, because with the closing of the crust there is an increase of evaporation due to capillarity. It is therefore a strict rule that sesame should be sown only after the later rains, when it is quite certain that the dust of the upper crust will be left loose. Care is taken to protect the fields from the inroads of noxious plants, and the "junbut" (Prosopis Stephaniana Willd.) is cut down
22

and the "helfeh" uprooted. The clearing and the weeding are done in the months of Sivan and Tammuz (June and July). The harvest season. The harvest begins in Iyar (May). All species of leguminous plants are plucked by hand. Cereals are reaped with a scythe when they are tall and plucked by hand when they are low. The sesame is plucked up with the roots, but the durra is doubled over, the stalks being left. The sesame does not ripen all at the same time; the gatherer goes into the field every day and picks out by the colour of the pods those stalks which are ripe for plucking. It is not possible to wait till they all grow ripe,- because the sesame pods, when they ripen, split, and the seeds fall out on the ground. All the members of the family take part in the harvest. Each one on an average reaps an area of about two dunams a day and plucks an area of about one dunam. The reaped cereals and the plucked leguminous plants are made into sheaves in the field, and are then carried away to the place of the threshing. Transport is done by means of camels or asses. Occasionally the women carry away the produce on their shoulders. The reapers are followed by the gleaners, the practice of "leket" being still preserved to the present day. Preparation of the threshing. Close to every village is to be found a broad open space set aside for threshing. The place selected for this purpose is always one exposed to the wind and with a smooth and hard soil, as a rule on the top of a hill. Each Fellah has a place set aside for his own threshing. With the commencement of the threshing all the inmates of the village, both human and animal, take up their abode at the place of the threshing. The day is spent in work, and during the night each one sleeps by his sheaf to protect it from thieves both from outside and inside. The threshing animals also, the ass, the ox and the camel, stand at their mangers by the side
23

of the heap, and eat during the periods of rest. During the first and last threshing a muzzle is put on their mouths. The precept "thou shalt not muzzle an ox in his threshing" is not observed. In the days of the Turks it was customary to divide the produce into eight heaps in the shape of bricklings, at the threshing place, and occasionally in the field. One of the eight heaps was for the taxgatherer of the Osher Tax. The Government took its portion in kind, and farmed out the Osher by public auction. The taxgatherer used to pitch his tent, which was ornamented with bright-coloured curtains by the side of the threshing floor. The luxury of this tent was in glaring contrast with the poverty of the environment. Its watchers had their eyes on all sides of the threshing-floor to see that the produce was not tampered with. The produce that was threshed in the day was sealed up at night in wooden presses which left their shape on the heaps of grain. Every touch altered the shape and revealed the offence. The present Government had arranged after the occupation to receive the Osher tax in money. It sent assessors to value the crops, and the owner of the produce paid according to the valuation, in instalments. If the village could not come to an- agreement with the assessors, they divided the harvest on some threshing-floors into ten heaps, from which the assessor choosed one. They then threshed this one and used this as a standard for fixing the amount of produce. According to some, the valuation was usually too high in the case of leguminous plants and too low for cereals, sesame and durra. Recently the estimation of the Osher was rectified and it is now based on the average yield of the four preceding years. One tenth of the entire yield is taken and imposed on the village as a whole; in the village a special committee is formed levying 40 to 70 mils per dunam, according to the types of the soil.
24

Loading

Feeding stubbles

The threshing. The first operation in connection with the threshing-floor is the scattering and breaking up of the compact usuriboth." This is done as a rule by men working in pairs to the accompaniment of the song "El Allah", and it is over by the beginning of the hot time of the day, the time for threshing. All the draught animals, the ox, the ass and the cow, go up to tread the produce which is heaped up on the threshing-floor. When the produce has been sufficiently trodden the camel is added to the "choir". The threshing-board is a wooden board in which are fixed spikes of stone or iron. To it are yoked pairs of oxen, or mixed spans of an ox, an ass and a camel together. A little boy looks after the threshing-board, and in the heat of the day goes round and round with his animals. The dry.stubble is crushed under the threshing-board and the produce is separated into straw, short crushed stubble and grain. The father Fellah stands by, turning and clearing the threshing-floor until the day cools and the shadows of evening lengthen. Then the animals also are liberated. The child takes them to the well to water them, brings them back to the threshing-floor, and ties them to mangers full of tibn which have been prepared for them. Meanwhile the Fellah makes his preparation for the next day, turning over the threshed produce from top to bottom, and arranging it afresh for threshing. This work goes on for some days until the "ksnria" (first threshing) is finished and there are no stalks left in the threshed produce ("tarcha", in Hebrew "medusha"). The Fellah then lifts up the "tarcha" and arranges it in a close heap facing east and west, and prepares to separate the straw from the wheat. He winnows when there is a wind blowing and commences with the first morning breezes. When he has finished winnowing the heap he scatters it again over the "tarcha", and commences to thresh "tnai." In the "tnai" threshing the Fellah does not use the threshing-board, as it
25

is a maxim with him that for threshing there is nothing better than the iron hoofs of the oxen. He goes threshing in this wayfor a few days. Now and then he examines to see if there are still any grains in the clumps. When no more are found, the"tnai" is finished. He then lifts up the "tarcha" a second time and arranges it in a heap as in the "ksaria". He sweeps the place of the "tarcha" well and goes round the heap. Whatever is gathered up he puts on one side in a corner of the threshing-floor, and arranges it into a special heap which is called, the heap of the "terabiah". He winnows the "tnai" in the morning and evening winds to separate the straw, and in the midday winds to separate the grain from the stubble. When the wind slackens a little between midday and evening, from about five to seven, he passes the grain through a sieve (arbal). The grains fall through the holes of the sieve, and on top are left the bits of stalk that have not been threshed and other leavings.. These remnants are in turn arranged in another heap which is called the heap of the "sabaliah" for a new threshing-floor ("tarcha"), threshes it, lifts it up and winnows it. Finally he winnows the heap of the "tarabiah" from dust, and clods of earth, with grains are left in the heap. The wives of the Fellaheen beat this heap with sticks, break up the clods of earth, and strain the grains. Whatever is left after the beating and thestraining they wash in water, softening the earth and picking out the grains. The threshing is done in the heat of the day when the sun beats down on the head, after the dew which, came down on the produce has evaporated, and the produce has become so dry that it can be easily broken up under thefeet of the animals and the spikes of the threshing-board. This is the threshing system common in Judea. In Galileethe fellah prepares a little heap every day, the threshing of which may be finished during the day. The second day he adds26

a fresh heap and threshes it during the day, and so on. When the first threshing of the whole heap called the "ksaria" is finished, the little threshed heaps lie around in a wide circle the centre of which the place where the heap of produce laybefore is empty. In the space left in the centre the fellah arranges new threshing heaps (in Galilee called "na'am"), and every evening when its threshing is finished, he adds it to the big heap. Thus, the threshing of the "na'am" is carried on till the whole "ksaria" is finished, and only then does the fellah start winnowing. The threshing of the sesame is done in a special way. The sesame stalks are arranged in a closed circle, from which they are taken out in bundles. These are then beaten with a stick on the ends of the pods. This makes the seeds fall out, and the empty stalks are then put back into the middle of the circle. Thus the sesame threshing-floor is composed of three circles an outer one containing the stalks brought from the field, an inner one containing the seeds extracted from the shells, and a central one containing stalks which have been emptied. The tibn is stacked in the shape of a cone, and is plastered with a mixture of mud, stubble and dung to a thickness o( few centimetres. This forms the storehouse of tibn. These storehouses are always erected by the side of the threshingfloors. Dung for burning is stuck on the walls of these storehouses to dry. The period of the threshing-floor, with all its various manifestations, goes on from Iyar to Tishri (May to October), during which time it is a scene of varying colours. The heaps of wheat are golden yellow, those of durra are white like milk, while those of sesame shine with a pale gold. The mixed spans of ox, ass, and camel yojced to the threshing-board go round and round, led by a little boy. The men winnow to the wind
27

the produce that has been threshed, the corn falling by its. weight in columns while the chaff flies away. The women beat with sticks and small hammers the remnants of the stalks which have escaped the threshing-board and the hoofs of the animals, and shake the sieves. From the time of Ruth up to this day there has scarcely been any change, neither in the methods of operation nor in its notions.

First thveshins with animals

28

Threshing with the threshing hoard

Chapter

Three.

' ' CROPPING SYSTEM. The customary rotation of crops is of two fields. Half the area is set aside for summer plants and half for winter plants. Winter plants grow for the most part during the rainy season, except wheat, which continues to grow for about six weeks after the later rains. Summer plants grow in the sunny period, being nurtured by the deposits of rain which are stored in the ground, and by the dew, and rain itself reaches them either in very small quantities or not at all.
Final fcLireshini^ witk animals

Shelef and Kerab.Winter plants are divided into cereals, viz. wheat and barley, called "shelef" (stubble); and leguminous plants, viz. beans, lentils, "karsena", "iilbana", "hilba" and lupines. Summer plants are peas, durra and sesame. Leguminous plants and summer plants are called "kerab" (i. e. rotation crops). Cereals are sown after kerab, and they are the real source of income in many cases, and it is only for their sake that all the trouble is taken with the growing oi the kerab. The kinds of cereals. The main winter plants in heavy soil are wheat and. barley; the main summer crops are durra and sesame. Barley is the best crop in light soil and wheat in heavy soil, which is the more important in the sphere of cropgrowing. Durra is best in poor soil and sesame in rich soil and in a rainy year. In Galilee chick-peas do well, in Judea and in Samaria not. Karsena, jilbana, and lentils are not of much importance, and are only for domestic use. In the rotation of crops they take the place of durra or sesame on the29

Yiew of the thrcshinqr floor

*?$\

Chapter

Three.

CROPPING SYSTEM. The customary rotation of crops is of two fields. Half the area is set aside for summer plants and half for winter plants. Winter plants grow for the most part during the rainy season, except wheat, which continues to grow for about six weeks after the later rains. Summer plants grow in the sunny period, being nurtured by the deposits of rain which are stored in the ground, and by the dew, and rain itself reaches them either in very small quantities or not at all. Shelef and Kerab.Winter plants are divided into cereals, viz. wheat and barley, called "shelef" (stubble); and leguminous plants, viz. beans, lentils, "karsena", "iilbana", "hilba" and lupines. Summer plants are peas, durra and sesame. Leguminous plants and summer plants are cailed "kerab" (i. e. rotation crops). Cereals are sown after kerab, and they are the real source of income in many cases, and it is only for their sake that all the trouble is taken with the growing of the kerab. The kinds of cereals. The main winter plants in heavy soil are wheat and. barley; the main summer crops are durra and sesame. Barley is the best crop in light soil and wheat in heavy soil, which is the more important in the sphere of cropgrowing. Durra is best in poor soil and sesame in rich soil and in a rainy year. In Galilee chick-peas do well, in Judea and in Samaria not. Karsena, jilbana, and lentils are not of much importance, and are only for domestic use. In the rotation of crops they take the place of durra or sesame on the29 Yiev,' of the threshing floor

slopes of the mountains or on the mountains. The rotation of crops usual on light sandy ground is barley and lupines. Lupines are sown in soil that is no good for other field plants. Beans, lentils, onions, "hilba", and barley are sown outside the field on garden land manured with old dung from the village. In the South, in districts where the rainfall is small and droughts are frequent, a rotation of three years is usual: (1) durra, (2) sesame or fallow, (3) wheat. In the same way a rotation of three years is observed on soil the products of which suffer from the ravages of insect pests (Arad, meduad, Syringopais temperatella): two years of kerab and one year of wheat.
Division of the field according to the kinds of crops. In

sown is chick peas, then comes durra and last of all after the later rains sesame. The distribution of plants in the fields of the Emek is in the following proportion: From 810 kels*) of wheat 60 dunams 2.5 kels barley 10 dunams 1 1.5 kels karsena 5 dunams 0.5 kels lentils 5 dunams V3 kel durra 50 dunams ! / 8 kel sesame 10 dunams 2 kels chickpeas10 dunams 150 dunams = l feddan. The kerabs according to their importance. The kerabs are not all of the same value. The most valuable are not the nitrogen-fixers but the cultivated crops. The storing of moisture in (he ground and the destruction of weeds are more important than the storing of nitrogen for increasing the yields. When there is not sufficient moisture in the ground the materials of nutriment found in abundance in the earth are of no avail, since they are not soluble and consequently cannot be absorbed by She plant. It is the weeds that destroy the crops. Not only do they deprive the plant of food and room, but they suck up all the moisture stored in the ground. Cultivated crops destroy the weeds, and the wheat which follows them finds exceptionally favourable conditions for its development, as it does not meet with any competitors which encroach upon its preserves. These plants also destroy the fieldmice, or at any rate make it harder .for them to exist; and the mice are a great plague in the country. Durra which is gluttonous of nitrogen can in many
) Galilean kei: wheat and leguminous crops 72-75 kgs., durra 72 kg, barley 50 kgs, sesame 50 kgs. Every kel contains 12 "meeds". 31

regard to area the major portion is taken up by wheat and durra. As a rule the Fellah sows half of his fields set aside for winter plants with two thirds wheat and less than one-third barley. The same applies to durra and sesame, durra taking up the greater part of the area. In a rainy year the area devoted to sesame is increased. Hence one may say that the rotation of crops as a rule is: one year wheat and one year durra, or one year wheat and one year sesame. In the valley of Jezreel and in Galilee leguminous plants are sown more than in Judea and Sharon, the districts where durra and sesame thrive best. The fields from Petah Tikvah to Tulkarem have a particularly good appearance. Handsome fields of durra and sesame are also to be found in the low country of Lydda. Sometimes beans are sown instead of karsena and lentils. And in the summer crops sometimes the area of peas is diminished and that of durra increased. The order of sowing is, first beans, then barley, karsena, early lentils, and last of all wheat. Sowing is finished by the middle of Shebat (February). Of summer plants the first to be
30

cases, if it is.properly prepared, be a better kerab than chickpeas, for instance, which gather nitrogen. As already stated, wheat and barley are the principal sources of the income of the farm. In the choice of kerabspreference has al.vays to be given to those which create the best conditions for the development of these plants. A distinction must be made between kerabs for summer plants, kerabs for half-summer plants, and kerabs for winter plants. /. Summer kerabs. In the front rank stands sesame, which, practically has no equal. Its time of sowing is late; it should not be sown till the rainy period has entirely passed because; then the soil in which it is sown cannot form a hard crust and. become closed to the air and the dew. The ground is prepared: for it with particular care. It is broken up in such a way as to become loose and open to the air, while being well drenched with rain water in its lower layers. The mulch of the brokea and loosened crust protects the rain water which is stored in the ground from evaporation. The nitrification is powerful and intensive. The roots are strong and .piercing like a spit; they draw their sustenance from the lower layers, they do not exhaust the surface layer, and they prepare a path for the whear; which is to come after them. The constant hoeing required Ut~ sesame loosens the ground still more and preserves its moisture. The constant weeding also destroys the weed which are| I left after the winter ploughings. The destruction of weeds, ~ " ~ has been mentioned, is an essential condition for the success of the wheat, which comes to grief even in the best soils if th weeding is not done properly. The fertile soil which produce the wheat produces also plants which press it close and try to; squeeze it out, and when these obtain a foothold in the m'A">" of the wheat it is impossible to exterminate them by weeding; alone. Not only is the wheat injured through being trodden ~
32

Banna field [Ladies' fingers, Hibiscus]

"

' T s b l t 6." System of Farming and Specified Crop Returns (in Kcls and Meeds) of Arab Tenants. Year
Number o( VAImi iccotdlng to tire in Pcddans

Wheat

Barley

Chick Horse Lentils Karsena beans peas

Durrha

Sesame

Remarks

1914 48'5 11 7 3 1915 62 15 7 3 1916 46 11 7 4 1917 51 5 12 5 7 1918 54 19 6 5 1919 57 19 9 5 1920 57 20 8 4 1921 61 17 11 1 1922 55 13 9 5 1923 37 10 7 3
1921 1923

2 2 1

2 2
1

1 1
1

3122-1 4370-8-5 2907-7 3779-5 2694-115 3688-9-5 3503-5-2 1835-3-5 2306-7-5 1956-6

__ 873-9 48-6 79-7-5 497-3-5 778-6-5 290-5 24-1 58-9 901-3 361-4 44-1 50-7 310 - . . 781-3-5 19-3 5-7-5 872-10 924-8 3-7-5 1132-2 1221-6 56-10 251-8 1622-9 1088-3-5 138-2-5 204-1 1600-6-5 1031-7 85-8 120-9-2 767-4-8 52 570-6-5 94-7-5 818-9 535 ~ 19-10-5 43-7.K 170-2-5
-

603-9 - 137-5 286 1217-3 3744-9 2770-10-5 238 ~ 1315-3 239-10 336 ~ 256-7-5 348-11 951-1 108-4-5 322-2-8 130-7-5

1 Feddan = 150dunams=15ha TenureTel-A das

712-8-5 225-5-8

39-5

1922 33

165

910-6-2" 671-11 1400-10-5 523-4 150-11 906-5 1063-1 513-3 66 -

12-0-8 10-7
__

74-4-5 399-11 30-2 209-11

9-11-8 Djendjure 105-0-5

1921 46-5 1922


:

129-9 28-6-8
-

12-6-8 102-2-5 402-7 92-6

30-4 31-8

Nahaial Tel-Alfire

534-6

12-3-5

Sources of data : Material arranged and condensed by the author from yearly accounts between the Palestine Land Development Company and tenants on aa ares of about 10,000 dunams, before its transference for colonisation purposes.

I
CO
C O C O C O C O

Number ofFeddan!
ro>
N
L U W V O

by the weeders, but their efforts to destroy all unavailing. War must be joined with the weeds are under kerabs, and the wheat must find a prepared for it in respect both of tillage and of of weeds.

the weeds are while the fields field properly the eradication

co co i i u> co
Ul
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00
I I

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A. Sesame. Sesame crops themselves are not as a rule particularly profitable except in fertile soil and in a rainy year, when the crop is likely to be considerable. Very often all the trouble and care bestowed on it are only for the sake of the wheat that is to come after it. Such wheat always yields a larger crop than would be the case if it were sown in a field of any other kerab. The wheat is sown after it without any further preparation of the soil, because after the plucking of the sesame the surface soil is left loose, broken up, leaving excellent mulch and free from all remnants of stalks. The seeds are merely buried by one ploughing over close furrows. The drawback of sesame is that its success depends too much on the rain coming down at the proper time and in the proper quantity, so that its crops are less reliable than those of other plants. Further, the same crop does not all ripen at one time, and this makes the ingathering more difficult. B. Bamia. Of equal value with sesame is bamia. This plant is not very common in Palestine. It is sown with a space of 6080 cms. between the rows, and it is ploughed over all the time that it is growing. The roots are stronger than those of sesame, and draw up their sustenance from below. The plants look like twigs of wood, and form a covering for the ground. The bamia leaves the ground free from weeds; but it leaves behind strong stalks which have to be cleared away from the field. C. Durra. Durra is of inferior value, as it exhausts the soil. It has, however, deep roots, and it loosens the ground and
35

i\

CO i

CO 00

-J O\

-J

I i>

I 4

H
a:

,O Q. -R n Q.

34

throws a shade over all the ground. It is sown in poor soil where sesame would not thrive. Good durra grows as high as a man's head, and in exceptional years as high as a man on horseback. It is not so dependent as sesame on the later rain, but it can be relied upon to do well only in unusually rainy years. The dew has unquestionably a great influence on its growth. As late as ten o'clock in the morning its leaves are still wet with dew. Besides the fact already mentioned, that the durra exhausts the soil, it has a further drawback, because the field sown with it is left covered with large stalks which have to be cleared away (though it must be mentioned that they serve as food for cattle and as fuel, and therefore cannot be reckoned as waste), and the whole ground is broken into } crannies. 2. Half-summer kerabs. Karsena, late lentils and chickpeas. In Galilee peas are important as a kerab, especially in places where sesame does not thrive owing to climatic conditions or to the character oi the soil. The great advantages of these kerabs is that throughout the winter the ground is open to the rain. Also the winter ploughings destroy a great part of the weeds, and leave the ground better prepared for the wheat which is to come afterwards. These species are also nitrogengatherers, and therefore so far from diminishing the store of nitrogen for the use of the wheat which is to come after them, they enrich it, especially if they are not plucked but reaped with a hand-sickle. Remnants of the roots are always left in the ground, even when the plants are plucked up by hand. 3. Winter kerabs. Beans, lentils, karsena, "hilba", and other kinds of leguminous plants. All of these are practically of the same value, being deep-rooted and gatherers of nitrogen.. The roots of the bean are the strongest and strike deepest. This plant requires a deep soil, and in thin soil it will not
36

prosper. These species as a rule do not produce large crops and beans are worth the trouble they require only in first-class soil. When it is grown repeatedly in the same field, its yield falls off. Still, when there is no other kerab it has to be sown for the sake of the wheat which is to follow it. In places where sesame will not grow well on account of climatic conditions, it is practically the only kerab. Beans may also be reaped with a scythe or reaping machine; this saves expense and improves the ground with the remnants of the roots that are left in the soil. It does not, however, free the soil from weeds. Winter weeds drop their seeds while the bean is still growing; after it is reaped the moisture still remains in the ground, and later on it causes to spring up summer weeds which are injurious to the wheat which is sown subsequently. Most of the things which have been said about the bean, both in respect of its advantages and its drawbacks, apply also to the other kinds of leguminous plants. The only difference is that the other kinds do not require deep soil, and do well both on the mountains and on the slopes of the mountains on a thin layer of earth. Their crops are also smaller than those of the bean in good years, but are less liable to variation and are more reliable. Among winter kerabs are to be reckoned also vegetables like onions etc. These plants possess all the advantages enumerated in the sesame, and some of them even surpass it. The special preparation of the ground, the constant hoeing and weeding, and the properties of the plants themselves with their peculiar deep-growing, broad, strong and branching roots all these things improve the mechanical character of the ground, enrich it with certain materials of nutriment, destroy the weeds, and create favourable conditions for the plants which are to be sown in this field. This kerab is possible, however, only in
37

villages close to a town which provides a market for vegetables, and on limited areas, and* it is not merely a subsidiary product used for the rotation of seeds, but it has substantive value of its own as an important source of income. The same remark applies to the water-melons which are used as a summer kerab for barley in certain districts, especially in the neighbourhood of the sea-ports in Sharon. These plants bring in much more than wheat and barley; they are reckoned the prime source of income in the farm, and they are an end in themselves rather than a mere accessory to wheat and barley. 4. Fallow- - In places where sesame does not thrive, like the Jordan valley, or in districts where the rainfall is small, like the Negeb, and also in the northern districts, the following rotation of crops is practised. Half the field is sown with cereals, while of the second part a portion is devoted to leguminous kerabs and a portion is left fallow,- that is to say, it is ploughed at the end of the winter, and then left fallow for a year. The fellaheen call this tillage "kerab barad" i. e. rainy tillage. In the North it is called "sunny crop-growing" and in the South "sun fallow." This is the method of dry farming, but in an imperfect form, because it lacks the operations performed in the course of the summer with a cultivator and with harrows. In rainy countries this tillage is called "black fallow." This system is practised only in certain cases and under special conditions.

Chapter

Four.
i i

THE HARMONIOUS STRUCTURE. The whole farm of the Fellah forms an organic unity. Everything is produced in it by his own powers; he is not dependent on any external economic factors and he is not affected by the changes and vicissitudes of the outer world. The simplicity of his implements constitutes his strength in the struggle of existence. His world is not governed by the principle of "time is money", but by the principle of "preservation of matter." He allows nothing to go to waste. Everything which appears to be lost returns to him after various transformations. Leavings and remnants which in other places are not thought good enough for the rubbish heap are used by him for building material, for fuel and for feeding stuff for his cattle. All work in his house is done by his family and not by hired labourers from without, so that he is always taking in and never paying out. And the slightest profit he makes from his labour is of value to him. In the usual two fields rotation of crops there is thorough regularity. The winter cereals alternate either with cultivated crops or with nitrogen-gatherers. But the only product which yields a good income without involving much expenditure is wheat. It is a higher yielder in itself than other crops, and the reaping and ingathering do not cost much. The other species require plucking, some of them weeding and tending, operations which require many hands. These manual operations however do not affect the profit of the Fellah. His work has no money
39

38

value for him. It is no commodity in the market and there is no price for it. In a country where industry is not yet even in its cradle and where agriculture is primitive to the last degree, labour has no money value. Every little therefore counts. In a place where labour commands no price there is no need to be particular about time and to despise slow work. There is no harm in putting on a spurt one day and sitting idle the next. What is the use of time-saving implements and quick-working cattle if the work can be done also with light implements which he acquires for a few pounds and which last him all his life, sometimes being left over for his son? External appearance and structure. - The whole village both in its external appearance and in its structure seems to have risen out of the soil on which it stands. It is indeed formed from that soildust of its dust and stone of its stones. The Arab village is a creature which takes its colour from its environment. In the plain it is built of mud, all home manufacture not costing a penny. The materials are composed of the dust of the earth, of the straw which it produces and of the dung of the animals which it feeds. These prime materials are worked up by the hands of women who gather stubble, make straw, mix earth and water to make mud, harden the mud with cow dung which has been dried in sun and breaks in their hands, and bake bricks. On the slopes of the mountains the houses are built of stones from the mountains. The members of the Fellah's family collect the stones with their own hands and raise the walls, and the village builder only completes the structure. The Fellah buys from outside nothing except the corner stones and wood for the roof and the door. The stalks of tall grass covered with dust are used to cover the roofs. This dust produces grass and herbs. Only in villages near to town which have been "spoilt by civilisation" have they begun lately to cover the roof with imported tiles.
40

:* -~

.Afakini,' sun-dried bricks

Bin for chopped straw (teben)

.10] H

pmu

t a b 1 e 8.

System of Farming and Classified Crop Returns (in kilos) of Arab Tenants.
Yield in kgs.
Winter cereals
Legumes
Durrlia

Area in Dunams
Sesame Winter cereals Legumes Durrha Sesame Total Area

Yields per Dunam in kgs.


Wheat Barley Legumes Durrha Sesame

1914 1915 1916 1917 1918' 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1921 1922 1923 1921 1922

277-844-5 366727-5 263-132-5 322-520 248-360 337-735 317-177-5 189-227 5 201-520 173-495 100-387-5 131-234 75-530 105-395 43-387-5

46901-250 27993-750 67452-250 67331-250 85189-500 144843-750 145710000 73038-750 72401-250 17527-500

6875-0 43471 20592 87665-6 47555 269622 199497 6 17143-2 5417-5 94698 16112-5 17272-8 51314-4 11275 9030 26136

3395 4340 2760 3605 3780 3990 3990 4270 3850 2590

970 1240 1380 1030 1080 1140 1140 1220 1100 740 790 660

2425 3720 2300 3090 3240 2850 2850 3660 2750 1850 1975 1650

485 460

570 570 550 370 395 330

7275 9300 6600 7725 8100 8550 8550 9150 8250 5550

67-337 68000 76-112 72-420 53-176 66-000 64-328 35-836 42-364 54-264

48-35 22-57 41-63 65-37 78-224 I 78-88 101-280 127-05 94-652 127-80 52-784 59-87 62-356 65-82 79-696 23-68

96-343 101-000 114-548 106-520

17-93 14-18 5-53 38-11 103-38 85-27 61-57 6-01 9-50 33-23 28-27 4-72 18-66 20-50 14-13 24-40 1.265 15-92

31980 18475-2 500 J2765 5252-5; 2310 18806-250 25128 - U155 19893-750 28987-2 1516-5; 2790 922-500 6667-2 1586 933-25

5925 29-376 43-224 4950 45-968 67652 2475 53-720 79-060 6975 30-464 45-076

40-48 9'35 22-64 15-23

1395

2325

465

14-26J 12-47

3-26

133-3 666-66 133-33 2000 37-672 55-308


I'/

6-92! 10-01

11-90

Source of data : arranged by author, sec table G.

.IOJ

tl.iAO

])IHU V ! I I P | l : ] \ ;

T a b l e

8.

System of Fanning and Classified Crop Returns (in kilos) of Arab Tenants.
Yield in kgs. Year
Winter cereals
Durrlia

Area in Dunains
Winter ; l.eguccreali mes IJnirlia Sesame j Total Area

Yields per Dunam in kgs.


LtguW h e ii liiiiley

Durrha Sesame

1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1921 1922 1923

277-8-14-5 366-727-5

J263-132-5
322-520 248360 337-735 317-177'5 189-227 5 201-520 173-495

46901- 250 43471 27993 750 I 20592 67452- 250 87665-6 67331'250 S269622 85189- 500 1994976 144843 750 17143-2 145710 000 94698 73038- 750 17272-8 72401- 250 51314-4 17527- 500 26136

6875-0 3395 340 47555 ||2760

I'3605

13780 5417-5 13990


16112-5i 3990 11275 9030 : 4270 ||3850 ! I 2590

970 1240 1380 1030 1080 1140 1 140 1220 1100 740 790 660

2425 3720 2300 3090 3240 2850 2850 3660 2750 1850 1975 1650

485 460

570 570 550 370 395 330

7275 9300 6600 7725 8100 8550 8550 9150 8250 5550

67-337

96-343

48-35 17-93 22-57 5-53 41-63 38-11 65-37 85-27 78-88 61-57

14-18 103-38

68-000 101-000 76-112 114-548 72-420 106-520

53-176 78-224 66-0001 101-280 127-05 6-01 64-328! 94-652 127-80 33-23 35-836 52-784 59-87 4-72 42-364! 62-356 54-264' 79-696 65-82 18-66 23-68 14-13 40-48 9-35

9-50 28-27 20-50 24-40 1 '265 15-92

100-387-5 131-234 75-530

18475-2 500 2765 31980 5252-5 2310 18806-250 25128 - 11.55 19893-750 28987-2! 1516-5 2790 922-500

5925 29-376' 43-224 I 4950 45-968; 67-652 2475 53-721)! 79-060


6975

22-64 15-23

1921 1922
Source

105-395 43-387-5
ol data

395

2325

! 465

30-464' 45-076 I 14-26! 12-47

3-26

6667-2 1586 | j 933-25; 133-3 666'66 133-33 2000 37-672 55-308


s e ctable u.

6-921 1001 11-90

: arranged

b y author,

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6
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to as
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.to.

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VO Ul --4
1

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.to.

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r
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to.

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cb
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vo cp UI
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S3

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cb vb Ul
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.to.

1
Ul Ul

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o Ul
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to

1
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vo o

.toCO _ .
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CO
1

co co , r vo vo -J CO ON co
-J CO
Ul

CO !_
Ul CO CO Ul

ON ^> Ul VO

CO

CO >
1*

o
CO

CO CO
"*

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o o
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o o o
ON

co CO co ON o o vo
Cs.

Buildings. - In the Shefelah the whole village is surrounded with a mud wall. According to present ideas this wall affords no protection and it is no wonder that the walls of Jericho fell at the blast of the trumpet. They are, however, sufficient for the needs of the Fellah. House adjoins house and every court is surrounded with a high fence made of mud. This is in the Shefelah. In the South it is built of medium-sized stones. Inside each court there is one building. The poor man has one room which serves at once as a dwelling for men, a resting place for beasts and a storehouse for produce, i The house of the wellto-do Fellah has a number of rooms: one large room for the use of men and beasts, one for receiving visitors, and one for storing. Besides the main house in the court there is also a small building "tabbun" (the oven). Sometimes two families live in one court. The low conical straw-stacks plastered with stubble twigs and mud are scattered outside the court, by. the side of the threshing floors, where they stand like sentries on guard. The cost of building the house are for an ordinary Fellah as follows: In the mountain districts, stones 34; wood for roof and door 2; builder's wages from 56 ; total 1012. In the Shefelah, stubble (Kash) 1 1.5; wood 2; total 3-3.5. Working Animals. The Fellah's implements are also home made; they are not brought from a distance or from abroad. The whole of his land, covering from 120 to^ 150 dunams, heworks with three oxen, or with a horse or a camel - "seeka" in his own language. He gives the preference to oxen for the following reasons: (1) they are cheaper to maintain than any other draught animal; (2) the working day is longer with them, as the oxen do not require to rest at midday. It is usual to go out to the field with, three oxen and to work with two, change
43

-J

vo
.to.

o
ON

^J
.to. .to.

CO
ON

ON >-* VO

-J
Ul ON

CO ON

vo .to.
VO

CO

.to.
to.

o Ul

CO CO

CO

o CO

o o
Ul CO Ul

vO
Ul

CO

co

.to.

o o CO vo ^_ ; .
o op
u~.

o o
co

CO o to- CO VO CO Ul ui. CO CO U - .
ON

e n

<

CD 1

o
CO
Ul

o
Ul

a. e n
~G

*-^

1
!

-1

>*

Ul

ON Ul

vb
CO

ON Ul

vo Ui
-J

.to.

Ul *-*

CO ON

CO CO

Ul

-J

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vO
Ul Ul

Ul Ul Ul

j 1 i

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m
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.to.

!n "?

a
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cr H
3

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ON

CO
B_

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.to.

.to.

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CO Ul ON

co
Ul
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sI
ll

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Ul

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Ul

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to

ul.

c b J

ON

I o

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42

ling one ox every two hours, and so they work from dawn to dusk without cessation; (3) many operations. are performed better with oxen e. g. ploughing and threshing; (4) in case of accident or old age the Fellah does not loose much as the ! price of the flesh for slaughter is almost equal to the value of the draught animal. Feeding costs nothing. For the greater part of the year the oxen graze in the fields. Many wild plants have a value for the farm whether they are left in the field or cut down as weeds. In winter during the period of rainfall they feed on the tender grasses and in summer on the remnants of the stalks of the cereals. When the field is too crowded at the beginning of the sprouting of the cultivated plants, the Fellah sends his beasts to tick them, and this is good both for the beasts and for the field. The plants that are weeded out in the winter serve as food for the cattle, and so two birds are killed with one stone : the field is cleared and the animals are fed. For about eight mouths the oxen feed on pasture, and for about two months the Fellah adds to the pasture a little hay. Only for two months does he feed them on full diet in the farm yard, made up as follows: a manger full of hay with a handful of "aiif" (concentrated food) three times a day, and two rottles of sesame cake or of beans in the course of the day. According to the Fellaheen about two kantars of sesame cake or of beans and karsena are required for one "seeka" per year. Apart from the sesame cake, therefore, all the food is home produce. The Fellah keeps a camel for the following reasons: (1) his crops do not suffice to support him, and the camel brings him in money by being used in outside work for transport. (2) Transport can be done by the camel itself, but by oxen only ; with a waggon. It does not cost more to keep a camel than to , keep oxen. The camel also obtains most -of its food in the
44 45

vO NJ NJ

vo to

O O -J NJ OJ VO O

oo
ON

.5

S i
CO
"

ON

J O ON Ul
NJ

oo ON J
OJ

OJ

CO

o
--4

o o
>

CO
ON

Oo CO
ON

j
1CC0

O
OJ

CO Oo CO Ul Ul Ul

o
NJ -J

VO CO

CO NJ NJ O

NJ Ul

o 3

3
n c o 3

c
ON ON VO 4

NJ

VO VO

ST _ ^ ,

>

NJ

ON VO

J --4 Ul U l

NO

VO Ul

o
Oo CO vo ^ VO -J

VO Ul

n. a.

vb
CO

open field; coarse grasses which any other animal would disdain are delightful to the palate of the camel. The "sabar" (cactus) which grows round the villages serves a double purpose : it is a "live fence" for the village and provides food for men and camels the fruit for the former and the leaves with their prickly points for the latter. To this food which the camel obtains free his master adds beans, straw, and a small quantity of karsena or jilbana. Productive animals. - Not every Fellah has a special milch cow. But when he has one, it also hardly costs him anything, it also is a product of the home, and lives on the leavings and extras of the house, also on grass sprouting from a rock and on thorns that a man cannot get at with a sickle, though the mouth of the animal can. So too the fowls. No special food is provided for them. They rummage in the dung heaps and live on the refuse and the insects creeping about there. Nevertheless they are good layers ; in some cases they are equal in this respect to birds of good stock and they have the advantage over them of being immune against several diseases. Implements. The Fellah's implements are few in number and light in weight. He carries his plough on his shoulders when he returns from work, and a young boy looks after the threshing board and the mule attached to it. All his implements are home-made, formed out of wood obtained on the spot (mostly from Zizyphus Spina Christi), only the coulter being made of iron. The plough cannot be beaten for simplicity, lightness and suitability to the climate, to the condition of work and to the object in view. It performs at one stroke and without calling for any undue strain or effort the function of a plough, a roller and a harrow. It does not bring up clods, it makes the earth loose, it does not overturn it, it does not cause any of the moisture to evaporate, it does not bury any weeds
47

1921 4-59
,_
Cs)

1922

1919 1920 1921 1922 1923

1914 1915 1916 1917 1918

1921

Year

209

316

444 227 223 13-89

358 185

Val

i f

89 9-49 1-25 11-61 6-60 7-53 9-90

14-40

ainter crops

t'alue c calcu

98-69

O CO

oo NJ
ON

Ul VO

00 co ON

VO

-j

o
VO

00 Ul NJ Ul OJ

U l

l CO o iU

"3
on ha ddan summer 80 D. crops win. cr.

5
ue oT Yield alculatcd

CO

CO

NJ NJ CO NJ

NJ

OS

CO Oo

OJ

o Ul

00 NJ CO

vo

^4

en ~

J.IC

901

6-29
NJ CO Ul

6-23 9-04 6-55

per

Ul 00
ON

1
Ul NJ O

ON Oo -J. CO
4 ts) oo

NJ Ul -J

*>

NJ

CTN

>u
ON

o
CO
ON

as
Ul NJ
CO vo NJ VO

>>. -4 Ul

ON

o
00

O\

S ?
ops
liner o
. CO

Oo

OO

a> o r e o

Yie

etu

111

o OJ
VO

VO

VC

ON

-J CO

CO
VO

NJ

O
CO

Ul 00
NJ ON

O
VO

o
NJ

CO VO ON -4
00 VO

-J Ul VO VO 00 VO
Oo NJ

VO OJ
-4 Ul

Ul

ON

o o
ON

?
tie )l Y i e l d c u l a ion p e r

Ul

NJ CC Ul Ul

Ul Ul 00
-4

CO VO Ul

>c*

c ~a

r* r n n. 5' o
1928
ro ro

Ul

o o o
CO

V?

J_
o

u
i; I

cr.

dan

66 59-50 155-90 104-96 52-40


NJ

153 11 167-04 109-28 121-64 13568 67-27 88-83 97-17

Total

U l vo ON

45-51 48-14
o

re ja n

1 Aral

ble 1

88-41 25261 72-29 657 492-90 896 70 396 70 405-40 152 199-17

404-49

Value

winter crops

Value r

00 CO

CO VO 00

oo VO 00 Ul

VO O 00 00

* >

U l

-J

OJ
NJ

ON

ON Ul ON Ui

OJ NJ O U l

Oo

ON

Ul ON

32

< o

222

H
r-t-

CL

it

calculated accord inR onding yea rs 191

o
00

CO VO

OJ

75 64

32

02 1-47 48-14
o

20
00 OJ

5-40 58-90 0-59 6312 4-82 72-29 23-47 186 29 15-20 164-30

10-88 202-70 2-12

6-38 2-34

U l
oo NJ

1-54

C / l

o
ON Ul

CO NJ NJ

| 94-67 72-28

U l

o
NJ

66-39 7870

vb

NJ oo

-j

ON

ON

VO VO

ON >

00 ON

OJ

NJ O

VO

~J

CO

00

Oo

ON

3 ^1 o O

Si

Ia

' ! to o co

77 62-67 29

32 72-28 58-46
Nahalal

96-50 67-25 106-05 350-59 271-10 323-34 278-87 81-29 58 122-65 117-53

prices'

Total

8910
H >

00

Tel-Adas

Djendjur

Remarks J

i
46

in his passage, and, of course, it does not make them grow or increase their number. When rain comes down for a long time continuously or with brief intervals, the Arab plough is the only one with which work can be done. In such conditions the European plough does not cut the ground, but packs the dust together, makes bricks, rolls the earth into ciods, and damages the ground for years. Hence in rainy years the Arab plough prolongs the working season. Investment capital. The whole "capital" required for the equipment of the Fellah's farm is made up pretty much as follows : 5 oxen or a camel (or a horse or mare 10-12) 15 -20 15 or 20 sheep 20 An ass 3 - 4 A plough 0.40 A threshing-board 0.60 Two wooden picks 0.15 One iron pick 0.20 7 sacks for straw 0.60 One scythe 0.10 One yoke or pole 0.60 Ropes for binding 0.30 2 sieves 0.25 Total Adding a cow 6-10, a goat 0.80-1, and 30 fowls : 3-4 41.20 47.20 14 14

the total for all implements and sources of food supply is 55.2061.20

48

Income and Expenditure of an Ordinary Fellah.


( A r e a S O - 1 0 0 D u n a m s , n u m b e r of s o u l s 6 - 9 )

1. Expenditure. a. Farm Expenses: Food for two oxen, 2 kantars sesame cake or beans Seeds Communal charges Various, repairs etc. Osher and Verko b. Household expenditure : 4 kantars wheat at LE. 4 3 kantars durra at LE. 2.50 600 litres of milk at PT. 1.5
400 eggs

,,

7 6.50 1.60 0.30 4.50 19.90


16

\
;

7.50 9 2 5

! !V '\ i_ j

Olive oil 7 jars Clothing ar etc. Vegetable, rice, lamp-oil, sugar etc. expenditure
; li'-'t

i)

n ,,

4
6 49.50 69.40
=

i
:; I ! -j !u
ij

2. Income. 30 dunams wheat at 50 kg. 10 barley at 60 [0 karsena 30 ,, durra sesame 10 800 litres milk 1,000 eggs Outside labour Total income
49

20 6
6

>i

I
li (!

!)

)J

>>

6.50 3 12
5 12

I'1 ;! ij.
it

ill:

))

1 1 f1
il

)>

70.50

H
IS

Yearly Expenditure of a Wealthy Fellah working Three Feddans.


(number of souls in the family15).

Wheat Burgul (cooked wheat grains) Lentils Chick peas Beans Olive oil Milk Leben Semneh (cooked butter) Soap Salt Onions Meat Rice Eggs Coffee

60 kels
3'

!)

C h a p t e r Five. THE WAY OF LIFE OF THE FELLAH. 1. The Fellah's Working Day. Not every Fellah performs hard labour. The heads of family groups endeavour by every means to free themselves, as far as possible, from the obligations of work. The well-to-do arrange their farming in such a way as to let the work be done by a "harat" (hired workman). This does not apply to the women, who work most laboriously all the days of the year, the wives of the Sheiks forming no exception. The good housewife. The woman knows no Sabbath. The sphere of her work is very extensive. It includes the household work, looking after the children, cleaning the yard, bringing in straw from the stack which as a rule is outside of the yard, gathering herbs in the field for cooking, plucking herbs for feeding the cattle, bringing supplies from the town, carrying the produce of the house to the market of the neighbouring town, gleaning and harvesting, and so forth. In many respects the woman performs the functions of a working animal whether when she goes as upright as a palm with a pitcher of water or a basket of home produce on her head, or when she goes crouching under the load of bundles of herbs and gleanings from the field on her shoulder. Her working day begins with midnight. The first crow of the cock wakes her from her sleep, the second finds her watching on her pallet, the third rouses her to work, the watches

2 1 1 100 360 360 4 15 35 40 25 25 1,800

roti ,, pieces

The following live stock is held for the use of the household: 8 milch cows the lactation period of which extends over six months; 4050 goats; 30 fowls. The cows and goats yield 1012 roti of milk daily. A number of eggs is sold, the income therefrom belonging to the housewife. The fellah in question has also a "madafeh" (reception room) and a separate women's house.

50

51

of the night being as of yore. And the same summoner, whose intelligence, the gift of his maker, is blessed by all Jews in matins, goes on fulfilling his task. Both the sacred and the i profane are under his way, from the worship of God in his i tempie to the farmer in the field. Day by day they once brought j sacrifices to the altar at cock crow. Nor have there been any i changes, even in the meanings of the summons. It is the third ; crow of the cock that portends good fortune. Whoever takes the road before cock crow does so at his own risk and peril, the Talmud says. Do not fare forth till the rooster lias crowed, two times, some say till he has crowed three times. And if one asks of what rooster, be it said of the ordinary rooster. It is this triple cock crow which is called awal sia/ia, tani sia/ia and talit siaha by the Fellah to this very day. With the third crow the sound of milling resounds from every hut throughout the village. It is this voice which acclaims life and daily bread. All the prophets of misfortune from Jeremiah to the heralds of vision saw the wrath of God in the silencing of the voice of the bridegroom and the bride, in the loss of the murmur of the mill and the light of the candle. The day is short and the task is long. With the dawn she must light the stove, knead dough of the flour ground before daybreak by candle light and bake her flat * cakes. Perhaps the milling is less toilsome in the cool of the night. Weeding and hoeing, harvesting and gleaning, all these are part of the woman's daily round, apart from her watchful care for the home. The infant that is bound to her gives her no respite. Suckings and infants yet in the cradle are borne ' out to the fields on their mother's heads and shoulders. In the heat of the day they stay outdoors in their cradles, right ; among the toilers. Hours of work.The Fellah who is poor begins his work in the field in the sowing season at dawn and finishes it at
52

dark. The whole day is given up to work without any rest period. He eats his frugal "pittah" while he is ploughing. He returns home about an hour after sunset, when he feeds his animal and eats his own evening meal. After a few hours sleep he gets up and goes to feed his oxen till daylight. Then he goes through another day in the same way. In harvest time the Fellah begins to reap at daybreak and goes on without cessation till two hours after midday. He then returns home and gets something to eat, rests about two hours, and then brings his draught animal his ass or camel , loads it with the produce which has been reaped and takes it to the threshing-floor. During threshing time work begins with sunrise. Till seven he is occupied in turning over the heap or winnowing. After that begins the threshing, which goes on till after midday. From four o'clock he turns over the threshed produce (tarh'a) or makes it into a heap again. The seasons of work. The farm of the Fellah does not demand the undivided attention of its owner in this way during the whole of the year, it occupies him only for four or five months: three or four weeks in sowing the winter crops, three or four weeks in sowing the sommer crops, and over three months in threshing work, while two months he is idle on account of the rain. In this way he has about five months free for outside work (see table 4, p. 20). The Fellah's farm in the plain is usually monocultural, being devoted wholly to crops. Occasionally the Fellah has also a few score of olive frees and a handful of fig trees. In many villages there is not a sign of vegetables, and in most of them only a few vegetables are grown. In the Shefelah and in the South nearly every Fellah has a cow. Only a few have sheep. As has been mentioned, agriculture does not occupy the Fellah the whole of the year. He is free for other work for
53

Table

12.

about five months. During this period he tries to gain a living by outside work. Every village provides some additional occupation itself. Those, however, who live on the mountain ^ slopes and in the neighbourhood of towns find additional occupation in the stone quarries, either actually working in the quarries or acting as eamel-drivers to transport the stones to the towns. Those who live on the mountains work at the furnaces and at making charcoal. For burning lime they use "natch" (Poterium spinosum), a brushwood that grows on the mountains. Wages are from 810 Piastres a day. 2. Size of Farms. The normal unit. An ordinary Fellah has a portion in the village land of from 70100 dunams. He works the whole of this area without outside assistance. One who has more land engages a "harat." The wages of the "harat" are paid as a rule in kind: 5 kantars of wheat and 5 kantars of barley, or food and clothing and one pound per month. Among the villagers are some who own larger properties extending to 400-500 Dunams, and who work all their land by means of "harats." Tenant-Farming. The Effendi who lives away from the village lets his land to a tenant. The large landowners in Galilee had stone dwellings everywhere for the residence of these tenants. The terms of tenancy are very simple. The Effendi gives the use of his land to the Fellah and in return he receives the fifth part of the product. A tenant who hires more than a feddan (150 Dunams in Valley of Esdraelon, in certain places 120 Dunams) engages a "harat" and pays him a quarter of the total produce, and the "harat" on his side pays his proportion of the fifth due to the owner and of the Osher of the Government. In addition the Fellah has to pay for the plucking of the durra and of the peas which costs about 3 pounds.
54

A. Income and Expenditure of a 12 Feddan Farm in Galilee,


(worked according to Arab system of farming). I n c o m e L. E. Expenditure L. E.

Wheat Barley Lentils Karsena Chickpeas Faeuum Graee. Horsebeans Durra Total
S o u r c e s of d a t a :

700-257-800 41-360 112-200 117-920 18-400 30-360 61-200 1339-240

Total seed expenses : Tithe ; Wahaif expenses\ Harateen 263-288; less weeding 3- expenses Total exp. Owner's part

144-480 167-132 118-547

260-288 690-447 648-793 1339-240

C a l c u l a t e d a c c o r d i n g to a v e r a g e p r i c e s ,

q u a n t i t y of

c r o p s as

obtained

in T a b g h a ( L a k e of T i b e r i a s ) . See P . J. C. " L a u d w i r t s c h a f t l i c h e s vom See G e n e s a r e i h " , " D a s H e i i i ^ e L a n d " , M a y 1922. p . SO.

B. Income and Expenditure per Feddan


haifn

atin

to
CO

"c | Owner's Part o " r-OJ


in KIg ; in LP

ea in in am

Crops

Yie

<u
y}

Osl

<

i n

K i 1 o g r a m s

Wheat Barley Lentils Karsena Chickpeas Faenum Graec. Horsebeans Durra Total
1 2

52 14 9 15 14 7 2 7

530 5300 663 150 2250 281 ! 90 360 45 150 750 94 112 900 113 42 210 26 1 42 ' 250 31 ! 14 :; 850 1061

615 1325 235 562 90 6 11 188 26 225 52 4 62 4 60 212 | !

3133 1228 231 443 476 124 139 392

2167 | 21.670 1022 I 8-176 129| 1-419 307 3-684 424 4-664 86 j 688 111 1-221 458 | 2-352 4704 43-874

i
120 1130 110870

i
i

1 "

In this district one feddan = 120 dunams. Wahaif expenditures : Seed guard, Harvesting works, Threshing.

Types of farms
100
w rj\ to A U> t o co Ul

No.

UJ

CO

!?- -Kr "r ' S i

500
-

100
03

Area in d u n a m s

c1
n I ~
n o -

Q.

a
C/l

a.
0

Ul
1*

0 * 0
1

Ul

Ul

Ul

Ul

Ul 0 ^
1

Ul >

Ul U) Ul U)

Ul

Ul CO

to
00

U)
Ul

Winter Cereals ro Legumin.! > Winter Plants : "" i O Summer 53 | 2 3 Cereals Cultivat Plants 1

I 1 1 1
Ul

to to

Men
Anim;i Is

Ul

I
Ul

n
a

.
-3

7? n> 0

U)

1
CO

to

>

1
Ul

Cows > 7
3 CL

1
Ul

Outside 1 Work i

I
H. ^ o'
to
0 0

1 29-8

1
Ul Ul 0
t~

Sheep Cereals Leguminous Plants Sesame


71 0'
- j/" ~ "

vi r1"

84 70 136 423-20 135


-j o
U)
Ul

Far

Ul

i
era

f|

Ul 0 0

i^rj

009

co

-a
0

00

CU OJ

500
.>. 0
U)
Ui

200

100
Ul 0 Ul O O

Ul

0 0
0 -0 CO 0

^^,

co
Ul 0 0

o^ 0
A*
Ul 0

to

CO

J>
1

z: -2 j

Ul

2 ' z
n = 5
Ul

a\ 0 0

0 0 0
Ul

ON CO

CT\
: "i

M s y Q\

O C
i/'i

<= T, O O
O

JQ

0 0
_^

0 0

O O

Q. " * * ^* ^n

ro

"-,

CO

CO

CO

u>

6\

co

=: no

1 1" i
H
ro 0
Q. ~"
""*

?^.

U l U l

-J
<jj

U)

co

to
0

Grains in Kgs. Men Aniinals <1 5" JJ


O
-1

f
5" 0 0 sr ro

x<

CO
Ul

CA

co
CO

Ex03

0
X
(/1

ro
03 ?r

OJ

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Ul

CO 0 CO 0 0

>* Ul

ro

ro

-j
0

56

At harvest time lie hires day labourers, giving them food and tobacco all the time they work and 120-150 P.T. in cash per feddan. For weeding 3-4 pounds are spent in the course of the year. This work is done by women for five to six Piastres a day. Finally he has an additional expenditure of 4-5 kels of wheat for bringing the produce from the field, for ingathering and for threshing. All expenses are borne by the tenant, except that for watching, in which the owner also shares. In lieu of this outlay the Effendi takes a meed (a twelfth part of a kel) for every feddan watched. For the food of the cattle at threshing time also the tenant has to pay a meed for every head. A 3. The Household of the Fellah. The diet of the Fellah is poor and monotonous. His staple food is the "pittah" which he bakes every day. A few "pittahs" with onions or radishes form his morning and midday meals. A cooked meal called by him "tabiekh" is only prepared for him in the evening. It consists of the herb "khubbeza" flavoured with onions and pepper. When tomatoes are in season he eats tomato salad flavoured with pepper. Pepper and oil are his two condiments. Most of his requirements are provided by his own fields, and he buys but little outside. Bread. In the diet of the Fellah the most important article is bread. An average family of 7 souls uses 7 - 8 kantars of grain (two-thirds wheat, one third durra). This quantity is made up from the produce of an average farm. The poorer Fellahs do not obtain from their fields enough for their food and they make up the deficiency partly by gleaning, partly by purchase rom outside. Mi/k. In many villages milk is obtained from sheep by those who have their own shepherds. The average number of
57

Fellniieen dwelling liouse

\V

' Iter fliiTirffrss,.^

Ml

SUB1iiiE

i l l1 If1

SHH

1 1 1
i

Bedouin tent; the wifu ninkiny buttor

heads is 1520. The sheep pasture on the mountains, in the cereal fields, and in the durra fields. The flocks are more numerous in marshy places, which supply fresh herbage ail the year round. Milk is most plentiful as a rule at the season of the rainfall, for three or four months a year, when the herbageis plentiful. All the year round the sheep live on dry food. The Arab cow yields about six hundred litres of milk a year, triewhole of it in the course of a few months. The ewe yields 5060 litres of milk. Most of the milk is used for making curds and cheese for household consumption. Occasionally the mistress of the house sells a little cheese in the neighbouring market or to a trader visiting the village, from whom she obtains a fewarticles in exchange. Eggs. Most of the Fellaheen have 3040 fowls. Not one of them knows how many eggs he collects nor do they pay any attention to this branch. In the home they use this article of food chiefly to entertain visitors. As a rule the woman sells the eggs and gets in exchange feminine articles like needles, thread, cheap ornaments and so forth. Meat The Fellah uses very little meat. For entertaining, visitors he will kill a sick sheep or some sick fowls. They also have meat when an ox or a camel falls ill beyond recovery. They then kill the animal and treat the members of the village with a portion of the flesh. Sometimes with the money which the woman obtains in the market from the sale of fowls, cheeseand eggs, she purchases a pair of trotters, a head or so forth,, with which she prepares a special treat on returning home. Oil. The Fellah uses a great deal of oil. A favourite dish of his is "pittah" dipped in oil. He consumes a jar of oil per person per year. In some villages the Fellah has his own olivetrees. He presses the olives in the neighbouring oil-press, leaving the refuse in payment, while he takes away the oil. In villages.
58

where there are no olive trees they use sesame oil which they prepare themselves. Vegetables. The Fellah does not grow enough vegetables for his requirements. In many villages they are not grown at all. In most villages there are only a few winter vegetables. Those who want vegetables buy them in the neighbouring town. The Fellah's favourie dish is the "tabiekh" made of "khubbeza." The woman gathers this herb in the winter months, dries it, and uses it for cooking most of the year. Clothing. Expenditure on clothing falls under two heads: (1) Clothing bought once a year; (2) Clothing bought every four or five years. Every year the Fellah buys a "tob." If a Fellah is asked how old he is he will answer: "1 have bought so and so many pairs of shoes and tobs." In times of scarcity he buys a tob every two years. An "abaiah" is bought every four or five years, and a "tarboush" every five or six years. Expenditure on clothing is made up as follows: "tobs" for a family 2.5; shoes 1; proportion of the cost of the tarboush and abaiah 0.50; total 4. Soap. The Fellah uses soap only for washing clothes. For washing the body and the hands he is satisfied with plain water. For washing clothes also they use for the most part ash of the stalks of sesame a supply of which is prepared for the whole year. Of clothes washing altogether there is very little. A.s a rule the tob is washed once a month or once in two months. Most families use two to for bars of soap a year, i. e. 24 okias, costing 6 PT. a year. 4. The Communal Organisation. Communal Bodies. The ruling powers of the village are: (1) the Sheiks, (2) the Mukhtars, (3) the Elders (Ichtiaria). The Sheiks are the heads of the family groups (the Hamuleh), and
59

their function is to settle disputes which arise between the members of the Hamuleh, and in conjunction with the Ichtiaria to arrange those matters which concern all the members of the village. The Mukhtars are elected by special law and approved by the Government. They are the representatives of the village with the Government. Ownership. AW the arable land in the village is "musha," and belongs to the community. Once every two years it is divided up among the inhabitants of the village. The land itself is divided into three or four main sections according to the number of Hamulehs in the village. Every Fellah has the right of use of a certain share of the land of the village. This share is expressed in terms of various measure; sometimes by Feddan (pair of cattle), sometimes by Seeka (plough), similar to the Feddan of the Mishna, sometimes by Kerat (every Kerat is V24) anc^ sometimes by Sehem, a certain fraction, the denominator of which is fixed by the nominator. The Musha (undivided) land itself, is marked out in a fixed number of blocks. This number varies .according to the kind of land and its situation. For example,,the land of a village whose area is 15,000 dunams may be divided into 30 blocks. Each block (Muka) has a different name which is derived from some incident that occurred in the village or from the person to whom the land belongs. For instance : Jazirat el Takhuna = Station on island, Bez Iyoun el Assavur = Swamp "Ain el Assavour" = Platform of Threshing Fioor Kalat el Beader = Oak El Belita = Place of Gazelles, Maiab el Jazlan = Caves El Majir = Valley of Amar. Kur Amar
60

The right of use of every Fellah to the share marked on the Musha land is not concentrated in one block, but scattered among the various blocks of the land of which the village is composed, or in a number of single blocks, according to an agreement with the villagers. The Fellah's share is therefore divided into plots. It may be that his plot or parcel in one block is consolidated there, or it may be divided into separate strips in the one block. The strip is termed Maris. The number of individual strips varies according to the kind of land. It is possible for a Seeka to be scattered among 2030 places,l even though the number of blocks be less; for sometimes the block cannot be definitely divided according to the kind of land, the good and the bad being mixed up and confused. The width of a strip is sometimes 45 metres and the length some hundreds, and there are instances when the width is 2 metres and the length 1,000. In one village for example, such a field is called "Tual", after the length of the strips; in another it is called "Danab Hawasheh," i. e. the end of the tail, as this field is considered so good, that every villager wishes to have at leest a crumb. Each strip may contain even only one dunam, and sometimes there are two partners sharing this dunam. Sometimes the land is indicated as Musha theoretically, whereas it is actually, by agreement among the villagers, subdivided land. Jewish colonies have done much to influence the neighbouring villages to become "Mafruz" land, i. e. each individual has his own separate land, but it is scattered in a number of places. The usual share of a fellah in the land amounts to from V21 feddan. Between Gaza and Jaffa Egyptian fellaheen have settled on small holdings of 30-40 dunams. Sometimes one of the Sheiks or Effendis owns a half or a third of the whole village. In some villages it is only the Hamulehs which differ in
61

the number of sehems they own, some having a larger portion, some a smailer, while within the Hamulah the land is divided according to the number of individuals and their share-rights. The actual ownership of the land of various villages usually does not go back, according to the report of old Sheiks, even two generations. A hundred or hundred and fifty years ago many lands were empty of inhabitants. Their workers lived in neighbouring towns or in large villages. In the same way the southern Fellah at the present day lives in Hebron, in Gaza, or in BethGubrin, and his land is a day or two days journey away. Even the capital cities of to-day, like Jaffa and Jerusalem, were inhabited more by countrymen than by traders, just as Lydda, Ramleh and Nabius are at the present day. In those good old days the land was not assigned to its tiller by the ox-goad measure (masafim), but each one took as much as his heart desired and his hands could work. But as time went on, the "land of God" became less and less, and men of might seized it and would not give it to others. Space was limited and quarrels were frequent. The weak banded together into families, and took up their fixed abode on the land which they tilled. In some cases the workers could not live in the village owing to the shortage of water. They managed, however, to find some old stopped-up wells, by opening which they obtained water; and so the last obstacles were removed. Ploughing plots. After the first rains the Sheiks and the Mukhtars go out to measure the fields and to assign each to his part. Measurement is made with an ox-goad about two and a half meters long, and with this the plots are marked out. The plot extends the whole length of the block with a width of from one ox-goad to six ox-goads. The length is known from long prescription, and there is no need to delimit the fields assigned to each "hamuleh" every year, as their boundaries are
62

fixed by tradition and are well known. They are also recognised by ancient landmarks, which are often "living landmarks," wild plants of great age like Hazab (Uriginea Maritima). After they have marked out the main blocks, they cast lots between the hamulehs, and then between the individual members of the hamulehs. The casting of lots is done with the "lepeh" under the tarboush with rags of different colours, each colour representing a plot. Parcellation. Since 1928, the Survey Department of the Government carry out the parcellation in accordance with a list of shares in each of the cultivation blocks, which is supplied to them by the Land Settlement Department, after consultation with the village authorities. The communal affairs. The communal affairs of the village are few. As a rule they are confined to the watching of the fields and the government taxes, and in a few villages they include the water supply. There is a special charge for water only in villages where the water is deep down and has to be drawn up with a long rope with the help of a pair of oxen or a camel. In such villages it is usual for one man to undertake a contract for the drawing of the water, especially in the period when the draught animals are occupied in the field, that is, for six months in the year. The daughters of the village carry the water on their heads in pitchers, exactly as in the days of Rebecca. They may be seen morning and evening by the side of the well, each one waiting for her turn to receive her share of water. The whole communal expenditure conies practically under the heads of drawing water and watching the fields. The expense of watching is distributed according to area, each sehem contributing one mesha (5 rottles of wheat). The charge for water is made according to the number of heads and pitchers, as a rule five Piastres per month, and one Piastre for 4 pitchers of water.
63

Thus the communal charges on each individual are made up as follows: for watching 2 meslias of wheat 40 piastres for water 120 For defraying the expenses of the Mukhtaria, of journeys and of entertaining soldiers the Government returns 22l/20/ of the taxes to the Mukhtar. Chapter Six. THE FELLAH'S FARM UNDER EXPERIMENT. An area of 250 dunams is divided into seven different types of farm units at the branch station at Gevath (Valley of Esdraelon). The purpose of the investigation is to compare the typical farms established in Palestine from the point of view of the cost of crop-production and returns; and likewise to ascertain the possibility of developing holdings on modern lines. The plan of experiments was laid out by the Divisions of Rural Economics and of Agronomy. The work is carried out by the Division of Agronomy. The area set aside for the primitive type of farm is cultivated strictly in accordance with the prevailing system. To ensure greater certainty, this portion has been handed over to an Arab fellah, who cultivates it at his own expense, according to his own methods without any influence on our part, the Division simply taking exact notes on his methods of cultivation, hours of work, the cost of maintaining his working teams and of providing his essential food requirements. This arrangement will provide a clear picture from an economic point of view ofithe advantages and disadvantages of each type of farm under consideration over a long experimental period. The Aim of the Experiments. In general the plan follows two main lines: that adopted in existing farms in accordance with their essential characters, and the new line marked out by the Division of Agronomy and the
64 65

Division of Plant-Breeding. In regard to the first, the system of farming is carried out on set lines without any alteration; while in the second, the farm is worked according to those positive results which have been obtained by the various Divisions of the Experimental Station, which show any relevance to the subject under review. The best methods of cultivation, combination of manures, quantities of seeds and sowing dates are adopted. The best selected seeds from the Division of Plant-Breeding are used. Control of diseases and insect pests is practised according to the instructions of the Divisions of Plant Pathology and Entomology. The aim of the experiments is also to verify and to compare the results of those methods which in the experimental plots have proved to be the best, for the following reasons : Absolute yield. Experiment plots are small. The largest are 5 ares. While this size is quite sufficient to furnish comparative data of a relative value between the various methods tried, it is too small to give their absolute yields, the managing of small experimental plots being of a special character. Combination of many factors. In experimental plots we generally deal with a single factor. Thus, for instance, in green manuring experiments the investigation is limited to green manuring versus non-manuring. Other treatments, like tillage etc., are done in the customary manner of the country. In the economic fields all the treatments will be carried out according to the results obtained in the corresponding experimental fields. Technical possibilities. Certain methods are to be tested as to whether they are realisable under field conditions on account of technical difficulties involved, for example, the method of sowing in strips and cultivating during the growing season between the rows.
66

Economy. The economic value of some methods, cost of production, etc., can hardly be established in experimental plots, and larger fields approaching to the size of farms are required for this purpose.

Types of Farms Existing in the Grain Region.


The following are the three principal types of existing farms in the grain region: (1) The fellah's primitive farm; (2) The consolidated mixed farm; (3) The mono-culture European farm. At opposite poles are the entirely primitive farm of the fellah and the consolidated mixed farm, while between them, the remaining types constitute gradual steps in development These include transition farms which gradually approach the mixed farm according to a definite plan in advance, and farms in which the main revenue comes from grain while the other branches are subsidiary. 1. The fellah's farm. This farm is minutely described in previous chapters. Its characteristics are: bi-annual rotation; mono-culture; dependence upon grain; the rotation crops are the only means of maintaining fertility; manure is not an item to be calculated; the standard of life is low, in many cases below poverty level. 2. The consolidated mixed farm. This farm is described in a separate essay. Its characteristics are: the chief item is fodder crops rotation; increase and maintenance of fertility is secured by manures and fertilisers regulated in alternation for each field; the system of cultivation and form of organisation are modern; the standard of life is comparable to that prevailing in all civilised countries. 3. The mono-culture European farm. In its crop rotation this farm resembles that of the fellah except that instead of primitive implements, modern ones are wholly or partly employed.
67

l<->Tli11

The mixed farm is the only one which can serve as an example in respect of the standard of life which it assures its owner, and it is this which is the chief point of departure for all the reforms which it is proposed to introduce in the other types of farms. Living Area. As the constant factor we take a given standard of life in a certain period of years. The factors securing it are subject to variation. We express the former in money when we assume that provision of the essential needs of a working family in farm produce and cash requires a sum of 160 per annum net. The factors securing tltfs amount vary as to size of area, form of organising the farm, extent of intensification, etc. Size of unit in the intensive farm. - T h e unit established for an intensive farm is, for non-irrigated land 100130 dunams; for heavy irrigated soil, 30 dunams; for plantation soil according to the quality 10-15 dunams. All these units are intentionally adjusted to the form of farm based upon the family's own labour without requiring hired labour at all or only in exceptional cases in seasons of stress. The extensive farm. - The size of this farm will require an area three or more times greater than that in the above examples in order to secure the given standard of life, because in a farm of this type the revenue is composed of the surplus income derived from the difference between the standards of life of the owner and the workman, in contrast to the intensive farm which really depends upon family labour only. In the grain region it can be maintained only on the cultivated fallow system, that is, half of the area remains idle. The various customary rotation-crops in the prevailing cropping system require excessive manual labour and these crops cannot, in virtue of their yields, produce a surplus for the owner above the cost of labour. A farm of this type is
68

satisfactory as a transition in colonisation but not as a permanent condition. Its system enables the preparation of large areas with few labour forces and also the increase of fertility of the soil. The machine is, in such transition farm, imperatively necessary; primitive tools cannot in this case take its place. The size of the fellah's farm. The improvement of the fellah's farm is possible only in such units as are established for types of intensive farms dependent on the family's labour, for the following reasons: (1) the extensive transition farm can be considered only for unsettled areas of land and not for land distributed between close settlers; and (2) this farm requires a very heavy equipment costing large sums, requires qualified labour, and supports a thin population. On the other hand it is possible to raise a smallholding to the degree of the described mixed farm over a long transition period, even with the fellah's tools, without any appreciable change. Sources of revenue in the mixed farm. The dairy is the chief source of revenue in the mixed farm. Its structure and form of organisation are entirely adapted for growing fodder and maintaining cows. The first dairy farms were founded on non-irrigable land or with slight auxiliary irrigation. This is the position also to-day. The path to growing of fodder and improvement of cattle is for the most part beaten out. Not so the path to the market which has not yet even been found. For by market we must mean foreign markets, seeing that in Palestine the urban population is small and their purchasing power low. In other countries intensification in agriculture proceeded by way of conversion of grain to meat and milk. It is possible that in Palestine redemption will come to heavy agriculture by "the milky way." Milk products will stand competition in eastern markets. All the factors of production available
69

in the country are absolutely favourable, as the writer has shown in special studies. But a national economy cannot be dependent on solitary branches even when they exist and certainly when they are only a matter of speculation. Possibly the dairy farm will produce competitive products from heavy irrigated soil alone. It is, therefore, necessary, for greater protection, to seek also systems of intensification which are not dependent upon cattle breeding. Plan of Experiments. Area. The area of 250 dunams was divided into 25 fields of one hectare each. This size may be considered as sufficient for the purpose pursued, as it represents the average size of field in a small holding. Soil. The soil of this block is similar to the rest of the experimental fields of the Station, analyses of which are given elsewhere. The fields lay bare for many years covered with weeds, especially the wild carot and the wild Canary grass. To get rid of the latter especially, the field was ploughed 25 cms. deep in the summer of 1926, except, of course, the field devoted to Arab farming, where no other implement but the Arab plough was ever used. The eradication of weeds in the Arab farming fields was done by hand little by little, in the course of successive years of cultivation. The soil was in a very exhausted state, and crops grown in the first year were low in yield. Owing to the relatively large size of field, only a single component of the rotation occupies the field at a time, and, consequently, results will only be obtained at the end of the various periods. In this respect the farm differs from the experimental fields, where all the components are simultaneously grown, and results are continuously
70

in evidence. In the Arab farming, however, all the components occupy the soil simultaneously. The rotation of Arab farming should consist of the main rotations of the country, namely: wheat-sesame, wheat-durra, wheat-chick peas. However, as the summer crops depend upon yearly rainfall, it is left to the farmer to withdraw a given crop if conditions of the year are unfavourable. Precipitation : T a b l e 15. Rainfall at Gevath Experiment Station.
19251926
192(51927

19271928

19281929

19291930

Month a .5 October November December January February March April May June Total

-Q

-.5 I z i a.

5 19-7 9 78.0 14 196-7 9 94-4 4 43-3 5 20-0

3 13-5 13 277-5 14 112-5 19 167-0 7 38-5 52-0 9

4 3 6 10 20 5

23-5 44-8 21-5 119-7 201-7 10-3

12-5 74'0 155-2 23 L-3 192-5 28-3 37-2 6-0 6-0

0-5 123-5 131-7 162-3 77-2 8-7 40-5

46 452-1

65

661-0

48 I 421-5 I 66 ! 743-0

49 i 544-4

The Cultivator. The fellah and his family have their residence not in the Experimental Station but in a village in the vicinity where he is working other land in tenancy. He comes to work the 60 dunams at the Station at the proper time of operation. His family consists of six persons: the fellah and his wife, two sons, 3 and 17 years old, and 2 daughters, 6 months and 15 years old. In addition to the fields of the Station the fellah works about 200 dunams. The working animals which he uses for the
71

whole area, the fields of the Station included, are 4 oxen and 2 asses. Half of his own area is sown with winter crops, viz. wheat, barley and beans, the other half being sown with summer crops, viz. durra and sesame. Additionally every year one dunam of lentils is sown. In the following table the field returns which the fellah in question receives from his 200 dunams and the use he makes of them, is given:
l l O U S trhold

Farm and

Wheat Barley Beans Sesame Durra


Total

fees i kind

Kind of crop

Yield in kels

Seeds Surplus for sale ' kels Quantity j Value kels | .u

suppl ies

50 28 20 19 14

10 6 10 4 3

15 4 -

15
3
_ 2

10 15 10 14

7-500 6- 7'500 18-200 2-500 41-700

sesainu

Every worker receives 46 pittahs during the day, about 1 kg., and vegetables. When a cooked meal is as burghul, lentils or rice, he takes a portion of it to besides the evening meal. Then he receives during according to the season: eggs or olives or tomatoes, or sabar (cactus fruits), and sometimes leben (sour olive oil.

weighing prepared, the field, the day, or figs, milk) or

The home and farm expenditure of the fellah is composed of the following items:
' Taxes, viz. Osher and Verko and communal expenses are not taken into account. Seeds which the fellah receives from the landowner are included under "Tenancy fees." Prices calculated as average of the years 1927-1929. Sosamo rhreshirur floor 72

IIl.'i1|)

(tf

illllTil

A. Food. 12 Kels Wheat at 75 kgs. each, for flour, regular price per ton 109 . .750 1 kel wheat 75 kgs. for burgul 30 rotl meat for Sabbaths and Feasts 4.500 at 150 mils (each time xi2 rotl) .200 30 rotl onions per year 3.260 24 rotl olive oil at 140 mils Rice, soap, salt, pepper etc. during 10 .950 the year, 30 mils daily .180 1 tin petrol per year .600 Semneh (cooked butter) V2 kel lentils (37.5 kgs) at 1 per kel .500 Vegetables, muskmelons etc. during . 5 the year 5. 34.940 In addition, the eggs of four laying hens are used. Milk is bought only in the event of sickness and thus costs but very little. B. Clothing. 2 suits for each member of the family during the year, at 300 mils each 3.600 1 pair of shoes for each member of the' family during the year, at 300 mils each 1.800 1 "Abaiah" (cloak), bought every 810 years for each member of the family, at 600 mils .400 5.800 C. Feed for Working Animals. 4 Oxen, 2 asses, fed during the year, except in the season of green fodder and the season of pasture. 4 kels karsena at 750 mils 3. 4 durrha 4 0 0 1.600 3 barley 450 1.400 6, Total Home and Farm Expenditure during the year
73

46.740

The rotation crops as well as the cereals alternate with oneTypes of Farms under Experiment. /. Arab fanning. These are the fields leased to the fellah of the neighbouring village of Medjdel, who was described in the foregoing pages. The field is divided into three sub-fields of 20 dunanis each and based upon three types of two-year rotation :(1) chickpeas and wheat; (2) durrha and wheat; (3) sesame and wheat. The total area of the field is 60 dunams. 2. Parallel farm, to the Fellah's farm. This field is divided into two sub-fields of 10 dunams each and based upon two types of two-year rotation : (1) durrha and wheat; (2) sesame and wheat. This farm is cultivated by the Division itself with European implements. The total area is 20 dunams. 3. Grain farming without cultivator. This field is divided into three sub-fields of 10 dunams each. Two-, three-, and four-year rotation. The total area is 30 dunams. Crops of the four-year rotation : leguminous, wheat, summer-crops, flax. Three-year rotation : leguminous, wheat, summer-crops. Two-year rotation: leguminous, wheat. 4. Grain farming with cultivator. Partition, size and rotation are the same as in No. 3, but the crops are grown in strips. between which the soil is cultivated. 5. Farming based on green manuring. 30 dunams,. divided into three sub-fields. Green manuring every two, three and four years. 6. Cultivated fallow. 30 dunams, divided into three subfields ; the same as in No. 5, but dry-farming takes the place of green manuring. 7. Dairy farming. 40 dunams, divided into two subfields, one of them being sown with leguminous and hoed crops, (vetch for hay, clover, stock beets, pumpkins, maize for fodder and grain) and the other with grain crops (wheat and barley),
74

another.

Organic manure is applied every four years, at the

ratio of 40 tons per hectare. Three methods are being investigated : (1) Fallow, (2) Green manuring, (3) Sowing in strips, with or without the help of fertilizers. The frequency of repeating the first two methods are also investigated in these fields. Dry Farming. *) "Fallow practice is credited with being able to increaseyields because of the following beneficial properties: It assures an adequate amount of moisture in the soil for high yields even in dry years, it restores the fertility of the soil, and increases the bacterial activities, it permits to get rid of weeds and pests, etc." "Conservation of Moisture. The net amount of water left at the disposition of the crops is considerably lower than that of the total rainfall. Even the more humid regions take on a less favourable aspect in regard to the supply of water to the crops than it would have been supposed at first thought. Thus, dry-farming methods, even with the sole purpose of increasing the water supply, can be justified for a largerarea than the strictly dry regions of the country-" "Fallow as Restorer of Fertility.-The depletion of soil fertility is becoming more and more conspicuous, owing to the continuous cropping for grain. As dry-farming is to become finally synonymous with dairyless farming, farm manure will sooner or later go out of use. The only way of returning to the soil the elements drawn from it by crops will be by
*) The paragraphs dealing with "Dry Farming," "Green Manure" and "Sowing in Strips" are extracts of a study by M. Elazari, Division of Agronomy, Agr. Exp. Station. The study in full comprehenses results of experiments made in 1921 1930, and will be soon published. 75

adding chemical fertilizers. The practice of green manuring presents a problem by itself. It may be that this way of farming will continue to proceed, but if not, it may prove very beneficial to allow the soil to rest from time to time." ''Bacterial Activities. The optimum temperature for soil bacterial activities prevails during the summer months, from April to October or November. But those months happen to be at the same time quite dry and the moisture content of the soil is too low to stimulate intensive bacterial activities. Thus, it seems that the intercalation of a fallow year in the rotation would be a great improvement. By maintaining the soil moist during the whole summer, maximum bacterial activity would be obtained and soil fertility would be increased." "Fallow as an issue of particular local farming conditions. As is pointed out above, the non-irrigable land is to be confined to exclusive grain farming. Until the last few years, cereals, particularly wheat, were the only remunerative crops, and the others, which alternate in rotation with wheat, either were deficitary or required much hand labour. Under such conditions, better results might be obtained by substituting fallow for these crops. In recent years, maize gave quite good results and has proved to be equal to wheat, as regards income, in the humid parts of the country. Yet it is not known what the average income would be if wheat and maize were to alternate continuously; a reduction of yields of both crops is to be expected. In some regions, maize is not quite successful, so that the question of the rotation has not lost its acuteness." "Rotation and pests. The winter crops in this country are subjected to many pests, the most injurious of them being mice and weeds. The extent of damage caused by mice may amount in some years to 25% and more. For the year of 1930, the damage is
76

estimated to be about 80%. Weeds also seriously interfere with the growth of the crop and may considerably reduce the yields. Both pests can be got rid of by alternating winter and summer crops, the latter being quite free of those pests, on condition that large areas of land are sown. But this rotation is feasible only in such regions where summer crops succeed. For the other regions, fallowing seems to be the only efficacious solution." "Fallow as transitory practice. From time to time, areas of land, which has been idle for several years are brought under cultivation. Such land is for the most pait in a poor state of fertility, covered with weeds, and constitutes a refuge for pests. Under such conditions the yields are at the beginning quite low and it generally takes several years to bring the land into an improved state. Fallowing practice, even when superfluous under normal conditions or as a permanent practice, may be useful in this particular case, during the transitory stage. By this method better results may be obtained than by continuous cropping." Green Manure. "The main object of green manuring is to provide the soil with organic matter, and in connection with this the green manuring is much superior to the dry farming method which not only does not increase the organic matter of the soil but is supposed to impoverish it. The importance of organic matter as a primary factor in maintaining the fertility and physical state of the soil is unanimously recognised. Most of the soil of Palestine does not make any exception to the rule. Its susceptibility and ready responsiveness to the effect of organic matter has been established..
77

However, farm manure as a supply of organic matter can hardly be taken into consideration. Besides its very limited production, actual and prospective, it will be confined to dairy farming. For the non-irrigable and consequently strictly grain farming the green manuring may be the only resource of organic matter supply. The green manuring realises to full extent many of the advantages of the dry farming method. If well prepared, the green manure will allow to get rid of weeds and pests. It will keep moisture in soil and hence encourage bacterial activities all the year round. It may even supply the next crop with an additional amount of moisture saved during the year when the green manure was used. Thus, even with regard to assuring adequate moisture supply to the crop the green manuring may advantageously substitute the dry farming method, any way in regions with moderate rainfall. The same as dry-farming the green manuring may be considered as a transitory or permanent practice. It may constantly alternate with the cereal or only be intercalated from time to time. All these effects and variations are being dealt with in those fields."

adverse conditions of rainfall. For the success of the winter crops depends not as much upon the total rainfall as upon its distribution. In the case of wheat whose growth extends, under the best distribution of rains, to at least six weeks after the last rains, the grain always matures under unfavourable conditions. The explanation of this is easily grasped. Whatever the state of humidity of the soil may be, fissures are bound to form sooner or later after a certain period of dry weather persists. The first action of the cracks is that they cause rupture of the roots and consequently reduce the supply of moisture and food. Then, the surface exposed to the air gets larger on account of the cracks, and the dryness of the soil increases rapidly, both in intensity and in depth. To prevent this state of things there seems to be only one efficacious solution and that is to make possible the formation and maintenance of a mulch during the growth of the crop. This can be done if sowing is practised in strips sufficiently spaced to allow intervention of cultivating implements. The system of spacing enjoys some of the special properties of both the cultivating fallow system and green manuring, and moreover leaves no area unsown, as in these two systems. The spacing system can therefore become a permanent intensive one wherever the dairy farm is unsuitable for lack of markets or other reasons, and it may suit also grain crops in the rotation of dairy farming even when manure or fertilizers are used."

Sowing in Strips.
"Sowing of cereals in spaced strips and cultivating between them is not customary in this country. In some parts of the drier region of the southern border, rows are spaced to about 3035 cms., but are left uncultivated during the growth of the crop. This way of sowing may be sufficient for the kind of soil of that particular region but for the heavier soil it is quite worthless and cannot be taken in consideration. Sowing in strips with repeated hoeings between them is .seemingly the most efficacious way of securing the yield under
78

79

Plan of Experiments (Explanations to biagram).


fl. bry Farming. I, Four-year rotation : fallow, wheat, summer or leguminous, cereal. 1 with fertilizer, 2 without fertilizer. II. Three-year rotation: fallow, wheat, flax. 1 with fertilizer, 2 without fertilizer. Hi. Bi-annual rotat.: fallow, wheat. 1 with fertilizer, 2 without fertilizer. B. Green Aanuring. I. Four-year rotation: cover crop, wheat, summer crop, ilax, or cereal. 1 with fertilizer, 2 without fertilizer. II. Three-year rotation: cover crop, wheat, flax. 1 with fertilizer, 2 without fertilizer. III. Two-year rotation : cover crop, wheat. 1 with fertilizer, 2 without fertilizer. C. Grain Farming, Cultivated. I. Four-year rotation: leguminous, wheat, summer crop, flax or cereal. 1 with fertilizer, 2 without fertilizer. II. Three-year rotation: leguminous, summer crop, wheat. 1 with fertilizer, 2 without fertilizer. III. Two-year rotation: leguminous, (summer crop?), wheat. 1 with fertilizer, 2 without fertilizer. fr. Grain Farming, not Cultivated. i. Four-year rotation: leguminous, wheat, summer crop, flax or cereal. 1 with fertilizer, 2 without fertilizer. II. Three-year rotation: leguminous, summer crop, wheat. 1 with fertilizer, 2 without fertilizer. III. Two-year rotation: leguminous, (summer crop?), wheat. 1 with' fertilizer, 2 without fertilizer. IV. Two-year rotation : durra, wheat. 1 with fertil., 2 without fertil. V. Two-year rotat.: sesame, wheat. 1 with fertil., 2 without fertil. E. bairy Farming. Four-year rotation: wheat and barley; maize for grain and forage; barley and wheat; pumpkins, beets, clover and vetch. F. Fellaheen Farming. I. Two-year rotation : wheat and leguminous. II. Two-year rotation : wheat and durra. III. Two-year rotation : wheat and sesame. IV. Two-year rotation: leguminous, wheat. 1 with fertilizer, 2 without fertilizer. V. Two-year rotation : durra, wheat. 1 with fertil., 2 without fertilizer. VI. Two-year rotation: sesame, wheat. 1 with fertil., 2 without fertilizer*
80

Map of Experimental Fields. >w /r^pnn }rom nznn


ion O P FARM ECONOMICS OVATH

For explanations see pp. 80 and 82.

81

Explanations to map
Field

1926

1927

1928

1929 Oats Dry farm. Barley Oats Green man. Wheat Flax Fenugrec Wheat Flax Fenugrec Wheat Wheat Wheat Vetch Clover Beets Pumpkins Maize Maize Wheat Barley Fallow Wheat Fallow Gi". manure Wheat Gr. manure Fenugrec Wheat Maize Fenugrec Wheat Maize Durra Sesame

A. I. 11.
111.

B. I. II.
III.

C. "

[ _ 11.

D. 1. , 11.

111. ca

,. III. ., i v vE. 1. 2. , 3. .,
it

The

felhili 'ouiiii^ h i w o r k , ( i u v a t U i'lxp. S t .

Wheat

5-

,.
>i

6.
"

,.

Vetch Clover Beets Pumpkins

,.
F

9.

- u[I

j l Wheat |
( Barley >

HIV. VI.

Durra ChickPeas

Wheat Durra

Durra

Wheat

Durra Sesame Wheat Wheat Wheat

Wheat Durra Sesame

Sowing sesame with a funnel, Oevath Exp. St. 82

Results of Experiments in Fields of the Fellah. Calendar of operations. The fields of the experiment had been badly neglected and were full of weeds, and this necessitated two ploughings of the soil, instead of the usual one, before sowing (see Table 17). These operations thus needed almost the same number of workdays as were required for the fine ploughing for preparation of seed-beds, this in contrast to Tables 3 and 4 (Pp. 18, 21). All operations on land under winter crops (an area of 30 dunams) required 80 days male labour, 10 days female, 26 days child labour, 41 days yoke of cattle (one horse = one pair of oxen) and 50 days work of ass. Operations on land under summer crops (an equal area) required 41 days male labour, 13 days female, 6 days child labour, 25 days of the pair of oxen, and 31 days of ass. The time required for operations on the whole area for winter and summer crops, 60 dunams, about half a feddan, necessitated 121 days male labour, 23 days female, 32 days child labour, 67 days of the cattle and 81 days of ass. A whole feddan thus requires 242 days male labour, 46 days female, 64 days child labour, 134 clays of cattle, 162 days of ass, that is to say almost all the available working days during the whole year (see Table 4, p. 20). Revenue and yields of fellah's land. Tables 18 and 19 show the revenue of the fellah's farm for the period of three years, and yields for a period of four years. The year 1929/30 has not been taken into account in view of the mice plague, as a result of which the winter crop was heavily damaged and even the summer crop did not escape. The average gross revenue has reached 33 per 60 dunam, and the net income 25. The gross revenue per feddan or 120 dunams is thus 66 and the net income 50. The gross income of the feddan in the Emek (150 dunams) is 82 and the net income 62.500.
83

Wheat field without fertilizer ;i.t <!evath Experimental Station

Wheat field foi-Hlized with pliosphiitu and 01 [can nitrate,


'.'SpvnHi K.Nporiinonni

The size of a family farm. The size of a farm within the capacity of one family (without hired labour) is determined chiefly by the duration of the ploughing season (see Table 4, o. 20). One yoke of cattle needs one adult wurker the harath: he cannot be procured as a daily labourer, but has to be engaged by the year. His wages are paid in kind and amount to about 18 22 per year. Details of the amount of grain paid to the hired labourer in Galilee are given in table 12, p, 55. The wage of the harath in Judea is as follows : 9.000 6 sacks of wheat 930 kgs. 3.600 3 barley 450 3.600 3 durra 450 ,. 0.5C0 One abayah 1.500 Cash Total 18.200 It is of course not worth while keeping cattle to be used for a limited number of days; they must be used for a complete season. Natural pasture alone does not suffice for their sustenance, and the additional concentrated food, amoun-ting to some 7 per year, constitutes a very considerable item in the fellah's budget. The keeping of the harath and yoke of cattle costs him about 30 per year. On the farm for which detailed figures of revenue and yield are given in Table 12, p. 55, from one feddan (120 dunams) about 11 ton of grains are obtained, and this on land of good quality. 44 goes to the owner of the land, 22 to the harath. The surplus income of the owner is only made possible by a ruthless exploitation of the harath who is in consequence living below the poverty line. The lowest limit o f expenses of the harath must be 50 which is the sum spent by a not entirely destitute fellah's family. Details of the expenditure of the fellah are given in separate tables on pp. 49 and 73.
84

T a b l e

16.

Calendar of Operation in Arab Farming Experiments Agr. Exp. Station Gvath.


Operations Opening furrows for wintercrops Ploughing and sowing Weeding and hoeing , 15-XI1-21-X1I 28'29-IH 28-29-1II 30-31-111 21-28-111 30-111' T4-IV 130-111 1"4-IV 1-2-IV 14'15-IV
j 28-V

1926-27

1927-28

1928-29

10-28.XI 1-2.X1I

5-14.XI 2'15-XH
30.111, 3.1V, 22. V

11-23-! 22'25-lH

Ploughing on the chick peas field ,, ). ,, >. durra ,, sesame ,,

,, and sowing chick peas ,, ,, durra

17'23-lV

25-26-1V 27"28- IV

Second plough, on sesame field Hoeing of chick peas Hoeing of sesame Hoeing of durra Ploughing and sowing sesame Harvest of wheat Transport of wheat Harvest of chick peas Threshing of chick peas Harvesting and transport of sesame Threshing of wheat Winnowing and cleaning of wheat Threshing of sesame Harvesting and transport of durra Threshing of durra Winnowing and cleaning of wheat 20-VI 10-15-V1I 16-18-V1I 18-19- VII 6-13-VI 9-13-VII 28-V

28-IV

11-17-V 12-18-VI '24-27-vi

24-31.V1II, 1-6.IX

20-29-VJ1 29-31'Vll

4"29-VIII 30-VIII

9-20-IX
29-30.1X, 1-8.X

6"7-X 4-7-IX 14-15-VI1I 8"10-X 8'11-X


85

8-11-IX 17-IX

T ab

le 17.

WORKING A. Wheat Experimental Field


Y e a r s Area of the plot 1925 - 26

DAYS, at Gevath (Arab Farming).


!
1927 - 2 8 30 Dunams Workers Women Child.
Men

1926 - 27 30 Dunams Workers 5 <


0

1928 - 29 30 Dunams Workers


Women Horses Child. a < Animals Oxeu

23 Dunams
Workers

4 years average for 30 Dunams


Workers Women Horses
Men

Animals
2 X

Animals

Animals
Horses Asses Oxen

Animals
Oxen Asses 5-4

Kinds of Work

c o

IS

S! = 1
X ! O ! <

<

u 1-4

1 1. Opening furrows 3% 2, Ploughing & Sowing 10 3. Weeding 4. Harvest 5. Transport 6. Threshing 7. Winnowing Total
_

277
-

377 377 12

i
-J49-75] 6-25J

17-25 29 14-5 8-8 114-50 -

2-4 21-6 14 32-8 17

7-6
15-6 -

13-9 8-2

- io
-

1273 18-5 -

3 4

29J14-5 16-4 -

3-3 -

31-8 13-7

17 9 18
2

2 3 14 32

5
2

3 -

I _ i _ 1 i 4! ~ i 1

4 22 -

10

1-5 10-5

4-5 2-1 -

Tit.

1 9-5 5-5 -

5-5 16

15 15-7 2-4 5-0 1-0 9 7-8 1-81 4-0i 1-0 -

-1 ~ |l2
I

- 12-5 5-5 5 48 11
19-5

5-5 6-51 10-5

10-3 VII 10-4 )


2

6 - '

8'/3
-

6 15-5 161 ! 7

25-50 1 11 3-50

0-5
" 2

14-5 25-1 1-9J10 2 10-6 12 8


6-2

10-5J 1 !

- o-s|

_ | _
1

06

59VT!

5 187; (J

1577 29 800 20 23-5 20 49-75I26-25

86-75 5

30-sj

51106 58-0 76-2: 10-5 28-41 10-5 54-4 77-5 80-0 10-6 26-6 12-6i57-7 50-0

if

B. Dur-ra Experimental Field


Y e a r s Area of the plot 1925 - 2 6 20 Dunams 1926 - 2 7 15 Uunams Animals

at Gevath (Arab Farming


1927 - 28 30 Dunams 1 Workers
Women Horses Child.
Men

1928- - 2 9 15 Dunams Workers


Women Child.
Men

4 years average for 30 1Dunams Workers


Women Horses Child.
Men

Workers Animals Workers


Hoi ses
len

Animals
Oxen

Animals
Asses Oxen

Animals
Oxen Asses

Kinds of Work

c 0

CO

Ass

1
1. Opening furrows 2. Ploughing & Sowing 3. Hoeing 4. Harvest & Transport 5. Threshing < S Winnowing Total 373 4 5 6 0

Chi

Chi

si =
,r 0 ! <
i 1 6

<

3 423

3 8 2 4 6 -

9-75 -

28-75 13-75 6-5 13 7-5 11-1 2 10 6

1-8 21-7 U-3 -

2 2 4
2 4 0 0

2 - 16
2 - i

4 6

12-5 - 6-25 - 25 12-50 6 2 1 1-5 1-5

m
/1/

10-6 0-8 4-3 1-5 17-5 9-6 1-9


1-8 -

- -

9-5

2 9-5 7 - 7 1-

8-5 8-5 1
0-5 -

11-8 9-2 0-4 5-7


1-0 -

8-8

- 12-5 2-5

8-5 1-7

1873 8 5 873
86

9 30-5 10 2!

I_

44-5 18-5

25-25 - 7-75 - 55-25 27-25 22-0 9-0

2 23 23 87

41-1 12-8 5-8 3'3 47'7 31-4

1.0

Table

IS.

Income and Expenditure of Arab Farm under Experiment in Gevath.


(60 dunaras) 1 NC 0 M E
Sesame Wheat Chick peas Durra Total Seed

EXPENDITURE
Total Tithe Feed

1926-1927 21'280 12-136 5-250 1927-1928 15-300 5-288 1928-1929 19-150 10-952 Average 18-577 9-459 _

38-666 3-293

3-866 9-159 29-507 2-058 6-844 13-744 4-083 9-077 31-759 3-335 8-360 25-003 0-416

20-588 2-786 2 - 10-734! 40-836 2-994 2 - -

33-363 3-023 2 - _

Average per dunam 0-619 0-631

0-556 0-050 0-034 0-056 0-140

1. Calculated according to the following prices: Wheat 10, Durra 8, Chickpeas 10, Sesame 26. 2 Manuring expenses, amounting to S3 on the average, which were incurred for experimental purposes, are not included in the items of expenditure. Table 19.

Net F Incon

Fe!l;ih

win-fir

fiel'l

fit. <:H>v;itli

Returns per Dunam on Experimental Plots, Arab Farming.


Wheat Return kgs Chick peas
1 -a c
=

Durrsi Seed kgs

Barley Retur n kgs Seed kgs

Sesame
c

Year
Area in du

Retur

mauur

Retur

Area duna

- E

Seed kgs

1 -

ii

eO

js B

1925-26 25-2 -

87-8 14

24-3 -

5.6 - 95-0 -

1926-27 30-0 10-4 61-7 80-2 15 8-1 35-0 15 0-4 101-1 1927-28 30-0 8-9 51-9 1928-29 30-0 8-9 77-2 82-1
Average

30 0-4 22-0 15 0-8 47-0 56-7

15 0-6 27-5 -

69-6 81-1 -

29-6 -

T)
l-TJ

Retur kgs
a -

Area dun

Area duna

Area duna

Seed

"Wheat field fullowin.u' ^roen m.-inui'e. <!ov;ifh E.\'|t

The catchword of modern capitalistic economy is "live and let live." If this motto be applied in this instance the farm above considered would have to grant the harath the wage of 50 per year at the very least. This would mean the lowering of the revenue of the farmer from 44 to 16 per feddan. According to the low level of wage standard of the harath, the landlord of an area of 12 feddan obtains an income of 649. If he were to satisfy the most elementary personal needs of the harath, the farmer's own profit would drop to 312; and if the harath were to receive a yearly wage of 60, which is the desirable standard, the farmer's profit would sink to only 190. The land under experiment does not give such yields, and according to its properties it is of the type most common in the country. Instead of a yield of 11 ton per feddan, obtained in the richly fertile land referred to in Table 12, the average yield is here 6.5 ton; the revenue from one feddan is thus not 66, as in the former case, but only 50. The latter is the minimum sum required for the maintenance of the harath, on which it is absolutely impossible to make any reduction. The owner of the land has thus nothing left over for himself, and can only live by harsh exploitation of the harath. The conclusion to be drawn therefore is that any addition to the area over and above the unaided working capacity of the family cannot raise the standard of one man without lowering that of another. The only solution lies in raising the fertility of the soil and the -efficiency of the work of the family. For in the whole graingrowing region of the country agriculture can only yield a bare living, and not furnish interest on capital.

A\'he:it sown in s t r i p s , (levatii K.\[>. St.

"Wheat following culHvate'l f;illow, <"!<-vaMi E x p. ?f.

89

Results of Experiments in Modern Farming*). The experimental period of three years (dairy farming three years, farms of other types one year; is hardly sufficient for conclusions to be drawn, even when the fields were normally good and the years were average. This is still more the case in years of drought and of mice plague. The period under consideration suffices, however, to indicate in a general way the difficulties inherent in the transition from grain to fodder growing and the methods best suited to overcome them. In the year 1928/29 new methods were first introduced on fields assigned for this purpose. The conclusions which can be drawn at the present stage refer only to the results of the use of various fertilisers, but not to the efficacy or otherwise of the new methods of cultivation employed. All the land used for experiments was, till the year 1926/27, "bur" (uncultivated). In this year, a portion was sown with barley, and yielded up to 500 kgs. per hectare. The rest of the land was sown with wheat, with a yield of 560 kgs. per hectare. In 1927/28, the whole area was sown with maize, the yield being 830 kgs. per hectare. In this account of the experimentation done by the Division, it is thus not intended to offer any definite conclusions, but only to summarise data for future investigation, and also to show that the use of modern implements does not in itself provide a solution of all outstanding problems, and that additional factors must be brought to the field. Only the fellah farm represents an economic unit in every respect, because his fields are worked according to his independent individual experience. The work on the other farms is done by means of hired labour. The aim is a mere comparison
) The detailed description will be published by the Division of Agronomy. 90

of returns since all the factors of production in modern farms have been specially studied on hundreds of actual farms (not experimental ones), the results of which have been published in a separate treatise. Fields A. & B.: Dry Farming and Green Manuring. These experiments were started in the years 1928/1929 and 1929/30, i. e. that in those years only preparatory work was done. Wheat follows in the next years, 1929/30 and 1930/31. Rotation. Each of those methods comprises three various rotations. See explanations, p. 80. The following Table gives the yield of cereal (in kgs. per hectare) preceding the fallow and green manuring, ns obtained in 1928/29.
W J]

e at

'Bar 1e y |

1 t S

Details of experiment Grain Straw Grain Straw Grain Straw 1. Phosphate and Nitrate (in one application) Nitrate in two applications 2. No fertilizer I'205 2'169 1-317 777 1'459 1 1-894 2-273 1-162 2-324 | 2-577 2<835 1697 4-260 i-238 1-330 869 2'429

The comparative experiments with fertilisers in the abovementioned fields were made not for their own sake, but only to discover the influence of fertilisers on different systems of cultivation. The land under oats was twice attacked by hot desert winds (Hamsin): the first time immediately after flowering, and the second time just before the ripening of the grain, in consequence the yield suffered from sun-burning and the grain itself shrank. The crops of wheat after green manure and dry farming for the year 1930 were annihilated by mice.
91

The results of the Division of Agronomy give the following yield of wheat, after green manure and after leguminous crops for grain, on an average for three years, in kilogrammes per hectare :
Fertilizer
After green After grain crops

Wh e a t Details of experiments

Fl a x

Feni grec

Grain Straw Grain Straw Grain Si raw Field C. Strips : 1. Phosphate and Nitrate 2. No fertilizer Field D. Ordinary sowing: 1. Phosphate and Nitrate 2. No fertilizer

1'591 3'661 691 1-612

540 6-543 377 1-773 |

766 181

1-609 1-196

None Phosphate Phosphate c S Nitrogen

l'030 1'862
l'84O

852 1'218 1-222

1'282 706

601 2-765 j 1-184 2-487 403 2059 341 888

The maximum yield of wheat was 2,256 1,450. The maximum yield of wheat in the dry farming experiments was for the same period of years as following: after cultivated fallow . . . 1,750 kgs. after sesame with fertilizer . 1,425 Fields C. & D.: Sowing in Strips Versus Ordinary Sowing. An area of 6 hectares is devoted to the study of these methods. The method of sowing in strips is characterised by the fact that all the crops which enter into the rotation are sown in spaced strips allowing cultivation between them. Rotation. Three different rotations are included. See explantations, p. 80. The experiments were started in the year 1928/29. Fertilizers. Half the area of each field was fertilized that year with Phosphate and Nitrate of Soda for comparative purposes. In future the entire field will be fertilized, as results of previous years show few prospects to increase yields without fertilizer. The following Table gives the yields obtained in 1928/29 (in kgs. per hectare).
92

The area worked by "cultivators" was sown in strips, each consisting of four rows with spaces of 14 cms. in between, and each strip being 65 cms. apart from the next. The amount of seed was 60 kgs. per hectare. Four cultivations were made during the period of growth, on 28/12/1928, 25/3/29, 7/4/29 and 3/5/29, immediately after each fall of rain, especially to destroy the weeds. The Arab 'cultivator" is of a small type and reaches to a depth of 5-6 cm. Field E.: Dairy Farming. Area. An area of 2 hectares is devoted to this purpose. The features of this type of farming are its special rotation and the use of organic manure. Rotation. The rotation is composed of fodder crops and of cereals in almost equal parts. The following fodder crops are sown : Clover, vetch hay, stock beets, pumpkins, maize for forage, maize for grain 1 hectare. Wheat and barley 1 hectare. The cereals and the fodder crops also alternate among them, so that each crop appears in the rotation on the same field once in four years only.
93

The area devoted to each of the various rotation crops is in proportion to the total area, admitting that 2 hectares are able to sustain 2 cow?. Some changes in regard to area are, however, made from time to time. Manure. Manure at the amount of 40-45 tons per hectare is applied every four years. Until now only old manure was used. The manure is applied before the fodder crops: clover, vetch, stock beets, pumpkins. In addition, fertilizers may be used every two years. In regard to methods of ploughing and sowing, this type of farming shows little or no difference against the other types of farming described. The main characteristic is (he summer ploughing. Immediately after the harvest of the crop, the soil is ploughed at a depth of 18-20 cm. In these experimental fields, ploughing is more shallow, as earlier experiments proved deep ploughing to be quite superfluous. Other treatments, like discing, rolling, harrowing are necessary for complete preparation of the seed bed. Sowing is as a rule performed before the rains. The forage crops are sown first, then follow barley and wheat. This order is sometimes necessary, as sudden rains may interfere with the sowing. It is of more importance for the forage crops to be sown early than for the cereals. The experiments started in the year 1926/27, when one fourth of the field, V2 hectare, was manured, and the various rotation crops were sown. It was discontinued for the year 1928/29, and retaken again in the following years. The following yields were recorded:

Yields of Fodder Crops (Green Fodder),


(in Tons per Hectare). Kinds of fodder
3 Yield obtained in an average dairy farm

1926/27

1928/29

1929'30

Remarks

Clover Vetch Pumpkins Maize Maize for grain Beets

30 25 25 10

1-2 40

41-4 19-5 7-7 16-7 1-26 23-6

12 0
16 6-4 5-2 1-27

40 16 3-9

') Due to delay in sowing

8-2

After sapling

Yields of Cereals on Various Crops,


(in Kgs. per Hectare). Rotation Crops (Kerab) Vetch Clover Beets Pumpkins Maize Maize for grain B a r l e y 192S/29 1'200 1070 780 i<050 975 775 1929/30 1-377 752 652 701 507 W h e a t 1928/29 935 797 422 914 990 719 1929/30 6*6 436 639 556 645 539

Crop yields in dairy farming do not themselves determine the amount of direct income but only determine it indirectly by fixing the yield in milk and offspring. The capacity of a unit area for supporting cows is directly dependent upon the amount of the crop. The yields indicated in the first table on this page, first column, are average figures obtained in dairy farms; where yields are as high as these, it is possible to keep one cow per hectare. The balance of revenue and expenditure from this type of farm is given in Chapter VII, table on page 99i and table 20, p. 109.

94

95

The lasting effect of the application of chemical and organic fertilisers extends over a considerable period of time, according to the findings of the Division of Agronomy. The results given here are not intended to be conclusive but to serve as a record of observations made.

96

Chapter Seven. MODERNISING THE FELLAH'S FARM. In the following chapter we shall set down only in general outline those graduated improvements which are feasible in the farm of the fellah. A detailed programme, together with precise demonstrative evidence, both economic and technical, will be the subject of a separate study based on an analysis of the various types of existing farms in the grain region of the country. The following scheme of improvements rests axiomatically upon two preliminary suppositions:
ITarvestin.ir with binder

A. That the fellah's farm remains during a specific transitory period in its prevailing form without important changes in his draught animals, implements, crop rotation, or his way of life. Its objective is increase of revenue without appreciable increase of the items of expenditure. B. The improvements proposed are principally of a biological and not technical nature, in origin domestic, rather than acquired by import. A farm still in the transitory stage cannot be burdened with massive machinery and buildings since they are then not a means of production but of luxury. The existing instruments of production must advance the farm to the desired standard by increasing the fertility of the soil, augmentation of yields, and increase of revenue, with the consequent raising of the standard of life.

First Transitory Stages in. Modernisation of a Primitive Farm.


ion The Heavy Crane. Up-to-date instruments of productintroduced in the modernisation of primitive farms in
97

the first transitory stage may be compared, in many instances, to the use of the heavy and costly crane to lift light and insignificant loads. The "crane" is the capital invested in the form of buildings, machinery and tools; the "load" is the net profit remaining for the support of the working family. In the absence of exact correspondence between crane and load, the balance of the farm is lost and it is doomed to constant failure. The capital investment in a consolidated diverse farm (of the German type) in Palestine amounts to 3,500. Its area is from 250300 dunams. Its chief source of revenue is from its milk production. In 1927, the time of investigation, when the farmer's price of milk was 2PT., the gross income was 410. Expenditure reached 310 including 110 cash for maintenance of the family, so that the profit was about100. Interest on capital and ground rent is not calculated. These are ail cash figures. 47 are spent on hired labour, low paid because of the low standard of life of the labourer. A ploughman receives 28 per year; a stable boy 10 per year. The daily wage is 8PT. If hired labour is to be paid at a rate affording a human standard of living 7 per monthly field labourer, 5 per monthly stable man and 17PT. for a daily labourer expenditure on this item will rise to 164 instead of 47 with the result that the net profit will disappear and the farmer-owner's standard of life be lowered. Increased intensification cannot bring about the desired salvation, because increased production by intensification is required to maintain the balance of profit of the dairy. The farm serving as illustration obtained 250 from dairy produce when milk was 2PT. per litre. When it drops to 1 PT., double the quantity must be produced with the same expenditure, with a corresponding increase when the price fluctuates from 1.3 to 1.5 PT.
98

The capital investment in a diversified farm based on own labour amounts to 1,200 excluding land, when completely equipped with all instruments of production. The value of the land, from 100 to 130 dunams, reaches 500. The average cash revenue from such farm is 260. Expenditure in cash 190, including about 80 on purchased commodities for the family. Depreciation swallows 21 total expenditure is 211. The family also consumes about 70 worth of the farm's products. The net profit therefore is 49. In a transitory stage, equipped with only some of the instruments of production, the farm's capital investment will be 700 without land or 1,200 with land. The worker will have 40 in cash for his support, and a net profit of 9. Interest on capital and ground-rent is not calculated. The following table illustrates the turnover of the three farm types discussed :
T o t a l Cash Expeni diture ! Supply j of t h e j household in Cas.li ! Types*) of Farm

Area

Invested Capital Equipment


i

F a r m produce re- ; quireil for the supp/y of t h e household

in dunam Land

CJ J ;

Total benefit : derived from the farm !

250 100 120 250 80-100

i'250

2-250 1'200 700 420 80

410 250 150 195 70

310 211 141 135 35

110 80 40 60 . 15

100 49
q -

70 70

280 199

B C D E

500 500
l'OOO

50-60
17 35

99-109
77 50

300

Two working members of the family are occupied in each of the above selected farms. If they were to hire themselves out at 7 per month they would earn 168 per annum under normal working hours, with no over-time, none of the worries of
*) A German farm, B = Small holding farm (full equipment), C= Small holding farm (transitional stage), D = Grain farm working with modern implements according to Arab crop rotation, E = Arab farm. 99

maintaining a farm, and without having to invest any capital. In farm A the farmer receives a surplus of 112 (42 in cash and 70 in produce) above the family's remuneration for labour. This difference is secured only because of the discrepancy between the two standards of life of the owner and his workers. In type B the farm brings in 199, that is, the farmer receives a surplus of 31 above the family's remuneration. In order, therefore, to obtain a surplus profit of 112 as in farm A, a capital investment of 3,500 is needed, and in order to secure only 31 above ordinary wages of hired labour 1,700 are required. This is the "expensive crane" which from a pure economic standpoint hoists but a small profit, chiefly providing the farmer with his independence. This is also the agricultural situation in developed countries as Switzerland, Holland and Denmark, for example. Prof. Larsen describing the farms of Denmark reports: "On the average for all farms with less than 10 hectares, more than 80 per cent of all work is done by the farmer himself and his family, and what he ought to know is, therefore, how his labour income corresponds with the income he could have had by working for others." "The average size for farms with less than 10 hectares is about 6 hectares. The total labour income per farm will then be 479X6=2,874 Danish kroner or 69 ore per calculated working hour. By comparing these figures with the normal wages for hired men in the same year it is found that the labour income on the average has been 10 per cent higher, and among the 10 years there were only two, namely 1921-22 and 1925-26, where the labour income was lower than the normal wages." *) ..."the farms have been able to pay the family remuneration
*) 0. H. Larsen, Organisation and Development of Investigations in Agricultural Economics and Farm Management in Denmark, 1927. 100

for labour performed when all other expenses ate paid and 5 per cent interest on the capital. On the average for all farms the labour earnings of the family amount to 69 kroner per hectare or about half the calculated normal remuneration. The labour earnings have been highest in the group of less than 10 hectares, amounting here to 1,436 kroner per farm and for farms of 50 hectares or more there have been no labour earnings but even a deficiency of 2,025 kroner per farm when 5 per cent interest is to be paid on the capital. In 1926-27 the labour earnings amounted to 1,634 kroner per farm for the small-holdings, 639 kroner for the medium-sized farms, and the deficiency for the large farms was 4,288 kroner. A comparison of the figures for the two years shows a considerable progress both for the large and the medium-sized farms while in the small-holdings the labour earnings have declined by about 200 kroner per farm. In 1927-28 the labour earnings for this group are 30 per cent below normal remuneration, corresponding to the amount which the family could have earned during the year if working for the same number of hours in other farms at the going wage. In 192627 the labour earnings were 25 per cent below normal remuneration for the same group of farms."*) The instruments of production themselves employed in each of the above types of farms are as links of a chain, each of which must be firmly welded, as otherwise the chain will break -at its weakest point. Pedigree cows and poultry not gradually home grown but imported are susceptible to ills unless kept in airy and costly buildings. Heavy ploughs can only be drawn by strong animals who require plenty of good food. One draught animal's food requires 20 dunam or one-fifth of the farm's estate.
*) Results of Danish Farm Accounts in the Accounting Year 1927-28. Bureau of Farm Management and Agricultural Economics, 21st Report, 4th October 1928. 101

Machinery requires proper sheds for protection and skilled workers to operate it. All this complicated mechanism calls for much attention and absorbs most of (he time of the workers. The question for consideration is this : is all this cumbersome machinery an indispensable necessity, or is it possible to obtain the returns quoted above with a simpler and cheaper medium? 1 he reply is that at a specific stage the "heavy crane" is essential, but during certain transitory periods it is superfluous and complicating; it becomes appropriate only when the biological factors of production which determine the revenue of the farm cannot be exercised without it. Biology and mechanics in agriculture. There are two forces operating in agriculturebiology and mechanics. The former embraces manure systems, modern crop rotation, improvement of seeds, improvement of domestic animals, control of diseases and pests. Mechanics embraces implements without which the biological forces cannot be operated such as ploughs for cultivating systems, implements for sowing, manuring and control of pests, or of such kind that are essential for gathering the fruits of labour as harvesting, threshing and transport machinery. The decisive force in the advancement of agriculture, in. increasing the fertility of the earth and the revenue from the farm was always the biological factor. At times this was due to the laboratory of the scientist and his experimental fields, from Liebig, Bussingault and Law up to the present day; at times it was due to the model farm of the practical man. The scientist requires mechanical aids but not the enormous ones of the fields. An ox and an ass yoked together to a nail plough can produce similar crops to those obtained with the heaviest tractor and plough. There are not more sheaves grown with a harvesting" machine than with a scythe, nor c'oes lie arro'-in of srrain in-

crease because a threshing machine instead of a board is used. A milking machine does not draw more milk from the udder than does the human milker. Selected seeds, and the quality cow do increase returns, and they are biological factors. Control ot disease and pests is possible only as-the result of extensive research in the nature of the disease and behaviour of the pests. The machine has not generally played the same role in agriculture as in industry. Only in isolated cases has it been a principal factor as in boring artesian wells, drainage and drying of swamps, in reclaiming the field for the farmer, but not within the sphere of his labour itself. Agriculture did not, as in industry, jump from stage to stage. It knows no astonishing novelties ; it has not invented aeroplanes nor discovered radio. In the organic world generally conquests are not made with the rapidity characteristic of the mechanical world. The function of the machine in agriculture and in particular regarding the single person's farm was more concerned with retrenching labour than increasing the land's fertility and the farm's revenue. It was more a product of sociology than pure economy, the result of social causes rather than governed by the soil itself. The machine was an essential factor of production in the large farm when wages rose and labour was short because of the drift to urban industry; it was likewise an essential production factor in the winning of wide stretches of virgin land in America and Australia. It can be indispensable as a saver of labour in a small farm when it reaches a high standard of intensification like that of the small farm in Denmark. There a farm of 7 hectares has a pair of draught animals, a series of ploughs, sowing machine, dynamo and huge buildings. The super-intensification in milk production, breeding of pigs and poultry, so occupies the farmer's family that he has but little time for field labour. The fast working machine is a stand-

by when he is pressed for time. He is obliged to use it even for a small area, exploiting it to the full, but also leaving it idle for long. In this case two motives are mixed the machine as a means of production is an economic necessity, and as a means of luxury is a psychological necessity. Means of Production and Means of Luxury. To those who believe implicitly that the machine in itself always increases the fertility of the soil, it is obviously always a means of production by its very nature. But those who regard the machine in most of its functions only as an aid to biology, find it also an impediment when it is a premature luxury, prior to the farm being able to bear it. It is this conflict which is especially revealed in the transitory stage from primitive to modern agriculture, bringing complications into the entire farm. The same implement may be a means of production and a means of luxury according to the extent of its use. The fast motor is a means of production if there is enough work to run it for economic purposes every day in the week. The ass, for example, cannot at its rate of speed execute the same amount of work. But if there is only enough work to run the motor a few hours and for the rest of the week it stands idle, its greater speed has only a luxury and not an economic value. Under such conditions there is nothing better than the ass with its natural slowness. The motor has ceased to be a factor of production and has become luxury. In a land of small farmers only the working family and not the hired hands determine the system of work. The size of the "living area" determines the essential rate of speed in orderto complete all the labour, with its rational distribution, according to the calendar of operation for each season throughout the year. That instrument which corresponds to such rate of speed and guarantees the proper standard of life is an instrument
104

irocil. yielding $00 lifirs [H.T yj;U'

C r o s s b r e d , . \ r a b ;nul Dufoli, 1st ^nnonif.inn, yielding UVIT -JfKif) lifers (jiwniyo fur flireo years)

Orosshrced, Beyrouth .'Hid Friesi.in (:Vi Kriesian Mood), nvoni^c yield for \-o;irs 2.935 liters.

. .Beyrouth ;nid ricsi;iii. avcni1.;!' yield for MIS 2.711 lit ITS. .

Crossbreed, Beyroatli find Friesinu (3A l^riesiau lilood), average yield for three years 3,517 liters.

of production; that which works at exceptional speed during a few days in the season and remains idle the rest of the time for lack of work, owing to the limits of the "living area," is a luxury. Psychological causes may make the latter instrument essential even when it is possible to perform the work it does with slower and simpler tools. It is possible, for example, that the Danish fanner cannot adapt himself to the tempo of the previous generation and has adopted modern speed even though it is not economic, because of its convenience alone. It is thus but an additional expense required by his standard of life such as other items fine clothes and boots, a roomy home, fine furniture, etc. In Denmark there is an expansive exhibition field on which there has been erected a veritable ancient village in all aspectshomes, farm buildings, yards, house utensils, tools and water supply. The primitive simplicity of an earlier age hovers around the visitor as he strolls through its paths. It is conceivable that with these ancient instruments of production, exhibited merely as a memory of early days, prevailing returns could be obtained by the fanner, if it were not for his desire for present day comfort. Noi the needs of production but the refinement of the habits of the producer caused the substitution for simple and plain tools of expensive, intricate and heavy machinery. Possibly this refinement has also affected the cows and pigs who, if not now maintained according to modern standards, would deteriorate. Possibly quality crops, those which withstand competition require special arrangements, involving additional investments and a large turnover. It is difficult to distinguish fundamentally in modern agriculture between what is vital and what is luxurious or convenient. At all events the "leverage" to obtain profits in all these cases is ponderous and intricate. In many developed countries agriculture has during the last
105

decade suffered more or less from serious crises. Under stress the Government assists the agriculturists in various ways, direct and indirect, by grants, long term loans at low interest, by maintaining scientific and economic institutions at its expense, the opening up of markets, protective tariffs, etc., thus relieving the individual farmer burdened with an excessive investment, and so balancing his deficits which have a purely economic origin. These deficits are partially the result of the discrepancies arising from the excess of investments for the convenience and comfort of the worker as compared with those essential for producing revenue. The purely economic law is decisive but in its place there come reasons of social policy which require the protection of agriculture as part of the life blood of the general social organism. The Swiss farmer burdened with a heavy capital investment but subsidised by the Government in various ways affords an illustration of these statements. The agricultural community absorbing from childhood the habits of its generation, its defects and virtues, cannot return to the siow primitive plough, for it is monotonous, discouraging initiative, and is out of accord with the rhythm of modern times and of modern thought. Driving a tractor is more harmonious and pleasant and even in cases where it does not increase the returns compared with the expense, it can serve as a means of encouragement and stimulus, and is a factor in production just as hours of rest, without which work would be impossible. It is not so in the case of the primitive cultivator who is oblivious to the rhythm of the time. If we endow him with various modern machines we commit a double error we do not increase his revenue nor do we bring him satisfaction from the new inventions. On the contrary we add mill-stones to his neck. The standards of the higher civilisation do not correspond to primitive wants. The man of culture misses his goal when he
106

takes the benefits he enjoys as a guide for the primitive .man. If you adorn the hut of the fellah with a Rembrandt painting you not only mar the picture but fail to give enjoyment to the fellah, who derives pleasure from mere coloured advertisments. It is necessary first to advance him gradually to such a state of culture that his aesthetic sense will appreciate the beauty and glory of fine art. In the same way do modern instruments introduced before their time operate. They are a burden to the farm and do not benefit the owner even as a means of comfort. The art of reforming the primitive farm is to determine exactly when the farm has graduated to the point when it can use modern machinery, and not to introduce it before then. It is the essence of the art to transfer the farm by gradual development from the easy to the difficult stage. The "crane" of which we have spoken must be an organic product of the land itself, growing naturally like the crops. It must be prepared for during the transition stage when the fellah's nature is still characterised by satisfaction with little for this characteristic is also susceptible of change. Until the needs of the fellah increase in accord with a cultured standard of life he will find the natural, domestic "crane" in the home-grown and not acquired stock, for its cost is but nominal, not having absorbed much expenditure. Those vehicles of labour produced gradually on the farm itself will never become excessive even when, as the farm develops, they serve not purely for production but also for convenience. The farm will in course of time exchange its primitive implements for modern ones and so change its form free of the above mentioned causes of conflict.

Improving the Fellah's Farm with his Present Instruments of Production.


Transition stages in Palestine's modern farm.The modern
farm was from a certain point of view born with a defectits
107

numerous requirements. It begins with large expenditures prior to its receipt of even small returns. Every modern farm in the country is handicapped at the start by an expense of 80 per annum. Half of this sum comprises communal expenses for security, education, organisation, and for such needs as concentrated foods, maintenance of machinery, chemical fertilizer. In every modern farm, in civilised countries, a large proportion of the farmer's instruments of production represent "accumulated capital," gathered during generations and transmitted from father to son just as the treasures of the home. Jewish colonisation in Palestine also does not provide the settler with a complete equipment, which costs about 1,200, but only with a partial equipment, costing 700. During a prolonged period of years the settler can, by his thrift and self-deprivation, acquire the complete equipment. His instruments of production will, therefore, be almost half composed of virtual accumulated capital. For the fellah the transition will be lightened, in particular if he continues for a certain time to utilise the common draught-animal and implements and not tractors or motors. The stages of progress in the development of a modern farm in this country from its foundation to the desired standard are expressed in tables 20 and 21 (pp. 109, 110). 7 rcinsition stages in the fellah's farm. The fellah's farm will be clear of most of the expenditure items enumerated above for a fairly long period. He can utilise the crops of his farm for his family's sustenance, such as wheat, milk, eggs, vegetables, to the same extent as the above mentioned modern farms without any necessity to resort to the "heavy" rather than the "light crane." His present implements will enable him to increase his cash proceeds by from 20 to 30 during the transition period. This is all it is necessary to find at first, for with it the fellah begins to approach a cultured standard of life, and the farm
108

T a b l e 20. Comparative Expenditure on Different Types of Farms (in ). Items


Smallholder's Farm (self-working) Smallholder's Farm (transitory stage)

German Farm

Fellah's Farm

Seeds Labour Feeding Manure Maintenance of Buildings Taxes Sundry Depreciation Colony Expenditure: Education Guard of Colony and Fields Administration General Exp. Sick Fund Pasture Bulls Fire Insurance Dues of Workers' Organisation Sundry Home Expenditure: Food and Sundry Clothes and Shoes 60 30 10 11 4 95 35 196 12 3-200 5-150) 10-250
-500;
i

47 59 6
10

50 10

50 4

20 12 046 10 21

6 2 10

4-500 0-300

10 500 7-250l 3-400' 1 4-500)


5501 I

10-250| 3-400 1-250 4-000i 550 l-800|

1-600

1-8001
32 29

1-6501 22

30 20 I Farm products 70 used for household 70 i 180

I 150 55
281

50

Total Expenditure

I 402

70-400

*) Usually old cows are replaced in this farm by part of (he young offspring the other part being sold and thus depreciation is reduced by 23.

109

T a b l e 21. Standard of Living on Farms in Transitory Stage in Different Settlements (in .). Items of Expenditure /. Food and Necessaries a. bought from outside Sugar Oil Cracked grains I egumes Potatoes Fruit and vegetables Sugar for jam Toilet soap Peirol Total for the month Total for the year Meat Clothing Nevvspaperj Miscellaneous Total bought from outside b. Derived from the Farm Wheat Milk Eggs Chicken Vegetables Grapes jam Total according \o market price Total food and necessaries //. Communal Expend. Sick fund Education Organisation taxes Miscellaneous Total Colony Exp. Tota> Expenditure 2-400 6 1-200 1
10-600 87-550 Prise of unit weight
mils

Farm A

Farm B

Farm C

65 180 70 80 30 70 25 150 1-500


840

-100 250 -170 -050 -120 -100


-030

22-080 2 8-1-700 1
33-200 34-780

-060 -120 1-000 12000 6 7-1-500 2-28-500

will of itself increase its receipts until it reaches the maximum development possible. This additional income does not call for any revolution in the farm. In various parts of the country there are certain fellah farms which produce greater returns, as is seen from type 2 table 14 page 56, and even in the Plain of Esdraelon with its exhausted soil greater returns can be obtained if the farm receives the necessary attention. The few selected farms from the lengthy list tables 9 and 11, page 42, 46 serve as striking examples. The question is how shall we make all the farms capable of earning the same income? The fellah's farm can be enhanced by the following reforms: 1. The increase of the fertility of the soil; 2. The increase of its present crops; and 3. Diversification. These factors can be brought into operation with small means without shaking the foundations of the farm in its present form, and without the growing complication of unmarketable fresh crops. /. Increase of the soil's fertility.For lack of organic manure the land has become poor in humus which is what increases fertility as well as water holding capacity, the decisive limiting factor as described in our introduction with special emphasis. Green manure can supply what is lacking if one fifth or one sixth of the farm's area is allocated for it. Partly it can be used for fodder; the green manure can be turned under by hand without changing the plough or by easily affixing to it a share. Wages cannot be calculated here for in any case there is no demand for hired labour, and hands in a village for whom there is no demand must inevitably remain idle. The Experimental Station will publish the results of its researches in the use of green manure together with the required instructions. 2. Increase of yields. There is no remedy in changing ihe existing system or substituting summer crops by new species
ill

10 6-750 30 15 4 8 100 5 - 4 10 2 1000 3 - 43-750

4-500 21 6 3-500 3 2 42 76-780

4-500 21 6-5* 3
2

41-500
70--

76-950

2 400 9-1-200

2-400 9 1-200

12-600 12 600 89-380 82-600 Number of family members: two adults and two children. Source of data: Special survey arranged by the author in about 200 farms.
110

or changing the prevailing time of sowing. The reasons are as follows :A change of rotation calls for fundamental changes in the whole structure of the farm, different draught animals and consequently the allocation of a special area for their feed instead, of cheap pasture and utilisation of the weeds around the field. Change of times of sowing means ploughing of brittle soil, which involves much expenditure which is not recoverable from yields, as well as oppressive labour. It requires a heavy plough which in turn needs a strong draught animal. Yet the light plough is in the transition period the most successful weapon in the hands of the fellah in his struggle for existence. It must not be substituted until the opportune moment arrives, because such an exchange would upset the whole balance and harmony of the holding. Summer ploughing of heavy soil is justified in certain cases only in a dairy farm which gives first place in the crop rotation to fodder crops such as clover and veiches. Ploughing of brittle soil is sometimes obligatory in order to advance the clover harvest or because-of a regulated distribution of labour in order to prolong the working season. In a small grain farm such oppressive ploughing has no economic justification whatsoever.. In overturning the stubble it deprives the cattle of their natural pasture, an important item in the economy of the fellah. Only a dairy farm based on stable feeding and grown fodder can afford todispense with the feed of the stubble and the remains of the harvest. The yields of the fellah can be increased without excessive manipulations simply by carefully preparing a good rotation crop, by use. of fertilizers and selected seeds. Preparation of good rotation crops. The fellah who prepares a good rotation crop by additional ploughing and weeding increases the yield of such crops as sesame and durra,. and in consequence also of the cereals which follow them in
112

rotation. The additional ploughings preserve the moisture of the soil, the determining factor in the life of all plants in semi-arid countries. The ploughings and weedings destroy the harmful weeds which cause a double evil, absorbing the moisture gathered with much effort in the soil and squeezing out the productive plants. The defects in the preparation of a good rotation crop are the result of a lack of good draught animals. The fellah may not exchange his oxen for a mule which requires for its feed an area of 15 to 20 dunams thus becoming in the present area unit a means of convenience perhaps, but not of production. The fellah requires a pair of strong oxen living on pasture. He has no need to expend money on them but must breed them at home by crossing the native cows with a bull of pedigree breed. Use of fertilizers. Commercial fertilizer operates successfully only when the land is cultivated properly, aerated and conserving moisture. When the plant is thirsty it cannot well benefit from the nourishment prepared for it in the ground. Our experiments have shown satisfactory results in particular with fodder and flax. By improving the rotation crop the moisture is well preserved and the weeds destroyed so that the nourishing elements are liberated to the benefit of the plants. Selected seeds withstand drought, disease and various pests. They increase the yield up to approximately 15% without supplementary improvements. The Experimental Station has obtained good results from its early experiments with seeds. The Government should provide at a fixed price selected seeds for each region in accordance with its climatic conditions. 3. Diversification. In most parts of the country the farm of the fellah is dependent on one culture and it is not surprising therefore that its existence is not certain. The farm can be diversified without burdening it with crops for which there is
113

no sure market, i he additional branches should be native pisntsiions and home produce of various kinds. Native plantations. A small area. 5 to 10 dunams, should be given over for irrigated or dry plantations according to local conditions,olives, figs, table grapes, or citrus where the soil is suitable. The Government has begun to work along these lines by laying out various nurseries. Domestic produce. Each farm grows vegetables for its own use and sells the surplus. But it is also possible to grow certain vegetables as cash crops like onions. Egypt exports great quantities of onions and there is no reason why the local fellah should not compete with it. Each fellah can also maintain two local cows and more poultry. Palestine imports semneh, and the fellah can find a market for his semneh and his sour milk (lebben), besides improving his own diet therewith. This also applies to poultry keeping. Egypt exports many eggs to the United Kingdom and there is no reason why the fellah should not compete with it. Improving productive und draught-animals. It will be necessary to introduce into every village pure bred bulls for crossing with local cows. The results of such crossing in the modern farms of the country are astonishing. The offspring of a native cow and Dutch bull produces after its first calf 2,500 litres of milk per annum in place of 700 litres, the production of its dam. The fellah requires for this farm a pure bred bull able to produce both a series of working oxen and cows noted for milk and meat. The Agricultural Department of the Government at its Stud Farm at Acre has secured satisfactory results from Devon buils. The maintenance of the herds can remain for the most part as at present with the addition of a few supplementary improvements, for the herds will not radically change their mode of life. They will continue to live
114

in the usual shelters. A small ares next to the iirmyzrd is ill ihzi nzzd be sown tor foddz' which can serve as an zddkionil feed. Greater comfort for man and beast will come with the opening up of markets for the new crops and the forward move of the farm as it develops of its own accord. Improving the poultry. This is possible in two ways: by crossing the local hens with Leghorns or Rhode Island Reds or by pure selection. The local hen withstands pests better than the imported, and it is also a good layer. Its manner of living need not be essentially changed either as regards feed or barn. Such alterations immediately increase expenditure and this branch is still too weak to bear the burden of modern investments. There are two types of farms which both form an organic unity being harmonious in their organisation and balancing their income and expenditure: the low-grade farm, like the fellah's, and the high-grade farm, like the high-class dairy farm in this country which is comparable to that of the Danish farmer. The first lives by its very limitations, the poorness of its income and the absence of expenditure; the second by the creative power of the worker who compels the soil to render high yields and who bases his farm on diversified branches. Looked at from a narrow economic point of view both forms justify themselves in so far as both balance. From a humanitarian point of view the. first should be rejected, for it compels the worker to live below the poverty level. From the point of view of national economy it may be said that the primitive farm exists not on any positive qualities inherent in it, but upon the negative aspect of the country's economy. With any development of industry, the fellah will leave his land and go into the town, the village will be emptied and the land deserted. With the opening of the gates to America or to any other
115

Table

22.

country which promises better conditions of livelihood, there will without doubt be a large emigration from the country. The abandonment of primitive farming is imperative not only for the new settler coming with a high standard of living from Europe, but also for the fellah. The aim of both is the same; the difference is only in the rate of speed at which it is to be attained, and the difficulty is in finding a suitable path of transition. Transition farms include both non-rational and rational types. The former are those which are burdened w.th the heavy machinery of tne modern farm while yet retaining he usual cropping system of the farm of the fellah. These the author calls semi-modern farms" - modern in expenditure and primitive in revenue, or spending like farmers and earning like fellaheen. Good transition farms are those which cnange the whole system of farming by converting grains into milk and eggs. . Illustrations are numerous and will be brought in a special study The income and expenditure specified in Tables 22 and 23, (pp '117-119) may serve as an example. On the border of the fellah's farms described in Tables 8, 9 (pp. 41-42) and 10, 11 (pp 45-46) there was a grain-growing farm of 800-,,000 dunams using modern implements. In comparing the respective figures of income and of field returns it will be seen that the latter farm is in neither respect superior to the former. Modernising the Fellah's Farm in accord with Geographical Distribution of Farming Systems. Village lands can be schematically divided into the following divisions: - (1) the lands lying along the borders of the sands and of the heavy soil; (2) the lands lying in the plain, irrigable and non-irrigable; (3) The lands in the plain bordering the foot-hills; and (4) the valleys. (See map facing p. 120).
116

Areas, Seeds and Yields in Tei-Adass, 1916-1919.


1916-1917 1917-1918 1918-1919 Yields per Ha
OO

in Kilograms

Grain crops Wheat Barley Oats Horse beans Lenlils Chick peas Peas Durra Maize Fodder (green) crops Barley Fenugrec Oats Vetches Na'amni Maize Sesame Fallow Total 93 8
3-0 0-0

31-8! 26746 24-1 19235 34-2 22450 I 23-41 29846 14-0 12604 11-5 12827 2-7 6-9J 3075 6-9 2-51 1875 2-1
10-3

I | 1275| 900j 1115


1247 446) 526
i

841

798J 656

3367 3627 4-2 2632


i

626 551

560 2-4! 1324 7187


3-7

750| 267

3388 10-9

2307

329| 659| 404 420

l'O! 420 12-6 1-8 562 9-7 85 0-5 8593 647 45 886

47! 1294!

846 } 3-0i
waggon

\\ 282

105

= I/35
836| wag. 33 wag.

418 0-9 325


14-4

30
waggon 3-0 108

89-6 117

65-0

T a b

1 e 23.

Cash Income and Expenditure and Net


N

Farm Income at Tel-Adass 19161919 in L.E.


E X P E N D I 1916 - 17
L.E.

0
L.E.

M
1917 - 18
L.E.

U R E 1917 - 18
L.E.

Items
1. Field crops 2. Vegetables 3. Dairy: Milk Calves 4. Poultry : Eggs Poultry 5. Outside-Work 6. Sundry

1916-17

1 9 1 8 - 19
L.E.

items

1 9 1 8 - 19
L.E.

487-916 22-998 34-171 8-800 1-772 1-548 13639 9-200

467-910 59-467 47-542 11-036 2-726 -762 78-088

676-898 99-804

1. Field crops: Seed Insurance 80-276 82-273 162-549 113-800 6-242 60-484 11-960192-486 153'596 4-505 80-198 77-220 36'040 352-359

5-390 3-288 3-507 25-911

Threshing Tithe Sundry 2. Vegetables: Seed Manure and Sundry

4-143 4-143

11-663 3-210 14-873

9-772 16-858 26-630

Total Area in hectares No. of cows No. of heifers Young stock Poultry Net farm income per hectare Net farm income per feddan (150 dunams) Price of wheat per ton

580-044

667-531

814-798
65-0

3. Dairy: Oil Cakes Pasture -102 7-120 2-342 9-564 3-918 48-804 228-978 351-066 580-044 -041 2 308 2-349 -334 12-623 93.687 316-352 351-179 667-531 -883 2-703 208-597 591-172 223-636 814-808

93-8 5 2 4 50 3-701 4 59 3830

Bull and Sundry 4. Poultry


75 3-440

5. Working Animals 6. General Expenses Total Net Farm Income Total

50-334 16- -

52-088 16- ~

46-784 23-542

Figures showing income from field crops after deduction of quantities for the supply of working and dairy animals and poultry.

118

119

1. Sandy soil bordering heavy soil. In a parallel line -with

the coast there stretches with alternations a strip of sandy soil at the side of heavy soil from Caesarea to Gaza. On the road from Ramleh to Jaffa there are visible to the eye the boundaries where the two types of land meet The villages of Yazour and Safriyeh can serve as illustrations. The passer by finds from year to year the same meagre crops on this fine plain. All the land is fit for irrigation but owing to a lack of safe markets for crops suitable for heavy soil we must be satisfied, as a temporary measure, with irrigating only the light soil. Every fellah can plant 5 dunams orchard, using the heavy soil for the present for un-irrigated crops. If our proposed reforms are carried out he will extract from his 50 dunams more than he now obtains from 100 dunams. 2. The heavy soil in the coastal region. This land can be divided into three types:--that which is entirely irrigated, that which is partially irrigated, and that which is not irrigated. To the first type belongs the land belonging to the villages of Beit-Dajan and Safriyeh on the eastern side of the railway, an expansive plain, heavy soil, physically good but exhausted, and producing poor crops. The fellaheen plant orange groves even on this heavy soil. While it is clear that the returns will not equal those from a grove on its natural soil, the smaller results will be much greater than from any other irrigated cultures, even though the grove is not as long lived as that in its natural soil, and requires additional working days for its cultivation. We are not referring to the capitalistic plantation which thrives on the surplus remaining after wages have been paid. This will be a small farm which entirely depends on the number of working hands in the family and not the number of hours they work, for the market for hired labour is very limited and a working family will be able itself to devote the necessary
120

niw^&$life\^
/UGGEJTED GEOGRAPHICAL DI/TR1BUTION OF FAR.MING 5Y5TEMS PALESTINE.

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attention for an orchard even in heavy soil. In this section it is also possible to plant an orchard on 5 dunams, vegetables on 5 dunams such as onions which have, a market, and a little fodder. It must be emphasized that over-modernisation will also complicate this farm by the excessive investments. There is no need for costly water installations; there is no need to exchange the method of drawing water by means of the blind mule's or camel's circumambulations for that by electricity. The water drawn by the mule moistens the soil just the same as that drawn by electricity or oil pumps, and extracts in quantity and quality no less fruit from the tree. An orange grove of 50 dunams needs the rate of speed of electricity, but such rate is superfluous for irrigating a plot of 5 dunams. In such case the electric force is not a means of production in the field of the fellah, just as the substitution of his oil lamp in the home by an electric lamp will not be considered productive. Manuring, adequate irrigation, pruning the dry branches, selection of buds, the control of pests and diseases, all these biological factors are the sole means of production. The comfort of electricity will be enjoyed in the field and in the home only when the farm profitably supports itself. For the land in the plain which is not irrigated there is no other solution than the increase of yields and of revenue by means of the plan detailed above. The increase of the area unit in comparison with irrigated soil will provide what is lacking in the present standard of life. The unit for modern farms has been fixed at 100 dunams on unirrigated soil, and 25-30 dunams on heavy irrigated soil. The fellah's farm can secure the same net profit as the modern farm, for not having the extra expenditures with which the modern farm is burdened he has no need to secure the same gross returns. 3. Land in the Shephela near the hills, Alongside the foot121

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hills the low-lying land and the valleys stretch in a parallel line with the coast. The plantations can be set on the hill sides. The cool climate and the water holding capacity natural to mountain soil together with its percolating quality make the hilly region suitable for many kinds of plantations. Labour will be distributed in a regular order according to the seasons of the year, for the season of work for heavy soil is shorter than for the hilly lands, and the otherwise idle days in the rain season are fully exploited. The hilly lands can be divided into plots of from 5 to 10 dunams of olives, carobs, figs and grapes. Special attention should be given to the culture of carobs because of the extraordinary value of their fruit as cattle feed for both the dairy and draught animals, and because their bearing stage begins much earlier than olives. The plain land will serve for cereals in accord with our proposed reforms. 4. The valleys. This type includes the valley of Beisan and for this region a necessary transition stage must be fixed. By means of research and experiment, cultures must be found which flourish in irrigated heavy soil and are marketable. In this short transition period there is no need to exploit all the irrigation possibilities. It is better that the waters should flow into the sea than that produce should flood the market and be thrown away for lack of buyers. The present rotation of crops will also continue here until experiments produce results which justify a change. By means of partial irrigation we protect the usual field crops of this region against drought. Specific sections can be allotted for bananas, table olives and mulberry for silk. The area unit for soil of this type is fixed in a complete modern farm at 25 dunams. If we take into consideration that not all the water will be exploited during the transition period for intensive cultivation, we shall attain returns securing a desirable standard of life with another similar area in reserve.
122

T a b l e

24.

Density of Population in Palestine according to Districts; (Government Census of 1922).


ber illages

1
Area Number of souls
:>>
-

Districts

> in dunams 2 "o 1

c ,_

Q 24867 4248 20787 11036 12419 2838 21837 9785 28694 26901 17955 890 17605 24148 17615 54615 36994 40748 72898 28963 1934 8738 13771 14029 514315 242867 757182
i

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I Acre mountain Acre plain Haifa mountain Haifa plain Nazareih mountain Nazareth plain Tulkarem mountain Tulkarem plain Jerusalem mountain Ramallah Bethlehem Jericho Jaffa Ramleh mountain Ramleh plain Gaza Hebron Nablus Beersheba Jenin mountain Jenin plain Beisan Tiberias Safed Total Towns Grand Total
1) After deducting 280,000 dunams desert or 100 souls per km 2 remain. 2) After deducting 622,6C0 dtinams desert or 23 souls per km' remain. 3) After d e d u c t i n g 468,800 d u n a m s d e s e r t or 37 s o u l s p e r k m ' r e m a i n . <) After d e d u c t i n g 1,371,400 d u n a m s d e s e r t or 30 s o u l s p e r k m ' r e m a i n .

43 544188 7 136412 54 652395 24 460522 26 | 316301 8 i 229629 39 340108 13 392657 65 352000 59 354000 9 4600001) 3 654000 30 412000 52 360000 20 377000 63 1280000 35 22350002) 91 15740003) 12500000 67 689400 6 144600 30 377000 37 428000 41 754000 822 18
i

22.04 32.26 31.38 24 41.73 39 25.47 12 81.20 64 1 15.58 25 40.13 81 12.27 76 13.16 39i) 25.821) 1 734.90 43 23.40 67 14.91 47 21.40 43 23.44 17 2> 60.42 2> 26 3 )l 38.633) 6 | 171.50 42 23.79 13 74.77 23 43.14 32 31.08 19 53.75
31 j 32 j

46

26023212 410000 26433212")

20 1722 | 29*) 1

50.60 0.58 34.55^)

land 180,000 dunanis, or 10.02 dunarn per head land 1,612,400 dunams, or 43.50 dunam per head,

l a n d 1,105,200 d u n a n i s , or 27.10 d u n a m p e r Iiead land 25,061,812 d u n a m s , or 33.10 d u n a m p e r h e a d ,

S o u r c e of d a t a : D r . J . T h o n , T h e Land P r o b l e m . " H a p o e i H a z a i r " , N o . 30 (41) 1930-

123

The Sums Required for the Improvement of the Fellah's Farm.


The improvement is of'two kinds: such-as is apt to come due to inner growth and such as require special sums of money. Betterment due to inner growth. - The improvement of kerabs, improvement of seeds and the arrangement of a plantation near the village do not involve large sums. All the fellaheen are to partake in the raising of the money for purchase of bulls for joint use. The sum to be paid by the individual will not be high. There is no need of burdening anyone with any purchasing expenses; for with the natural growth the fellah will get the strong bulls and the. improved cows. ]a like manner the fellah should not arrange any tree-nurseries. The Government is to provide him with sapiings at low cost, the payment thus being not burdensome. Improvements involving investments. - Under this heading come several things. First of all the irrigation is to be attended to. Small repairs are to be made in the buildings on the plot. There is to be applied also a rational green manure on onefifth of the field, so that within five years there may be one crop lost; but it is to be expected that this loss will be made up wholly or partially by the increase of yields. These technical improvements cannot be made possible without credit facilities at a low interest-rate. The fellah, however, deeply in debt, will find this kind of credit of no avail, as long as he is not freed from this burden; for the value of his farm and all-its income as a basis of credit will not allow an amount to be lent to him high enough to bring about the desired effect. Only when the fellah will be clean of his debts will he be in a position to make use of this credit for additional improvements and working capital.
124

Old enroll free on rocky "Touiul (B.ib-el-TVmi)

Carob planted on rocky ground, (Ben RUemen 1913)

l\<vky ground I Wo re ^laiiniig (Kiryatu Auavim)

A passing observer, seeing the soil with its scanty yields and the worker in his low estate, would be apt to judge harshly of the nature of both. But he would be mistaken, for great powers are latent in both, and merely await the touch of a devoted hand to draw them forth. The existing situation is a heritage of very old standing, whose destructive effects cannot be done away with in the twinkling of an eye. For long generations everything was taken from the tiller of the soil, and nothing given him in return. And he, having no alternative, paid out the soil in the same coin, always taking from it and never giving. So, there was a twofold robbery of the cultivator and the soil both. Almost the whole financial burden of his country was imposed upon the peasant for many ages. The tithe and the other taxes in themselves were enough to break his back; and yet they were as nothing as compared with their concomitants, the tax-gatherers and other agents of the rulers, who placed the peasant at the mercy of the usurers and the speculators who pretended to be saviors in his time of distress. In order to free himself from these latter, he was compelled to sell his produce at-low prices and to buy it back again for his household needs and: for sowing his fields at double and fourfold prices. He descended lower than the beast of-burden, whose instinct impels it to rebel when it is too poorly .fed. But, because he- being human, his reasoning powers impelled him to accept a yoke so heavy- that he'could'" not even attempt to-rebel.. Everything for him was as a-heavenly decree: the iniquity of his-rulers and the oppression of their agents, even at third and fourth - hand. L Even when he looks up from his depths to the- heights,
125

Young orchard on torrnced rooky ground (TCiryath lnavim)

the fellah sees only poverty. The ancient Hebrew, for example, called the Milky Way the "River of Fire." But the fellah speaks of it as the "Tarik-el-tebbene" ("Way of Tibn"). Poverty-symbols dominate not only his daily live, but his imagination as well. The fellah has been reduced to a bare crust not by his primitive mode of cultivation, but by the prevailing social system and the misrule of the Turkish government and its predecessors. The fellah's primitive wisdom, which is enshrined in many folksayings about all sides of farming, would suffice him for extracting enough bread from his soil (though with little to spare), even if he used only his present implements. But he has lacked all freedom of movement and freedom of choice. The law has not protected him. The first measures for improving his lot should be taken through protective legislation and agricultural credits. If this is done, his standard of living will rise even if he retains his present implements. But if not, there can be no betterment or modernisation for him ; all increases of income will slip through his fingers. The modernisation of agriculture requires not only agrarian reforms, as an undispensable requisite, but the creation of preliminary conditions for the introduction of technical improvements. The creation of these preliminary conditions is necessarily a Government function, being beyond the powers of the individual or even of private organizations. If, for example, cattle plague is a constant visitor to a country (as in Palestine under the Turkish rule), there is no use in improving the breeds; or a locust invasion which, if it come only once in 15 years, destroys all the fruits of the farmer's labours in a few weeks, the increase oi yields is of only limited benefit. When insects and plant diseases destroy his fruits, no improvement of varieties will be of any avail. The preventive measures to be taken against these evils lie in the two provinces of research and administration. Many valuable beginnings have been made from the administrative
126

side by the Department of Agriculture of the Palestine Government. It suffices to recall that the cattle plague has been wiped out, and the locust invasions of the last two years successfully combatted; that the Government has a well planned organization for the control of contagious animal diseases and pests and for the inspection of fruit. In the course of time it has provided good means of communication without which the modernisation of agriculture is unthinkable. When introducing technical improvements, a clear distinction must be drawn between the transitional phase and the final aim. During a transition period, nothing more can be done than to carry on farming in the grain belt within the limits of selfsufficiency, with a very slight surplus for the market; but, at the same time, we must keep in mind the ultimate aim, namely: that there must be the same standard for the villager as for the skilled worker of the city, and the former must not be expected to be content with little. Unless their standards are equalized, nothing will bar the rush from the village to the city. Therefore, with the increase in the needs of the tiller of the soil, the raising of cash crops becomes an imperative necessity. The strengthening of the farm in the heavy soil zone depends not only upon money crops, but also upon the diversity of its crops. Only the orange can bear the burden of the national economy alone, because,, owing to its monopoly, its supporting capacity is very great. In other zones, the farm is apt to take on various forms: either single branches such as dairying, poultry-raising and certain types of plantations, or a "mosaic structure" put together of a little bit of this and a little bit of that. One district might specialize in vinegrowing, a second in dairying, a third in almond plantations, and a fourth in tobacco. These products may be a negligible quantity in the market, and yet, taken all" together, they form a respectable
127

source of livelihood. The present type of grain farm, with its single crop, can by no means support close settlement with a decent standard of living. When we speak of cash crops, we always have the world markets in mind. It is in great industrial countries that agriculture can maintain itself on the inner market, but even then needs the help of the protective tariff. The products of backward countries cannot hold their own against competing superior goods. Not even in their local markets can they maintain themselves except upon their producer's capacity for suffering. But the cultivator's needs increase whether crops do or not, and even they are not secure without a tariff wall. The path of transition is lined with sharply conflicting factors. The transition period may be compared with a bridge, which must under all circumstances be shock-proof. Farming can be protected from shocks by guaranty-prices for field crops, so that they will not be hit hard by the fluctuating prices of the foreign imports. On the other hand, protective tariffs are a two-edged sword. There are in backward countries no strong shoulders to bear, the burden, neither in the cities nor on the land. And there can be no certainty that the benefits will accrue to the worker and not to the money-lender and the speculator. Backward countries are like a runner who comes to the races just a little bit late, and so has no chance against rivals with no greater skill than his own. Because of that slight delay a certain distance will always be maintained between them. And, in order to overcome the handicap, he will need good additional equipment. In agriculture, the means for overcoming handicaps are in the nature of research and extension institutes, organization, and financial agencies. In ten years science and organization can attain results not secured during centuries of adhering to old traditions.
128

THE

HEBREW

UNIVERSITY

OF

JERUSALEM

Faculty of Agricultural, Food and, Environmental Quality Sciences Department of Field Crops, Vegetables and Genetics

\
P.O.Box 12, Rehovot 76100 ISRAEL Fax:972-8-9468265 Tel: 972-8-9481251 76100 JlUim ,12 .7.11

Heap of durra Sieving gram . TJie feilaii coming to work Sowing sesame with a tunnel Wheat field without fertilizer , W h e a t .field fertilized F e l l a h w h e a t field a t G e v a t h . . . . -. . . W h e a t field following g r e e n m a n u r e S o w i n g in s t r i p s C u l t i v a t e d fallow . . . . . . . . . . . . Modernising, agriculture Harvesting with binder . . T h r e s h i n g witii n i a c h i n e Gaulan breed cow Crossbred cow, Arab and Dutch Crossbred cow, Arab and Dutch ... . . . Crossbred cow, B e y r o u t h and Friesian ... . Crossbred cow, Beyrouth and Fnesian . . . . Crossbred cow, Beyrouth and Friesian . . . . P a s t u r i n g s h e e p on t h e hiils of B e n S h e m e n . C a r o b . g r o v e on t h e hiils of B e n S h e i n e n . . S u g g e s t e d g e o g r a p h i c a l i d i s t r i b u t i o n of t h e f a r m i n g s y s t e m s in P a l e s t i n e . . - . . . C o m p a r a t i v e v a l u e s of p r i n c i p a l c r o p i'": r e t u r n s in P a l e s t i n e . , . . . , , . . Did c a r o b t r e e on r o c k y g r o u n d . . , . . C a r o b p l a n t e d on rocky g r o u n d . . . . , . Ko'Jky g r o u n d before p l a n t i n g . . . . . . . Y o u n y o r c h a r d ou t e r r a c e d r o c k v g r o u n d . .

7i> 73 S'2 .32 83 S3 . SS : 8839 S9 9l> . 97 97 104 104 -. 1 0 4 . 105105105. 112 , 113 . 120 121. . 124 .124 125 , 125-

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XII

1 i

THE FELLAH'S FARM


' '.
,:::' " ;;/ ... , ' . . .

For the land whither thou goest in to possess, it is not as the land'of. Egypt from whence ye:came out, where thou sowedst thy- seed' and: wateredst
it w i t h t h y . ' f o o t , ' a s a. g a r d e n o f h e r b s . a land .of hills and valley, and drinketh the rain of heaven. "A land which the Lord thy God careth for; the eyes of the Lord thy G o d are always upon-it ' ; water of B u t . t h e l a n d w h i t h e r y e g o t o p o s s e s s it i s

' .

from the beginning oi the year even unto the end


of the year, . . , -

. ' - . . .

...

[Deut. XI, 10-12] -

Water ^rheel ("Sakiu")

Chapter

One.

WAITING FOR THE RAIN. The ancient Hebrews used to divide the year into two definite periods the season of the rain and the season of the sun. This division corresponds to the character of the country, which has no transition periods of any length, like spring and autumn in other countries. From the middle.';of- Cheshvan (October)-to the middle o r N i s a n (April); rain.:falls:, at intervalsfor .about- forty, or-fifty., days, and' to .'an' amount; of: from five hundred- to six : hundred.millimetres. For seven months dhe.couptry Ms ; dry-without-a' drop of-: rain,-.and " the., .sun-, reigns^ supreme: '.In ' t h e 'Jordan Valley-the- rainy- days'.are- fewer,:the: rainfall less,: and the" days of hot. sunshine, more numerous.' In the.Negeb the rainfall only amounts, to, from two; to.three hundred millimetres; andeven this-is not regular every year. Years of drought in that district are-nothing unusual..

Prayers for rain. The rains themselves are divided into falls first, second and third. The Hebrew word for this "rebiah" itself symbolises the fructification of the earth when it comes into contact with the rain. In the days of Herod so we are told rain used to come down in the night, then in the morning the wind blew, the clouds scattered, the sun came out and the earth dried. In the good days, according to the Talmud, the rain used to come on Wednesday and Saturday. The rain used to come down in the night, and the next day the wind would blow, the clouds scattered and the sun came out, and everyone arose to his work, thus showing that fhev were doing the work of Heaven. The Rabbis say that since the day of the destruction of the Temple the rains have not come down from the "good storehouse." In ancient times fasts were decreeded on account of the delay of the rainfall. If the seventeenth of Marcheshvan (November) arrived and rain had not yet fallen, the students of the Beth-Hamidrash alone used to fast Monday, Thursday, and Monday. If the New Moon of Kislev (December) arrived and rain had not yet fallen, the Beth-Din ordered the whole community to fast three days, Monday, Thursday and Monday. If these went by and there was still no answer, tne Beth-Din ordered three more fasts, Monday, Thursday and Monday. During the whole time of these three fasts they were forbidden to do work by day, to do more business than was absolutely necessary, to build or to plant, and to give greetings to one another; they were to be like men who were in disgrace with the Almighty. If Nisan (April) came and the sun reached the beginning of the constellation of the Ox, they did not fast any more, because rain at that season was nothing but a curse, seeing that it had not come down since the beginning of the year. On each day of the seven last fasts, following service of prayer used to be observed. The Ark was brought out into the

ii

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Chapter

Two.

SEASONS OF AGRICULTURAL WORK. The festivals of Israel are fixed for the most part according to the seasons of agricultural labour: the counting of the Omer from the feast of Passover, the feast of first fruits, and the feast of in-gathering. Now as of old the work of the threshing floor finishes in the farm of the Fellah at the end of Tishri (October), From harvest time to in-gathering man and beast pass from the confinement of the clay hut to the unconl'ined threshing-floor under the open sky. That is then where life throbs both by day and night. The harvest passes, the summer ends, the threshing finishes, and the threshing floor is emptied of living creatures and the last remnants of produce. Then commences the great work of household renovation, the women, taking command. It is they who gather dry grass in the fields and bring it home on their shoulders, who mix mud for mortar and crush to powder the animal dung when it has been dried. A mixture of these materials with stubble serves for plastering the roofs and the wails. Under the diligent hands of the women the walls are clothed with new coats of plaster. The low coneshaped straw-stacks are renovated with a new coat of moist plaster. The men after the hard work of the threshing-floor now sit with their hands folded and chat idly, raising the while their eyes to heaven- appeaiingly; for without the early rain thehusbandman cannot go out to his work in the field. The first rain. The first early rain which deserves the name moistens the soil to a depth of about 20 mms. It is oniy
16 First ploughing

ileiniiug the plough

r
of the heap, and eat during the periods of rest. During the first and last threshing a muzzle is put on their mouths. The precept "thou shalt not muzzle an ox in his threshing" is not observed. In the days of the Turks it was customary to divide the produce into eight heaps in the shape of bricklings, at the threshing place, and occasionally in the field. One of the eight heaps was for the taxgatherer of the Osher Tax. The Government took its portion in kind, and farmed out the Osher by public auction. The taxgatherer used to pitch his tent, which was ornamented with bright-coloured curtains by the side of the threshing floor. The luxury of this tent was in glaring contrast with the poverty of the environment. Its watchers had their eyes on all sides of the threshing-floor to see that the produce was not tampered with. The produce that was threshed in the day was sealed up at night in wooden presses which left their shape on the heaps of grain. Every touch altered the shape and revealed the offence. The present Government had arranged after the occupation to receive the Osher tax in money. It sent assessors to value the crops, and the owner of the produce paid according to the valuation, in instalments. If the village could not come to an agreement with the assessors, they divided the harvest on some threshing-floors into ten heaps, from which the assessor choosed one. They then threshed this one and used this as a standard for fixing the amount of produce. According to some, the valuation was usually too high in the case of leguminous plants and too low for cereals, sesame and durra. Recently the estimation of the Osher was rectified and it is now based on the average yield of the four preceding years. One tenth of the entire yield is taken and imposed on the village as a whole; in the village a special committee is formed levying 40 to 70 mils per dunam, according to the types of the soil.
24

Harvest of wheat

Loading

Feeding stubbles

The threshing. The first operation in connection with the threshing-floor is the scattering and breaking up of the compact "suriboth." This is done as a rule by men working in pairs to the accompaniment of the song "El Allah", and it is over by the beginning of the hot time of the day, the time for threshing. All the draught animals, the ox, the ass and the cow, go up to tread the produce which is heaped up on the threshing-floor. When the produce lias been sufficiently trodden the camel is added to the "choir". The threshing-board is a wooden board in which are fixed spikes of stone or iron. To it are yoked pairs of oxen, or mixed spans of an ox. an ass and a camel together. A little boy looks after the threshing-board, and in the heat of the day goes round and round with his animals. The dry. stubble is crushed under the threshine-board and the produce is separated into straw, short crushed stubble and grain. The father Fellah stands by, turning and clearing the threshing-floor until the day cools and the shadows of evening lengthen. Then the animals also are liberated. The child takes them to the well to water them, brings them back to the threshing-floor, and ties them to mangers full of tibn which have been prepared for them. Meanwhile the Fellah makes his preparation for the next day, turning over the threshed produce from top to bottom, and arranging it afresh for threshing. This work goes on for some days until the "ksaria" (first threshing) is finished and there are no stalks left in the threshed produce (wtarcha", in Hebrew "medusha"). The Fellah then lifts up the "tarcha" and arranges it in a close heap facing east and west, and prepares to separate the straw from the wheat. He winnows when there is a wind blowing and commences with the first morning breezes. When he has finished winnowing the heap he scatters it again over the "tarcha", and commences to thresh "tnai." In the "tnai" threshing the Fellah does not use the threshing-board, as it
25

the produce that has been threshed, the corn falling by its weight in columns while the chaff flies away. The women beat with sticks and small hammers the remnants of the stalks which have escaped the threshing-board and the hoofs of the animals, and shake the sieves. From the time of Ruth up to this day there has scarcely been any change, neither in the methods of operation nor in its notions.

First tln-cslnn.H1 with animals

28

Threshing with the threshing board

cases, if it is properly prepared, be a better kerab than chickpeas, for instance, which gather nitrogen. As already stated, wheat of the and farm. barley are the principal, of kerabs sources of the income In the choice

preference has al.vays to be given to those which create the best conditions for the development of these plants. A distinction must be made between kerabs for summer plants, kerabs for half-summer plants, and kerabs for winter plants. /. Summer kerabs. In the front rank stands sesame, which, practically has no equal. Its time of sowing is late; it should not be sown till the rainy period has entirely passed because then the soil in which it is sown cannot form a hard crust and become closed to the air and the dew. The ground is prepared for it with particular care. It is broken up in such a way as to become loose and open to the air, while being well drenchedwith rain water in its lower layers. The mulch of the broken, and loosened crust protects the rain water which is stored in the ground from evaporation. The nitrification is powerful and intensive. The roots are strong and .piercing like a spit; they draw their sustenance from the lower layers, they do not exhaust the surface layer, and they prepare a path for the wheat which is to come after them. The constant hoeing required by; sesame loosens the ground still more and preserves its moisture. The constant weeding also destroys the weed which are-? left after the winter ploughings. The destruction of weeds, as" has been mentioned, is an essential condition for the success of the wheat, which comes to grief even in the best soils if the? weeding is not done properly. The fertile soil which produce0the wheat produces also plants which press it close and try to squeeze it out, and when these obtain a foothold in the midst of the wheat it is impossible to exterminate them by weeding alone. Not only is the wheat injured through being trodden on.
32

Banna field [Ladies' fingers, Hibiscus]

T a b1 c 6 System of Farming and Specified Crop Returns (in Kels and Meeds) of Arab Tenants.
Year
S'umbcr of F*rnu iccurdlug lo ilze In Peddaos

Wheat

Barley

Chick Horse; Lentils Karsena peas beans

Durrha

Sesame

Remarks

1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923

48-5 11 7 62 15 7 46 11 7 51 5 12 5 54 19 6 57 19 9 57 20 8 61 17 11 55 13 9 37 10 7

3 3 4 7 5 5 4 1 5 3

2 2
]

2 2 1 1 1 1

873-9 48-6 79-7-5 497-3-5 3)22-1 58-9 4370-8-5 778-6-5 290-5 24-1 50-7 310 2907-7 901-3 361-4 44-1 19-3 872-10 3779-5 781-3-5 5-7-5 1132-2 2694-11 5 924-8 3-7-5 3688-9-5 1221-6 56-10 251-8 1622-9 3503-5-2 1088-3-5 138-2-5 204-1 1600-6-5 1835-3-5 1031-7 120-9-2 767-4 8 85-8 2306-7-5 570-6-5 94-7-5 818-9 52 1956-6 170-2-5 535 ~ 19-10-5 43-7 910-6-2* 671-11 1400-10-5 523-4 906-5 150-11 1063-1 534-6
513-3

603-9 286

137-5

1 Feddan =*> 150 dunams15 ha TenureTel-Adas

1217-3 951-1 3744-9 2770-10-5 238 - 108-4-5 1315-3 322-2-8 239-10 712-8-5 225-5-8 336 - 130-7-5 256-7-5 9-1H 348-11 105-0-5

_ 1921 395 - - _ 1922 33 1923 165 _ 1921 46-5 - _ _ 1922 - -

12-0-8 10-7

74-4-5 399-11 30-2 209-11

Djendjme

129-9 28-6-8 12-3-5

12-6-81, 102-2-5 402-7 92-6

30-4 31-8

Natialal Tel-Alfire
Land Develop-

66 -

S o u r c e s of d a t a : M a t e r i a l a r r a n g e d a n d c o n d e n s e d by t h e a u t h o r from y e a r l y a c c o u n t s b e t w e e n t h e P a l e s t i n e m e n t C o m p a n y arid t e n a n t s on a n aieA of a b o u t 10,000 d u n a i n s , b e f o r e i t s t r a n s f e r e n c e for c o l o n i s a t i o n p u r p o s e s .

value for him. It is no commodity in the market and there is no price for it. In a country where industry is not yet even in its cradle and where agriculture is primitive to the last degree, labour has no money value. Every little therefore counts. In a place where labour commands no price there is no need to be particular about time and to despise slow work. There is no harm in putting on a spurt one day and sitting idle the next. What is the use of time-saving implements and quick-working cattle If the work can be done also with light implements which he acquires for a few pounds and which last him ail his life, sometimes being left over for his son?
External appearance and structure. The whole village

both in its external appearance and in its structure seems to have risen out of the soil on which it stands. It is indeed formed from that soildust of its dust and stone of its stones. The Arab village is a creature which takes its colour from its environment. In the plain it is built of mud, all home manufacture not costing a penny. The materials are composed of the dust of the earth, of the straw which it produces and of the dung of the animals which it feeds. These prime materials are worked up by the hands of women who gather stubble, make straw, mix earth and water to make mud, harden the mud with cow dung which has been dried in sun and breaks in their hands, and bake bricks. On the slopes of the mountains the houses are built of stones from the mountains. The members of the Fellah's family collect the stones with their own hands and raise the walls, and the village builder only completes the structure. The Fellah buys from outside nothing except the corner stones and wood for the roof and the door. The stalks of tall grass covered with dust are used to cover the roofs. This dust produces grass and herbs. Only in villages near to town which have been "spoilt by civilisation" have they begun lately to cover the roof with imported tiles.
40

RsSrtSi7?S5: //-< ts:jzt

t i l

.Uakiiiu' ^ u i i - d r i e d

lincks

Cin foL' cliop[)cd straw (teben)

in his passage, and, of course, it does not make them grow or increase their number. When rain comes down for a long timecontinuously or with brief intervals, the Arab plough is the only one with which work can be done. In such conditions the European piough does not cut the ground, but packs the dust together, makes bricks, rolls the earth into clods, and damages the ground for years. Hence in rainy years the Arab plough prolongs the working season. Investment capital. The whole "capital" required for the equipment of the Fellah's farm is made up pretty much as follows : 5 oxen or a camel (or a horse or mare 10-12) 15 -20 15 or 20 sheep 20 An ass - 4 A plough 0.40 A threshing-board 0.60 Two wooden picks 0.15 One iron pick 0.20 7 sacks for straw 0.60 One scythe 0.10 One yoke or pole 0.60 Ropes for binding 0.30 2 sieves 0.25 Total Adding a cow 6-10, a goat 0.80-1, and 30 fowls 3 - 4 the total for all implements and sources of food supply is 55.20 61.20 41.20 47,20 14 _ 14

Income and Expenditure of an Ordinary Fellah.


(Area SO- 100 Dunains, number of souls G 9)

i. Expenditure. a. Farm Expenses : Food tor two oxen, 2 kantars sesame cake or beans '^^/H^'ji'^ Seeds Communal charges Various, repairs etc. Osher and Verko Household expenditure : 4 kautars wheat at LE. 4 3 kantars durra at LE. 2.oO 600 litres of milk at PT. 1.5 400 eggs Olive oil 7 jars Clothing Vegetable, rice, lamp-oil sugar etc. Total expenditure 2. Income. 30 dunams wheat at 50 kg. 10 barley at 60 i0 ,, karsena 30 durra 10 ,, sesame 800 'litres milk 1,000 eggs Outside labour Total income
49

6.50 1.60 0.30 4.50 19.90 16 7.50 9 2 5

: i ; (
i -'

49.50 69.40

20 6 6 6.50 o 12 5 12 70.50

ijcOI

"!

S 3 J | " I

< M a H I p . 1 0 3 3 L1 p O i J U L M J i ;

pill.'

;ifi[--',-'l(.I

H'MIIll:

AC) | ) 3 ) 0 J | | O 3

: t!|l.'p

JO

33.1110^

>|10AV

s a |

I U J iaii.\\o-iiiii!j

a i | ) j u

u o i i i . M O u n u i j i

o i | | ; , | u a s j i i l o . i

'^

'|

'.,.UIA>

H I n j o . u l

a i | J .(.

0[-8l>

6 91 Z6Z Z 6S 6

{/a

oz-iei
0S-V8
OL-9V

oe
9-ez

os-v zs
81 OI

I/ I'

_.C,y

zz

sei oz-ezi' 9-ei oz.-rt'i o/.i-a

ZI

5M 5-1 1"
1 SI b p'...) i J.'AHU! a i ] ) ]i

| ZI - -9 OZ-EZl' OZ-ZH

V Z
{

oz-ea
) A A 1 1

;>n!w 1

o j

' ' " " '

'P'.'.O.1,!1

71 >i

n 1 I Cl N

71 <1 >: 7i

:! w

-I
001

01 ',; -7 1

009 \Z) 000'5/1) ,)9

01'[

005

;()0/.-Z

oe j oi s/.i!
091 51'

ae/.
oei-i

009 \ 008'I/( z 009 009 (z

KJ6'9e ooo-siooi z!o6y-6Z

005 001

e z
i

'-'/1

'-Vi

oz/.
Grains in Kgs.

;000'l'009 1009'!=

Si,

BjjL'f

001

^ 3 uiO-ij

J;

f
PMisia

Animals

Area ...

)\\il n o C

.iappo;l
JJ30

1 .lail

;S}|

Ul S | J l i p 0 . 1 f J

Ul.Ii;,

M
clo.13 p u u S
U.)

SUI.IEJ q u . i y j o sstlXj^ SUOJ.IIJA u o s u . n i j o ^

jo

.4. Food. 12 Kels Wheat at 75 kgs. each, for flour, regular price per ton 10 1 kel wheat 75 kgs. for burgui 30 rotl meat for Sabbaths and Feasts at 150 mils (each time 1;2 rotl) 30 rotl onions per year 24 rotl olive oil at 140 mils Rice, soap, salt, pepper etc. during the year, 30 mils daily 1 tin petrol per year Semneh (cooked butter) ] /2 kel lentils (37.5 kgs) at l per kel Vegetables, muskmelons etc. during the year In addition, the eggs of four laying hens are used. Milk is bought only in the event of sickness and thus costs but very little. B. Clothing. 2 suits for each member of the family during the year, at 300 mils each 1 pair of shoes for each member of thefamily during the year, at 300 mils each 1 "Abaiah" (cloak), bought every 810 years for each member of the family, at 600 mils C. Feed for Working Animals. 4 Oxen, 2 asses, fed during the year, except in the season of green fodder and the season of pasture. 4 keis karsena at 750 mils 4 durrha 400 3 barley 450

9 .750
.

.500
.200
3

.260

10 .950 .180
.600

.500 5 .

34.940

.600

1.800

_ .400

5.S00

3. 1.600
1.400
6.

Total Home and Farm Expenditure during the year


73

46.740

E x p l a n a t i o n s to m a p teaming.
elcl 1926

1927

1928

1929
Hats Dry farm. Barley Oats Green man. Wiieat Flax Fen ugrec Wheat Fiax Fenu^rec Wheat Wheat Wheat Vetch C1 o v e r Beets Pumpkins Maize Maize Wheat Batiey

1930 Fallow
Wheat Failo w Gr. aiauut Wheat Gr. manur Fenu^rec Wheat Maize Feiui'^rec Wheat Maize Durra Sesame

A. I. 11. 111.
p

II. in.
C. ii. ,, D. ,, ,, HIi. IIHI. IV.

Tlii' W lie;it

I'l'ilnii

i!>iiiiIIL!'

work,

V e'. L i i C'.DVtf

\ Wheat ( Bariey HIV. VI.

Durra

"Wheat

ChickPeas

Durra

j Wheat

Durra

Durra Sesame Wheat Wheat 1 Wheat

: Wheat Durra Sesame

: ;

Sowing sesanie with a funnel, Hevatli Exp. St. 82

Results of Experiments in Fields of the Fellah. Calendar of operations. The fields of the experiment had been badly neglected and were full of weeds, and this necessitated two ploughings of the soil, instead of the usual one, before sowing (see Table 17). These operations thus needed almost the same number of workdays as were required for the tine ploughing tor preparation of seed-beds, this in contrast to Tables 3 and 4 (Pp. 18, 21). All operations on land under winter crops (an area of 30 dunams) required 80 days male labour, 10 days female, 26 days child labour, 41 days yoke of cattle (one horse = one pair of oxen) and 50 days work of ass. Operations on land under summer crops (an equai area) required 41 days male labour, 13 clays female, 6 days child labour, 26 days of the pair of oxen, and 31 days of ass. The time required for operations on the whole area for winter and summer crops, 60 ciunams, about half a feddan, necessitated 121 days male labour, 23 days female, 32 days child labour, 67 days of the cattle and 81 days of ass. A whole feddan thus requires 242 days male labour, 46 days female, 64 days child labour, 134 days of cattle, 162 days of ass, that is to say almost all the available working days during the whole year (see Table 4, p. 20). Revenue and yields of fellah's land. Tables 18 and 19 show the revenue of the fellah's farm for the period of three years, and yields for a period of four years. The year 1929/30 has not been taken into account in view of the mice plague, as a result of which the winter crop was heavily damaged and even the summer crop did not escape. The average gross revenue has reached 33 per 60 dunam, and the net income 25. The gross revenue per feddan or 120 dunams is thus 66 and the net income 50. The gross income of the feddan in the Emek (150 dunams) is 82 and the net income 62.500.
83

Nir. field without ferriiizer ;( iievaHi Kxperinienral

Whnat fielil t'eitilimi with phosphate ami Chilean nitrat ^fvnfli K.xpiH'imouhil Station

Table

IS.

Income and Expenditure of Arab Farm under Experiment in Gevath.


(60 dunams)

INCOME
e
5 I
:

EXPENDITURE
J! 13
3

; "5 v) 1

00

'-L.

'

1926-1927 1927-1928 1928-1929 Average Average per dunam

21-280H2-136i5-250i ! ! 15-300; 5-2881 - j

38-666 3 - 2 9 3 2 - - ;3-866 9-159 29-507 20-588 2-786 2 - - ;2-058! 6-844 13-744


i ;

I
19-150110 952! -

J0-734I 40-836 2-994 2 - -

4-0831 9-077 31-759

18-577, 9-459! -

33-363 3-02312-- ;3-335: 8-360 25-003

0-6191 0-631J

j 0-556 0-050i0-034;0-056 0-140

1. Calculated according to the following p r i c e s : Wheat i 10, Durra S, Chickpeas iO, Sesame E 26. 2 Manuring expenses, amounting to 3 on the average, which were incurred for experimental p u r p o s e s , are not included in the items of expenditure. Table 19.

Returns per Dunam on Experimental Plots, Arab Farming.


Wheat
Return ;<gs

Chick peas
!
"

Durra
ea li main

Barley
|

Sesame
SO

.j,

Year
<3

_ Sii = S! oo_: ! s s i

1 -

< -a ! oo

A
! ~

Jl

1925-26 25-2 -

87-8|

14

- |24-3

5.6! i i

95-0 -

Net Farm Income |


0-416
j
!

Si
24

i926"27 30-0 1O-4J61-7J8 0-2 15 ! 8- 1J35-0 15 04! 101-1 1927"28 30-0; 8-951-9J -

_ ! _ i _

i - 30 0-4

22-0
-

! -

i928'29 30-0
\verage -

8-977-2I82-1 -

15 0-8j 47-0

15 0-6i27*5 !^

1
-

;
- 29-6 ._ 88
~ I 56-7 -

69-681-1 -

M-

The catchword oi modern capitalistic economy is "live and let live." If this motto be applied in this instance the farm above considered would have to grant the harath the wage of 5 0 per year at the very least. This would mean the lowering of the revenue of the farmer from 4 4 to 1 6 per feddan. According to the low level of wage standard of the harath, the landlord of an area of 12 feddan obtains an income of 649. If he were to satisfy the most elementary personal needs of the harath, the farmer's own profit would drop to 3 1 2 ; and if the harath were to receive a yearly wage of 6 0 , which is the desirable standard, the farmer's profit would sink to only 190. The land under experiment does not give such yields, and according to its properties it is of the type most common in the country. Instead of a yield of 11 ton per feddan, obtained in the richly fertile land referred to in Table 12, the average yield is here 6.5 ton; the revenue from one feddan is thus not 66, as in the former case, but only 5 0 . The latter is the minimum sum required for the maintenance of the harath, on which it is absolutely impossible to make any reduction. The owner of the land has thus nothing left over for himself, and can only live by harsh exploitation of the harath. The conclusion to be drawn therefore is that any addition to the area over and above the unaided working capacity of the family cannot raise the standard of one man without lowering that of another. The only solution lies in raising the fertility of the soil and the -efficiency of the work of the family. For in the whole grain-

own

in

.-fri[i.

growing region of the country agriculture can only yield a bare living, and not furnish interest on capital.

"Wheat followm<r oultivate'l fallow. (Vvafli Ex p. Sf.

89

The lasting effect of the application of chemical and organic fertilisers extends over 3 considerable period of time, according to the findings of the Division of Agronomy. The results given here are not intended to be conclusive but to serve as a record of observations made.

I;

96

Chapter

Seven.

MODERNISING THE FELLAH'S FARM. In the following chapter we shall set down only in general outline those graduated improvements which are feasible in the farm of the feliah. A detailed programme, together with precise demonstrative evidence, both economic and technical, will be the subject of a separate study based on an analysis of the various types of existing farms in the grain region of the country. The following scheme of improvements rests axiomatically upon two preliminary suppositions : A, That the fellah's farm remains during a specific transitory period in its prevailing form without important changes in his draught animals, implements, crop rotation, or his way of life. Its objective is increase of revenue without appreciable increase of the items of expenditure. B. The improvements proposed are principally of a bioiogical and not technical nature, in origin domestic, rather than acquired by import. A farm still in the transitory stage cannot be burdened with massive machinery and buildings since they are then not a means of production but of luxury. The existing instruments of production must advance the farm to the desired standard bv increasing the fertility of the soil, augmentation of yields, and increase of revenue, with the consequent raising of She standard of life.

First Transitory Stages in Modernisation of a Primitive Farm.


ion The Heavy Crane. Up-to-date instruments of productintroduced in the modernisation of primitive farms in 91

by when he tor a small tor long. In a means of of luxury is

is pressed for time. He is obliged to use it even area, exploiting it to the full, but also leaving it idle this case two motives are mixed - the machine as production is an economic necessity, and as a means a psychological necessity.

Means o/ Production and Means of Luxury. To those who believe implicitly that the machine in itself always increases the fertility of the soil, it is obviously always a means of production by its very nature. But those who regard the machine in most of its functions only as an aid to biology, find it also an impediment when it is a premature luxury, prior to the farm being able to bear it. it is this conflict which is especially revealed in the transitory stage from primitive to modern agriculture, bringing complications into the entire farm. The same implement may be a means of production and a means of luxury according to the extent of its use. The fast motor is a means of production if there is enough work to run it for economic purposes every day in the week. The ass, for example, cannot at its rate of speed execute the same amount of work. But if there is oniy enough work to run the motor a few hours and for the rest of the week it srands idle, its greater speed lias only a luxury and not an economic value. Under such conditions there is nothing better than the ass with its natural slowness. The motor has ceased to be a factor of production and has become luxury. In a land of small farmers only the working family and not the hired hands determine the system of work. The size of the "living area" determines the essential rate of speed in orderto complete all the labour, with its rational distribution, according to the calendar of operation for each season throughout the year. That instrument which corresponds to such rate of speed and guarantees the proper standard of life is an instrument
104

Orossbreo'l.

A n i l i :111<i D t i f r i i . 1 s t

of p r o d u c t i o n ; that which w o r k s at exceptional speed during a few d a y s in the s e a s o n and remains idle the rest of the time essential that the for lack of work, o w i n g to the limits of the "living a r e a , " is a luxury. P s y c h o l o g i c a l c a u s e s may make the latter even
;\Y(-v,;-:') _-_-'ii i I f o r i.'.-irs 2.Q';)l) :itors.

instrument work

when it is p o s s i b l e

to

perform himself

the

it d o e s with

s l o w e r and simpler tools. Danish fanner cannot vious generation

It is p o s s i b l e , for e x a m p l e , modern speed

adapt

to the t e m p o of the preeven though

and h a s a d o p t e d

it is not e c o n o m i c , b e c a u s e of its convenience alone, it is thus but an additional e x p e n s e required by his s t a n d a r d of life such as other .hems fine on. clothes and boots, a roomy home, fine furniture, etc. In D e n m a r k there is an expansive exhibition field which there has been erected a veritable ancient village in all a s p e c t s homes, farm buildings, y a r d s , house utensils, tools and water supply. T h e primitive simplicity of an earlier age hovers around
J!>jyrouth .H

the

visitor

as

he strolls through its p a t h s .

It is conexreturns

ceivable that with these ancient hibited merely could be obtained by the fa:mer, for present day comfort. for simple and plain No, of

instruments of p r o d u c t i o n , prevailing if it were

as a m e m o r y of early clays, the

not for his desire

needs of p r o d u c t i o n but the intricate and heavy stan-

refinement of the h a b i t s of ;he p r o d u c e r c a u s e d the substitution tools expensive, machinery. P o s s i b l y this refinement dards, would deteriorate. withstand additional
CrossiH'oed, B e y r o u t h mid F r i e s i a u (3A 'Kriesiau liiood), nvornye yield for t h r e e vears 3.5 i 7 liters.

has also affected crops,

the cows

and pigs w h o , if not n o w maintained a c c o r d i n g to m o d e r n P o s s i b l y quality a large competition investments require and special a r r a n g e m e n t s , agriculture

those which involving

turnover. It is difficult to b e t w e e n what At all events the

distinguish fundamentally "leverage" to obtain

in modern in all

is vital and what is luxurious or convenient. profits and intricate.

these cases is p o n d e r o u s

In many d e v e l o p e d countries agriculture has during the last


105

or changing the prevailing time of sowing. as follows :-

The reasons are

A change of rotation calls for fundamental changes in the whole structure of the farm, different draught animals and consequently the allocation of a special area for their feed instead of cheap pasture and utilisation of the weeds around the field. Change of times of sowing means ploughing of brittle soil, which involves much expenditure which is not recoverable from yields, as weil as oppressive labour. It requires a heavy plough which in turn needs a strong draught animal. Yet the light plough is in the transition period the most successful weapon in the hands, of the fellah in his struggle for existence. It must not be substituted until the opportune moment arrives, because such an exchange would upset the whole balance and harmony of the holding. Summer ploughing of heavy soil is justified in certain cases only in a dairy farm which gives first piace in the crop rotation to fodder crops such as clover and vetches. Ploughing of brittle soil is sometimes obligatory in order to advance the clover harvest or because'of a regulated distribution of labour in order to prolong the working season. In a small grain farm such oppressive ploughing has no economic justification whatsoever.. In overturning the stubble it deprives the cattle of their natural pasture, an important item in the economy of the fellah. Only a dairy farm based on stable feeding and grown fodder can afford todispense with the feed of the stubble and the remains of the harvest. The yields of the fellah can be increased without excessive manipulations simply by carefully preparing a good rotation crop, by use. of fertilizers and selected seeds. Preparation of good rotation crops. The fellah who prepares a good rotation crop by additional ploughing and weeding increases the yield of such crops as sesame and durra,. and in consequence also of the cereals which follow them in
112

rotation. The additional ploughings preserve the moisture of the soil, the determining factor in the life of all plants in semi-arid countries. The ploughings and weedings destroy the harmful weeds which cause a double evil, absorbing the moisture gathered with much effort in the soil and squeezing out the productive plants. The defects in the preparation of a good rotation crop are the result of a lack of good draught animals. The fellah may not exchange his oxen for a mule which requires for its feed an area of 15 to 20 dunams thus becoming in the present area unit a means of convenience perhaps, but not of production. The fellah requires a pair of strong oxen living on pasture. He has no need to expend money on them bat must breed them at home by crossing the native cows with a bull of pedigree breed.

Use of fertilizers. Commercial fertilizer operates successfully only when the land is cultivated properly, aerated and conserving moisture. When the plant is thirsty it cannot well benefit from the nourishment prepared for it in the ground. Our experiments have shown satisfactory results in particular with fodder and flax. By improving the rotation crop the moisture is well preserved and the weeds destroyed so that the nourishing elements are liberated to the benefit of the plants. Selected seeds withstand drought, disease and various pests. They increase the yield up to approximately 15% without supplementary improvements. The Experimental Station has obtained good results from its early experiments with seeds. The Government should provide at a fixed price selected seeds for each region in accordance with its climatic conditions. 3. Diversification. In most parts of the country the farm of the fellah is dependent on one culture and it is not surprising therefore that its existence is not certain. The farm can be diversified without burdening it with crops for which there is
113

attention for an orchard even in heavy soil. In this section it is also possible to plant an orchard on 5 dunams, vegetables on 5 dunams such as onions which have, a market, and a little fodder. It must be emphasized that over-modernisation will also complicate this farm by the excessive investments. There is no need for costly water installations; there is no need to exchange the method of drawing water by means of the blind mule's or camel's circumambulations for that by electricity. The water drawn by the mule moistens the soil just the same as that drawn by electricity or oil pumps, and extracts in quantity and quality no less fruit from the tree. An orange grove of 50 dunams needs the rate of speed of electricity, but such rate is superfluous for irrigating a plot of 5 dunams. in such case the electric force is not a means of production in the field of the fellah, just as the substitution of his oil lamp in the home by an electric lamp will not be considered productive. Manuring, adequate irrigation, pruning the dry branches, selection of buds, trie control of pesis and diseases, all these biological factors are the soie means of production. The comfort of electricity will be enjoyed in the field and in the home only when the farm profitably supports itself. For the land in the plain which is not irrigated there is no other solution than the increase of yields and of revenue by means of the plan detailed above. The increase of the area unit in comparison with irrigated soil will provide what is lacking in the present standard of life. The unit for modern farms has been fixed at 100 dunams on unirrigated soil, and 25-30 dunams on heavy irrigated soil. The fellah's farm can secure the same net profit as the modern farm, for not having the extra expenditures with which the modern farm is burdened he has no need to secure the same gross returns. 3. Land in the Shephela near the hills. Alongside the foot121

The Sums Required for the Improvement of the Fellah's Farm. The improvement is of two kinds: such as is apt to come due to inner growth and such as require special sums of money. Betterment due to inner growth. - The improvement of kerabs. improvement of seeds and the arrangement of a plantation near the village do not involve large sums. All the fellaheen are to partake in the raising of the money for purchase of bulls for joint use. The sum to be paid by the individual will not be high. There is no need of burdening anyone with any purchasing expenses; for with the natural growth the fellah will get the strong buils and the. improved cows. In like manner the fellah should not arrange any tree-nurseries. The Government is to provide him with saplings at low cost, the payment thus being not burdensome. Improvements involving investments. - Under this heading come several things. First of all the irrigation is to be attended to. Small repairs are to be made in the buildings on the plot. There is to be applied also a rational green manure on onefifth of the field, so that within five years there may be one crop lost; but it is to be expected that this loss will be made up wholly or partially by the increase of yields. These technical improvements cannot be - made possible without credit facilities at a low interest-rate. The fellah, however, deeply in debt, will find this kind of credit of no avail, as long as he is not freed from this burden; for the value of his farm and ail its income as a basis of credit will not allow an amount to be lent to him high enough to bring about the desired effect. Only when the fellah will be clean of his debts will he be in a position to make use of this credit for additional improvements and working capital.
124 Carob planted 011 rocky ground, (Ben Slienieu. 1913)

c;;ruii r i v e o n n>i-kv

(!5ali-t.'i-'\V, i !(l)

A passing observer, seeing the soil with its scanty yields and the worker in his low estate, would be apt to judge harshly of the nature of both. But lie would be mistaken, for great powers are latent in both, and merely await the touch of a devoted hand io draw them forth. The existing situation is a heritage of very old standing, whose destructive effects cannot be done away with in the twinkling of an eve. For long generations everything was taken from the tiller of the soil, and nothing given him in return. And he, having no alternative, paid out the soil in (he same coin, always taking from it and never giving. So, there was a twofold
J O O O '

?-5v

(furvatii .Vnavmi)

robbery of the cultivator and the soil both. Almost the whole financial burden of his country was imposed upon the peasant for many ages. The tithe and the other taxes in themselves were enough to break his back; and yet they were as nothing as compared with their concomitants, the tax-gatherers and other agents of the rulers, wrho placed the peasant at the mercy of the usurers and the speculators who pretended to be saviors in his time of distress. In order to free himself from these latter, he was compelled to sell his produce at-low prices and to buy it back again for his household needs and' for sowing his fields at double and fourfold prices. He descended lower than the beast of burden, whose instinct impels it to rebel when it is too poorly .fed. But, because he- being -human, his reasoning-powers impelled him to accept a yoke so heavy-that he could not even attempt to-rebel.. Everything for him was as a-heavenly decree: the iniquity of his-rulers and the oppression of their agents, even at third and fourth - hand. Even when he looks up from his depths to the- heights,
125

Touii"; ofuliard on rrrr.iceil mckv crrounil (TCirvar.li .inavim)

whole area, the fields of the Statioti included, are 4 oxen and 2 asses. Half of his own area is sown with winter crops, viz. wheat, barley and beans, the other half being sown with summer crops, viz. durra and sesame. Additionally every year one dunam of lentils is sown. In the following table the field returns which the fellah in question receives from his 200 dunams and the use he makes of them, is given :
Yield in keis

Ten a fees kind

Kind of croo

cA

5 22

Seeds keis

S u r p l u s for snle ' Quantity , keis : Value ii

III
15 4 5

Wheat Barley Beans Sesame Durra


Total

50 28 20 19 14

10 6 10 4 3

15 3 1 1
2

10 15 10 14 5

7-500 6' 7'500 18-200 2-500 700

Every worker receives 46 pittahs during the clay, about 1 kg., and vegetables. When a cooked meal is as burghul, lentils or rice, he takes a portion of it to besides the evening meal. Then he receives during according to the season: eggs or olives or tomatoes, or sabar (cactus fruits), and sometimes leben (sour olive oil.

weighing prepared, the field, the day, or figs, milk) or

The home and farm expenditure of the fellah is composed of the following items :
i Taxes, viz. Osher and Verko and communal expenses are not taken into account. J Seeds which the fellah receives from the landowner are included under "Tenancy fees." Prices calculated as average of the years 1927-1929. floo 72

At h a r v e s t per fedclan.

time lie hires day l a b o u r e r s , giving them 120-150

food

and t o b a c c o all the time they work and

P.T. in c a s h

For w e e d i n g 3-4 p o u n d s are spent in the course of the year. This work is done by women for five to six Piastres a dav. Finally he has an additional expenditure of 4-5 keis of

wheat for bringing the produce from the field, for ingathering and for threshing. All expenses arc borne by the tenant, except that for watching, in which the owner also shares. In lieu of this outlay the Effeadi takes a meed (a twelfth part of a kei) for every feddan watched. For the food of the cattle at threshing time aiso the tenant has to pay a meed for every head. x 3. T h e H o u s e h o l d of the Fellah. The diet of the Fellah is poor and monotonous. His stapie food is the "pittah" which he bakes every day. A few "pittahs" with onions or radishes form his morning and midday meals. A cooked meal called by him "tabiekh" is only prepared for him in the evening. It consists of the herb "'khubbeza" flavoured with onions and pepper. When tomatoes are in season he eats tomato salad flavoured with pepper. Pepper and oil are his two condiments. Most of his requirements are provided by his own fields, and he buys but little outside. Bread. In the diet of the Fellah the most important article is bread. An average family of 7 souls uses 7 - 8 kantars of grain (two-thirds wheat, one third durra). This quantity is made up from the produce of an average farm. The poorer Fellahs do not obtain from their fields enough for their food and they make up the deficiency partly by gleaning, partly by purchase rom outside. Milk In many villages milk is obtained from sheep by those who have their own shepherds. The average number o*
Bedouin t e n t ; Hiu wife nuikiny butter
57

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