Elazari-Volcani I 1930 - The Fellahs farm

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. " The Jewish Agency for Palestine

Institute of Agricul ture and Natural HistoryAGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION

I

B u l l e t i n 10.

THE FELLAH'S FARM

by

I. Elazari-Volcani

Director Agricultural Experiment Station.

i;

Tel-Aviv, September 1930.



P R E F A C E .

from the Hebrew

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

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 Agricu lture," and as an introduction to a series of

studies of variou s types of farms in the grain beit of Palestin e.

Some of these studies have already been published in Hebrew,

while others are now ready for the press.

The chief types of farms in q uestion ar e: the grain farm,

the dairy farm, the farm in transition, and the mono cultural

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 emph asized ,

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 Pales tinian 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. Upro oting w hat is bad in the old is apt to involve

\he uprooting of the good at the same time. N ot everythingnew that supersedes the old is beneficial, and often it happens

that discrimination is not exercised. We find at times within

III



the old methods, which are based on ancient traditions, worth-

while elements meriting use in the accepted new systems. The

ideal practice is to seek out the good eleme nts in both tradition

and modern practice, and to amalgamate them.

When agriculture is found in a transition al pha se, two

factors are at work, namely, mechanics and biology. The first —

mechanics replaces primitive implements by complicated machi-

nery. The second involves the improvement of breeds and seeds,

increased productivity of the soil by the use of manure and fertilizerand. increase of returns by change s in the cro pping system . The

first method requ ires a consid erable investmen t of capita l, b ut

the secon d can be introduc ed gradually, at a small cost, and

witho utsudd en and radical ch anges. 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 primi-

tive cultivator, a nd w hich do not su dden ly force him out of

his accustomed habits and methods of work.

These problems are not peculiar to Palestine alone, butapply to all Oriental coun tries. In many respec ts Pales tine m ay

be regard ed as a field of investigation and resea rch. Within

its bord ers, the oldest of the old and the newest of the new

cross each other's paths: traditions going back thousands of

years opera te side by side with the latest tech nical achie ve-

ments. Therefore, Palestine can play the same part in agricul-

tural econ omic s as an expe riment 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 monog raph deals with economic and technical pro-blems only. Pro ble ms of agrarian policy and credit will be

dealt with in a special study.

In gatherin g data on which to base a scientific inquiry

into the fellah's farming, peculiar hind rance s are met with. The

fellah is suspic ious of everyone w ho tries to pum p information

out of him. His crops will increa se or- diminish acco rding to

the supposed identity of his questioner. If the latter is suspec-

ted of being a Governm ent tax collector, the yield will shrink to

less than n othing . But if he is imagined to be a prosp ectiv e

purchaser of land or a bank agent, the crops will exceed any-

thing to be expected from the most fertile reg ions. T he factschan ge in the twinkling of an eye. In a certain instanc e, one

questio ning a fellah in this regard replied to him , 'if the

crop s are so small, we cannot allow you the credits we had

intended." Whereu pon a second fellah promptly appea red upon

the scene, and pushing the first aside as a "dun ce," asseve ra-

ted that the yield was thre e 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 work ed by

tenant farmers until transferred to the new colonis ts. The thre sh-

ing floor and the fields were superv ised by watc hme n in the

-employ of the Company, and an exact record of the crops was

kept from year to year. The rec ords of ten years (1914—1923)

for an area.of 10,000 dun ams which were cultivated by 50 or

60 tenant farmers, have here been summarized. Mr. Yochevedson-

Pevsner, chief superv iser of this district, h ande d these reco rds

•to the author each year, togeth er with notes of his obs erv a-

tions of the habits and customs of the tenant farmers.

2. The farms of Ben-Shemen and Huldah, which were

adm inistered by the author from 1909 to 1919, were like small

IV



islands of modernity among the fellah farms. The fellahs'

threshing floors were close beside our bounda ries, and it w as

possible to determine the yield of their threshing floors exactly.

Records of observation s were made each year. Experiments,

were also made with the me thods of fellah cultivation. During

the War, becau se the farm anim als had been requisitione d, Ben

Shemen was obliged to lease p art of its land in the Jiills to fel-

lahs. These fields continued to be supervised by the farm, and

exact recor ds were kept of their c rops. A similar sourc e 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 places-

mentioned facilitated the gathering of data. The fellahs und er-

stood that the questioners had no motive but to study conditions-

and to devise metho ds of increasin g the yield. For the first-

time they saw the marvel of how the "sowing of salt increases

the crops." For many years the writer's ass istants gathered data,

in various parts of the country.

4. At the Experiment Station at Gevath, the Division of RuralEconomics co-operated with the Division of Agronomy on an.

area of 250 dunams, which was divided into economic units. One

of these, comprisin g 60 dunam s, w as turned over for cultivation

to a fellah from a nearby village, and special rec ords were kept

of the results over a period of five years.

In describi ng the w orking method s of the fellah, the writer-

has relied on his own direct o bserv ations. The references to-

ancient Jewish folklore are drawn from the Talmud > and other

primary s ources , while those bearing on fellah folklore are all

based on Prof. Gustav Dalmann's latest book, entitled "Arbeitund Sitten in Palastina."

VI

The author wishe s to express his thanks to Mr. Yoche-

vedson -Pevs ner, and to Mr. Klivaner, assist ant in the Division

of Agronomy, for their constant aid in the assem bling of ma-

terial ; to Mr. Kostrinsky r 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 da ta; and to M essrs. Sussman, assistant in the

Division of Rural Economics, and Rosolio, secretary of the

Institute, for their aid in arranging the statistical material.

Agricultural Experiment StationDivision of Rural Economics. I . E la za ri -V o lc an i.

Tel-Aviv, PalestineJuly 1930.

VII



CONTENTS

Page-Chapter One: Waiting for the rain 1

The rainy season , . ; 2'

Ancient customs surviving at the present day . . 10

Chapter Two : Seasons of agricultural work, 16Season of sowing 18

;

The harvest season 2,?

Chapter Three : Cropping system 29

S h e l e f a n d k e r a b 2 9 -

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 . . . . 3 1

Chapter Four: The harmonious structure 39-

External appearance and structure 40

Investment capita! 43

Income and expenditure 49

C h a p t e r F i v e : The way of l i f e of the f e l l a h 51

1. The fellah's working day . 51

2 . Size of farms 54

3 The household of Hie fellah , 5 74 . The communal organisation 59

Chapter Six : The Fe l la h ' s fa r m unde r e xpe r ime n t . . . 05

P l a n of e x p e r i m e n t s 70

T y p e s of f a r m s u n d e r e x p e r i m e n t 74

R e s u l t s of e x p e r i m e n t s in f i e l d s of the f e i l a h . . S3

R e s u l t s of e x p e r i m e n t s in m o d e r n fa r m i n g . . . 90-

C h a p t e r S e v e n : M o d e r n i s i n g t h e f e l l a h ' s f a r m . . . . 9 7

First transitory stages in modernisation of a

primitive farm 97

Improving the fellah's farm with his presentinstruments of production 107

Modernising the fellah's farm in accord withgeographical distribution of farming systems . 116-

The sums required for the improvement ofthe fellah's farm 123-



TABLES.

Page

1. Seasonal rainfall . Monthly means in millimetres . . . . 112. Mean temperature 123. Calendar of operation on a fellah's farm (80—100 dun.) , 194. Calendar of operations on an Arab farm in different seasons 205. A. Chemical analyses 20

B. Mechanical analyses 206. System of farming and specified crop returns of Arab tenants 337. System of farming and. specified crop retu rns of selected

Arab tenants 348. System of fanning and classified crop returns of Arab tenants 419. System of fanning and specified crop returns of selected

Arab tenants 4210. Returns of Arab tenant farmer in Valley of Jezreel . . 4511 . Returns of selected Arab tenant farms 4612. A. Income and expenditure of a 12 feddan farm in Galilee 55

B. Income and expenditure per feddau 5513. System of farming and crop returns on various types of

Arab farms 5014. Income and expenditure in various types of Arab farms . 50

15. Rainfall at Gevatli Experim ent Station 7116. Calendar of operation in Arab farming experiments, Agr.

Exp. Station Gevath 8517. Working days. A. Whe at experimental field at Gevath

(Arab farming) . •B. Durra experimental field at Gevath

(Arab farming) S6-8718. Income and expenditure of Arab farm under experiment

in Gevath 8819. Returns per dunam on experimental plots, Arab farming 8820 . Comparative expenditure of different types of farms . . 10921 . Standard of living on farms in transitory stage in different

settlements 11022 . Areas, seeds and yields in Tel-Adass 117

23. Cash income and expenditure and net farm income atTel-Adass 118-119

24 . Density of population in Palestine 123

ILLUSTRATIONS,

facingpage

At the spring . . . frontispiece

Arab vi l lage in the hi l ly country XI I

Arab vi l lage in the pla in XI I"Water whe el ("Sakia") 1

Water ing goats . • 1

Pales t ine ra infal l map 8

Map of Pales tine soils 9

Mending the plough 16

Firs t ploughing 16

Prepar in g the seed bed and sowing 17

Harve st of wheat 24

Loadin g ' 24

Feeding s tubbles 25

Firs t threshing wi th animals 28

Threshing wi th the thres l i ing board 28

F in al thre sh in g w ith anim als . . . . . . . . 29

View of the threshing f loor 29

Bamia field 32

Durr a f ie ld 32

S e s a m e f i el d . 3 3

Wat er melon f ie ld 33

Making sun-dr ied br icks 40

Bin for chopped s t raw 40

Making mud oven for nat ive bread 41

Winnow ing the grain crop 48

Winno wing and sacking 49

Fel lah adobe hut 56

B e do ui n h u t of m a tt in g a nd b r an c h es . . . . 5 6

F el la h ee n d welling ho use , . . . , . . . . 57

Bedouin tent , the wife making but ter 57

Arab plough . . . . ' . 64

Ancient Hebrew plough 65

Modif ied Hebre w plough 65

Hoeing sesame 72

Sesame threshing f loor 72

XI



H e a p of d u r r a . . 7 3S i e v i n g g r a i n 7 3T h e f e li a l i c o m i n g t o w o r k 8 2S o w i n g s e s a m e w i t h , a f u n n e l 82 "W h e a t f i e ld w i t h o u t f e r t i l i z e r . . . . . . . 8 3 -W h e a t f ie ld f e r t i l i z e d 8 3

F e l l a h w h e a t f i e ld , a t G e v a t h . . . - . ; . . . . 8 SW h e a t f i e ld f o l l o w i n g g r e e n m a n u r e . . . . . 88 -S o w i n g i n s t r i p s 8 9C u l t i v a t e d , f a l lo w . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 ' .M o d e r n i s i n g , a g r i c u l t u r e . . . . •. , . . . . . . Q S -

H a r v e s t i n g w i t h b i n d e r . .. . \, : . ' . . . . . - 9 7 •T h r e s h i n g w i t h m a c h i n e . . . . . . • . . . . 9 7G a u l a n b r e e d c o w 1 0 4C r o s s b r e d c o w , A r a b a n d D u t c h . , . . . . . 1 0 4

C r o s s b r e d c o w , A r a b a n d D u t c h . . . . . . . - . 1 0 4

C r o s s b r e d c o w , B e y r o u t h a n d F r i e s i a n . . „ • . . . 1 0 5 -

C r o s s b r e d c o w , B e y r o u t h a n d F r i e s i a n . . . . 1 Q 5 -

C r o s s b r e d c o w , B e y r o u t h a n d F r i e s i a n . . . . . . 1 0 5 -

P a s t u r i n g s h e e p o n t h e h i l l s of B e n S h e m e n . . 1 1 2 -C a r o b . g r o v e o n t h e h i l l s 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 t h e -

C : 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 . . . . . . . . , . 1 2 0 -

C 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

O l d c a r o b t r e e o n r o c k y g r o u n d . •. . , . . 1 2 4G a r o b . p l a n t e d o n r o c k y g r o u n d . . , . . . . 1 2 4K o c k y g r o u n d b e f o r e p l a n t i n g . 1 2 5Y 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 :. < . 1 2 5 -

XII



"Water wheel

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

Watering goats

THE FELLAH'S FARM

F o r t h e l a n d wh i t h e r t h o u g o e s t in t o p o s s e s s ,

.' ' ' it i s n o t a s t h e l a n d ' of- E g y p t f r o m w h e n c e : ye1 c a m e

; : ' : -. ;• • : ou^.w h e r e t h o u s o w e d s t thy> s e e d ' a n d : w a t e r e d s t

'.'.'•'" *\ • :: .:.".•-• it 'w ith th y foo t, as , a g a r d e n of h e r b s . - ; -- >• .'• ;

;:'-/••••. ; : ! " ; ; • • ; ':

- B u t : t h e l a n d w h i t h e n y e go to p o s s e s s it is'

. , i . . , • - . , - . a l a n d , , o f , h i l l s a n d v a l l e y , andd r i n k e t h w a t e r of

, ,• ^ t h e r a i n o f. h e a v e n .A l a n d wh i c h t h e L o r d t h y Go d c a r e t h f o r j

"••'' ••'' ' . t h e ' e y e s of t h e L o r d thyG o d area l w a y s u p o n - i t

;: i-••• '' '•'• • '•'•

: f r o m t h e b e g i n n i n g of t h e ' y e a r ; e v e n u n t o t h e > e n d

• . - • ' . I . ' : . . ' ' ' ' . . . • . ; ' . ' . • . • • o f . t h e y e a r . :! '•'"•..':" \ \. . , • ";. ., ;;: • ''•

.. .. . r . . ' . . . . • . '• •. •• . . . . .... . • [ D e u t , X I , 1 0 - 1 2 ] . ....

C h a p t e r O n e .

WAITING FOR THE RAIN.

The ancient Hebrews used todivide the year into two de-

finite period s — the season of the rain andthe season of the

sun. This division corresponds to the character of the country,

which has no ' transition periods of any length, like spring

and autum n in--other co unt ries . Fro m the.:middle-";of- Gheshv.an

(October)•'to .the middle of'Nisan (April); rain:.falls:.at intervals-

for .about-.forty-or:fifty, day s, and ' to/a n; amount-..• of/from five

• hundred-to-six-hundred-millimetres. For seven.months•the-.countrys is-dry-w ithou t-a' drop; of» rain,- .and:: the /sun-- reigns', supreme.'.In'l-the Jorda n -Valley-•'the- rainy- d ays'.a re-few er/th e: rainfall less,: and

•the :;day s' of h oi sunshine^ more; numerous." In the.'Negeb the rain-

fall only amounts, to . from two; to three.hu ndre d millimetres^, and-even this-is not regular every year. • Years of drought in that

district are- nothing u nusu al./



Summer winds. — The summer heat is tempered by winds

tha t blow reg ularly from the sea from mornin g to evening. Th e

soil as it becomes heated in the cours e of the day cause s the

layer of air upon it to rise , and the co ol.air from the sea rushes

in to fill its place. In the night the proc ess is rever sed. The

earth cools more rapidly than the surface of the sea, and air

curren ts are borne from it in the direction of the sea. Th us

nature make s provision for alleviating the toil of the day and

for assuring the re pose of the night. In the mou ntain regionand in the plain which is open to the sea these air curren ts

sail along in the shape of light breezes in their two contrary

directions. The prophet also refers to the "dry wind on the

high plac es" (Jer., IV, 11). In the v alley and in the clefts in

the mo untains, a nd e specially in the valleys of the Jord an, these

win ds 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 blow s from the A rabian desert for a

few days in the yea r is not opp ressiv e in the winter, bu t is

exceedingly oppressive in the spring and summer, raising thetemperature to 35-46°C.

The rainy season. — The rainy season is the time of wa ter

storage for animals and plants. The inhabitants of the mo un-

tain region dig cisterns in the rock for reservo irs, and the wa -

ters collected during the few rainy day s in a deep hole, protec-

ted by the cover of a thick stone, supply man and beast du-

ring 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 cr ops by breaking up its surface with

his light plough and laying it open to^the rain, by preparing agoo d tilth before sow ing, and by brea king up all the hard su r-

face which forms after the later rain s. Summ er plants do not

see a single dro p of rain d uring the whole four mon ths of their

growth. Only the heavy dew which tails at aignt t uic au w

them. .On an a verage , dew falls on 64 out of 92 summ er days

(about 2/a). In the Jorda n valley there is no dew either, and its

produc ts, such as sesam e, do not thrive in unirrigated fields. Thu s

the loose layer (mulch) formed by the light "nail plough" pro-

tects- the moisture stored in the ground against excessive ev a-

poration 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 quitenarrow stretch extend ing parallel to the coast from Cae sarea 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 south-

ern desert is also not heavy. On the other hand the whole of

the plain and all the valleys are composed of heavy soil. The

Sheph elah, most of Shar on, the plain of Acre, the Valley of

Jezreel, Upper and Lower Galilee, and the Valley of the Jordan—

the soil of all these conta ins from thirty-five to forty percen t

of clay. When this soil is very moist it beco me s highly co m-pact; it sticks to the plough, dulling its edge , and the clods

turned up by the plough hang on to one another and become

solid block s. Trying to walk over this heavy groun d after rain

is like putting on boo ts of clay which grow thicker at every

step until by their weigh t 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 sum mer the ground

has a gloomy and. morose appearance. T he blazing sun extracts

from it the last remnan ts of moisture whic h are stored in itfrom the rainy season. The surface of the ground yaw ns 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 s o deep that the traveller m ay have a nasty fall in

them. Even the soil which has been loosened and broken up-

by 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 a s if it were prostrate and fainting from thirst, with ten

thousand mouth s 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

summ er begins to be covered with fleecy clouds. The twilight

displays gorgeous colours. Expectations, however, are not always

realised. So metim es it is a case of "winds and vapour and no-

rain." T he land is blessed or cursed accord ing as the rain falls

or does not fail at the prop er time. The "reward and punis h-ment" of the chosen people in the promised land were not re-

served for the future world, but were dispensed in this wor ld,

"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 t hine oil. And I shall give grass in thy field to^

thy cattle, and thou shalt eat and be satisfied. Tak e heed to

yours elves lest your heart be deceived and ye go astray and

serve other go ds... 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 heavenit shall come down upon thee until thou art destro yed." Acco rd-

ing to the Rabbi s, God wat ers (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 (Novem ber). 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 w ho is good and doeth g ood" ,

and he who has no field says "We give thanks to thee, 0 Lordour 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 anot her. Th e first

rain is called "yo reh" because it tells (moreh) peo ple to plaster

their roofs, to bring in their prod uce, and to make prepa rations;

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 a bsorb s in moder ation. When the rain is excessive itwashes off the surface of the earth, which does not then yield

its fruit. Th e benefit of the rain in the winter seas on depe nds

upon its distribution. It was an accepted maxim in rabbinical

times that the earth can only abso rb the rainwater according to

the degree- of its har dne ss. Torren tial ra ins at the ou tset simply

run off the surface of the baked, parched and thirsty ground;

they do not penet rate right into it, and do not fertilise it. Only the

surface is moi stened , 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 becomin g stunted. When the

ground ha s been thoroughly, moistened in its upper layers, the

torrentia l ra ins run off from it, since it is too par che d to abs orb



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. Parti -

cularly severe damage is done by the torrential rains in a low

country when they sweep down from the mou ntains. Neither

the ground hardened by the heat of summer nor the ground

moistened in the middle of the winter can absorb the rain ex-

cept when it comes do wn gently and is distributed over a long

period. The ground receives more benefit from a rainfall of

four hundred mm s. distributed over a long period than from six

hundred coming in heavy falls and at short intervals.

The "M alko sh" 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. Som etimes the large drops catch the rays of

the sun and assum e a peculiar colour. Th e latter rain also

comes dow n with a special rhythm, the drops seeming to danc e

upon the ground.

Distribution of rain. — Marked differences in the rainfall

are observed even in one district and in places distant only afew miles from one a nother . Sometim es the clouds will pa ss

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 sam e district as regards quantity or seasona l distri -

bution to such an extent as to decide the character of the farm

and of crop rotatio ns, whether there is to be cereal farming,

dairying, summ er kerab- or black fallow. On a tract totalling

30,000 dunam s, for instance, within the Nuris Block, it hasseemed necessa ry, at any rate for the present, to introdu ce three

systems of cro p rotatio ns. 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 E sdraelon, between Nahalal and Afuleh, the

harvests vary not only because of the difference in the holding

capacity of the soil but beca use of the difference in prec ipita tion.

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 cow s for dairying d epend s to a

considerable degree on the success of the clover crop.

The withholding of rain is one of the wor st 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 —w hether 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 (Novem ber) allow s the plants

time for development before the cold nights of Tebe th (January)

come. Late sowing falls just in the cold tim e. Th e lack of latter

rain as a rule b odes 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 tho se 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 conseq uence 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, secon d and third. The Hebrew word for this —

"reb iah" — itself sym bolises 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 d own 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 Wedne sday 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 aro se 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 dow n from

the "good storehou se." In ancient times fasts were decreeded

on accoun t of the delay of the rainfall. If the sevente enth of

March eshvan (Novem ber) arrived and rain had not yet fallen,

the studen ts of the Beth-Ha midra sh alone used to fast Mon day,

Thursday, and Monday. If the New Moon of Kislev (December)

arrived and rain had not yet fallen, the Beth-Din ordere d the

whole community to fast three days, Monday, Thu rsday and

Mond ay. If these went by and there was still no answer, tne

Beth-Din ordered three more fasts, Monday, Thursday and

Mon day. During the whole time of these three fasts they were

forbidden to do work by day, to do more business than was

absolutely n eces sary, to build or to plant, and to give greetin gs

to one ano the r; they were to be like men who were in d isgrac e

with the Almigh ty. If Nisan (April) came and the sun reach ed

the beginning of the constella tion of the Ox, they did n ot 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 iO»



he p of Palestine SoulsFjcludinq th? mountains

bu r. trenchiftovsKu

. Tel-

y/2 Gi[cat»ou«-/oomi/ ioil o> Ihs Plain^ of Jofdan J '

iou (]<>avn Laamu s o i l ,

\afith land SoiZ

FTZT1 Dun, W

public square, and all the people collected there, wearing sack-

• cloth They put ash es 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 sham e an d repent, and each

one took and placed som e on his own head. After that theyused to call on a "Zaken" and "Chacham" to rise among them

while they sat; if there was not among them one who was both

«Chacham 1' and «Zaken" they called on a «Chacham"; if there

was neither "Zaken" nor «Chacham " they called on one w ith a

good presence. He addressed to them words of reproof as fol-

low s: "My brethren , it is not sackcloth an d 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 sackc loth 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 pra y: one who was well versed in prayer and

practised in the reading of the T orah , th e Pro phe ts 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 co uld sing tunes. If with all these qua li-

ties he was a « Zake n" as well, he suited perfectly; if he

was not a "Zak en", since he had these qualities, he was

fitted to pray. After pra yers all the people w ent out to the ce-

metery and prayed there. If rain began to fall wh ile they were



fasting, it depended on the state of the ground how long they

should w ait before breakin g their fast. If the grou nd was very

dry they waited till the rain had penetrated in a han dbre adth ; if it

was in a m edium state, two han dbre aths and if it was tilled,,

three handbreadths.

Ancient customs surviving at the present day. — Like in

ancient times, most parts of the country are dependentrather ,011 the rain from heave n that on the cha sm that

yawns beneath. The though t of the cu ltivator 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 drough t.

The notion of "days of fullness" has been preserved intact.

(Jemot ha-hamma, jemot hag-gesliamim, jeme garid, jeme rebia).Though the w orship of Baal has come to naught, his name

has not d roppe d away with the pass age of centuries and beliefs.

"Ard baa l" and "Ard Shak i" are current expression s with the

Fellah of to-day, just as in the Mishnaic period. "Beit-ha-Baal"

and "Beit-ha-S halhin" 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 them-

selves unable to bring down the rain either with their cries or

by cutting thems elves with knives and lancets till the bloodgushed out upon them. Up to this very day the soil bears the

name of Baal. "Rain is the Lord of the soil", says the Ta lmud .

And even now the rain of heaven is regarded as a bridegroom

coming forth to fructify the earth, his bride.

"Th e rain in its time" is the greate st of heaven's blessings

10

11



p CD_r. re

2 . GO

Sf

O J O J

GJ is»

CO '>~

CO

re re o_

i" 2. oN cr E cr

re en 2. 2

W (ji w

ON CO GJ

>£s U l

(Jl CO Ul

<J\ Ul ^-J

to to wUl -J OJ

— *- bo

- ? oo coCO i. Ci «

GJ »— >—• t£>

Ul Co O CO

^° 9°to ui

CO OJ OJ

iO ^- O

to to

^J Ul

to to co to*>• OJ to toOJ >— Co >—

co ~: GOre 03

O

re

OJ to i—

O CO O\

CO CO _~J

CO CO 0J

to co

OJ Is*

Ul O\co co

0J 0JUl OJ

co to co;-J -J Ului co Co

co to cou. 0J toCo Co ^

W Q] -J

co ^- b\

00 I UI Ul

T3 n>ro3 to

even to-day . The sign s of the times may have chan ged, but not

the times them selves, nor yet the no tions of the times. "El

Vusm i", nothing else than a translatio n of the idea of Yore (early

rain) as it stan ds in Saa dya the Sage, exists in the every-d ay

speech of the Fellah. They distinguish betwe en the first early

rain beginn ing five day s before the festival of St. Georg e in

Lydda, and the latter early rains c oming 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 Novem ber 18, roughly corre spon ding to the month of

Heshvan , or its 8th day , as it was fixed in the Mish naic period .

When the skies withh old the ir blessin gs, they try to bring them

down by prayers and supplications, by cries, exhortation s, and

sacrifices. Eac h district has its local rites. The re may be a

procession of girls in the twilight after the evening m eal, bea ting

empty petrol tins containing peb bles, in. order to make even

more noise. They knock at the doors of the houses, and are

sprinkled with water. An old w oman m arches before them, a

handm ill on her he ad, on top of which a rooster shut in a

basket crow s lustily to call forth divine com passi on. A pitcher

of water occasionally replaces the hand-m ill. A white cock

and a black hen are carried along and beaten at intervals so

that they may cry all the loud er. Grain and flour sifters are

carried on the head to sym bolise the famine threate ning man

and bea st. Sometimes an old woman riding a donkey back ward s

and carrying an infant grinds an empty han d-m ill. The se figures

are meant to personify inn ocence . The old wom an can no

longer do wrong , while the infant has not yet tasted sin. The

rooster represents the domestic animals.

Elsewhe re they carry an effigy through the streets, water

being sprink led thereon from within the hou ses. T he effigy is

dressed like a wom an. It is mad e like a cros s, a pitch fork

1213



fastened to a beam . A white kerchief ma rks the place of the

head.

All these custom s, as Dalman n relates, conform w ith the

prevailing religious belief. They are an ou tgrowth of ancient

custom s dating from the times of the Baalim, of self-lacerations

and sacrifices and limping at the hip. The proc ession s, the

noise, the cries, all are of the essence of the ceremo nial. Theturning of the mill is expec ted 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 pow ers in motion, to draw the

compassion of God to all his creatures, man and beast, wom an,

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 dom inion over the fruit

of the soil neither throug h an angel nor an emissa ry. Theirneeds were symbolised by the ceremonial incidental to worship

in the Te m pl e: the joy of the drawin g of wate r, the libation of

water, and c ircuits abo ut the altar. After the destruc tion of the

Temple these c eremonies were transferred to the Synagogues in

the praye rs for rain and dew , the harve st festival or the Fea st

of Ta ber nac les, and the festival of freedom, or Pass over , 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 inMosques and sch ools. In the Jerusalem Mosque there are spe -

cial praye rs for rain. After the prayer the cantor turns his robe

to produce a change in the weather. Occasionally they carry

out a public ploughing ceremon y 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 dep end s on the bounty of

heaven in most of its districts. Now as of old the greatest wis-

dom 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 croppingsystem the husbandm an can establish his dominion over the

earth and compel it to respond to his demands.

15



C h a p t e r T w o.

SEASONS OF AGRICULTURAL WORK.The festivals of Israel are fixed for the most part accord-

ing to the seas ons of ag ricultural labou r: the countin g of the

Ome r from the feast of Pa ssov er, the feast of first fruits, and

the feast of in-gath ering. Now as of old the work of the thresh-

ing 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. Tha t is then where life

throbs both by day and night. The harvest passes, the summer

ends, the threshin g finishes, and the threshing floor is emptiedof living creatu res and the last rem nants of pro duce . The n

commences the great work of household renovation, the women

taking com ma nd. It is they who gather dry grass in the fields

and bring it home on their shoulders , who m ix mud for mortar

and crush to powder the animal dung when it has been dried..

A mixture of these materials with stubble serve s for plaste ring

the roofs and the walls. Under the diligent han ds of the wom en

the walls are clothed with new coats of plaster. The low con e-

shaped straw-stacks are renovated with a new coat of moist

plaster. The men after the hard work of the threshing -floornow sit with their h ands folded and chat idly, raisin g the while

their eyes to heaven- app ealin gly; for without the early rain the-

husbandman cannot go out to his work in the field.

The first rain. — The first early rain which deserv es the

name m oistens the soil to a depth of abou t 20 nun s. It is only

16

Meurliug the plough.

First



then that the Feilah can begin to open up the field. The work

commences with a proce ssion of the.e lde rs 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 'ex -

tending the length of the field to which each Fellah is assi g-

ned with a bread th of one to three ox-go ads. When the me a-

surement has been finished, the time of ploughing be gins. The

plough of the Fellah is light, correspo ndin g to his beast. The

combined strength of the two of them canno t make so much

as a deep scratch in the dry soil left by the harvest, much less

peel off the crust of the groun d. Consequ ently as a rule the

Fellah does not plough the ground as it is left after the harv est,

but only after the rain has fallen. He is practically compe lled

to do this by the nature of his implements and the composition

of his soil, which for the most part is heavy. Only where th e

dry ground left after the harvest is light the Fellah does notwait 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 be-

fore then it is impo ssible to sow, but also to allow time for

the sprouting of the we eds, which they can destro y with the

ploughing, thus assuring the cultivated plants against the attacks

of the noxious ones.

Opening furrows. - The opening up of the field is don e

with rough ploughin g. The furrows are open and are usua lly

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 smo oth

surface. Ground which is ploughed finely with narrow and close

furrows is not so receptive of the rain as w hen it is plou ghed

with open furrows.

17



then that the Fellah can begin to open up the field. The work

commences with a proc essio n'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 indivi dual plots , the plot ex-

tending the length of the field to which each Fellah is ass ig-

ned with a breadth of one to three ox-goad s. When the mea-

surement has been finished, the time of ploughing b egins. The

plough of the Fellah is light, corresp ondin g to his beast. The

combined strength of the two of them cann ot make so much

as a deep scratch in the dry soil left by the harve st, m uch less

peel off the crust of the grou nd. Con seque ntly as a rule the

Fellah does n ot plo ugh the ground as it is left after the harve st,

but only after the rain has fallen. He is practic ally compe lled

to do this by the nature of his implements and the composition

of his soil, which for the most pa rt 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 place s there are

some who even sow before the early rain (Afir). Many, however,

wait with their sowing till the rain comes not only because be-

fore then it is imp ossi ble to sow, but also to allow time for

the sprouting of the wee ds, which they can destroy with the

ploughing, thus assuring the cultivated plants against the attacks

of the noxious ones.

Opening furrows. — The ope ning up of the field is d one

with rough ploughing. The furrows are open and are usually

distant 20 centimetres from one another. The object of this is toopen up the tight ground to the penetr ation of the rain, w hich

will be retained in the open furrow and so w ater the smo oth

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



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. Theancient Hebrews

distinguished between rough ploughing and fine ploughing, be-

tween 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 anddoes not turn it up. It performs, very slowly it is

true, but very thoroughly, all the functions for which a combi-nation 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 clean-

liness 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

T a b l e 3.

Calendar of Operation on a Fellah's Farm.(80—100 Dunams).

<ind of operat ion

Opening furrows

SowingOpening 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

T ra nspor t ,,

Pulling of beans

Transport „

Harvest of FaenumGraecum

T ra nspor t of „ „

Harvest of wheat

T ra nspor t of „

&•£C

' Wheat

Barley

Beans

Chick peas

Faenum Graecum

Harvesting of durra

Transport „ „

Threshing „ „

Harvest of se sa me

Threshing „

Total

Se a son

Nov . -De c .

Dec-Jan.Ja n . -Fe b .

Fe brua ry

Ma rc h

>»

April

j»

M ay

n

June

n

n

„

n

»

June-July

n n

June-Sep.

n )>

)i >>

)) n

i) n

August

>>

Sept.-Oct.

September

October

Working days

Me n

5

12l3'/20

( 8

2

1

4

2

—

—

_

5

1

—

1

2V2

20

4

15

10

3

i )

2

@

u »(

3 >

/ ' 3 '

"4

147

Women

—

—

—

—

2

—

—

—

12

4

5

2

—

3

—

l l / a

5 / ,

20

8

3

2

&/'

a •

2

• 1

75V2

Child-ren

_

—

—

—

—

-_

—

_

—

20

8

1

U\••

1

-

-

—

-

31 i

Working days(animals)

Oxen

. 15

36

10

24

24

12

3

12

6

—

—

_

—

—

_

—

-

—

—

70

20

8

8

—

—

4

2

262

Camels

-

-

—

—

—

—

—

—

-

—

—

—

1

1

-

4

-

-

—

—

—

_

1

1_

11

19



T a b 1 e 4.

Calendar of operations on an Arab farm in different Seasons.

Seaso n s

Va Nov.—January

Feb.—March

April—'4 May

Vs May-1/* Nov.

To ta l

78

59

45

183

365

Rain and Idle days

24

2 4 i -

4 ! -

10

15

l !

13

52 ~ 39

o 3.

12

2

3

16

4

- 19

I

- 1 19

~ I 7

25

1

33

101 ! 101 I 69

17 ! 20 i 101 146 128

T a b l e 5.

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

Locality

Dagania A

Nahalai

Ben-Shemen

Uep t h | H2O I

0-60

0-30

0-50

CaCo, Cl Org.Matter

SaltsSoluble

in Water

7-00 0-18 0-37|39-25

11-17 0-20

10-351 0-17

0-54 7-54

0-431 15-8

0-2110-0060! - ! 0-085i I i

0-12! - j 1-26 j

I | i

0-161 - 0-70

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

0-60

0-30

0-50

10-2

49-75

28-88

0,1-2,0

30-1 37-1 i 22-5

14-51 j 18-29 17-21

17-54 ! 19-22 34-29

Total

99-90

99-76

99-93

WaterCapacity

*) The income of £ 12 during the leisure days, derived from outside work, is-

Included in the account of income and expenditure of the Fellah's farm (see Chapter IV),

20

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 rota-

tion crops (kerab); in this way he automatically destroys the

weeds and prevents them from injuring the winter crops sownin 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 de-

termined 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, thepreparation 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 issown 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



dry crust then covers over the seeds and the germ inatio n is

assure d. Sesame is sown in two way s. One is like that of

sowin g durra, only to the side of the plough share is attached

a board like a wing ab out twenty centimetres. broad which

swe eps aside the loose dry dust and so clears a way for the

sesam e seeds to fall on to the moist layer wh ich has been

opene d. The object is twofold. On the one hand the germ i-

nation is assured , and on the other it becom es easier for the

tender seeds to spring up, as they have not to break throug h

the thick crust, a task which is sometimes beyond their strength.

Under this method the covering of the se eds is made with .

moist loose dust. The second kind of sowing is called: "she-

gag parhah.", i. e. sowing with two ploughs. One plough op ens

a furrow with wings on each side. Behind it comes the sower—

a youn g lad —who with his hand throws the grains throug h

the funnel into the furrow which has been opened on moist

soil. The second plough then pass es after the sower through the

open furrow, and takes the m oist dust from the side for cover-

ing. Th us, while the first plough is returning to open the se-

cond 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, sesam e

after them. Rain injures the sesame whether it com es down

on it before the germina tion or after. Before germ ination it

closes the dust of mulch and prevents the sprouting of the seeds.

After germination it causes a splitting of the ground , becau sewith 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 ta-

ken to protect the fields from the inroads of noxious plant s,

and the "junbut" (Pros opis Steph aniana Willd.) is cut down

22

and the "helfeh" upr ooted . The clearing and the weeding are

done in the months of Sivan and Tammuz (June and July).

The harvest season. — The harve st 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 ses ame is plucked up with the

roots, but the durra is doubled over, the stalks being left. Thesesame does not ripen all at the same time; the gatherer goes

into the field every day and picks out by the colou r of the

pods those stalks which are ripe for plucking. It is not possible

to wait till they all grow ripe,- becau se the sesame pod s, when

they ripen, split, and the seeds fall out on the ground.

All the mem bers 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 abou t one dunam. The reaped

cereals and the plucked leguminous plants are made into

sheaves in the field, and are the n car ried awa y to the place ofthe 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 gleane rs, 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 pu rpose 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 anim al, 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 mange rs by the side

23



of the hea p, and eat during the pe riods of rest. During the

first and last threshin g a muzzle is put on their mo uths. The pre-

cept "thou shalt not muzzle an ox in his threshing" is not observed.

In the days of the Turks it was custom ary to divide the

produc e into eight hea ps in the shape of bricklin gs, at the

threshing place, and occasionally in the field. One of the eight

heap s was for the taxgatherer of the Osher Tax . The G overn-

ment took its portion in kind, and farmed out the Osher by

public auction. Th e taxgathe rer used to pitch h is tent, which

was ornamented with bright-coloured curtains by the side of

the threshing floor. The luxury of this tent wa s in glaring

contrast with the poverty of the environment. Its watchers had

their eyes on all side s of the threshin g-floor to see that the

produce was not tampered with. The produce that was threshed

in the day was sealed up at night in woo den presses which

left their shape on the heaps of grain. Every touch altered theshape and revealed the offence. The present Government had

arranged after the occupation to receive the Osher tax in money.

It sent a sses sors to value the crops, and the owner of the

produ ce paid according to the valuation, in instalm ents. If the

village could not come to an- agreem ent with the asse ssors ,

they divided the harvest on some thresh ing-floors into ten

heaps, from which the assessor choosed one. They then threshed

this one and used this as a stan dard for fixing the amount of

produce. According to some, the valuation was usually too high

in the ca se of legumino us p lants an d too low for cerea ls,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 w hol e; in the village a special comm ittee is formed levying

40 to 70 mils per dunam, according to the types of the soil.

24Loading



Feeding stubbles

The threshing. — The first o peration in connection with the

threshing-floor is the scatterin g and brea king up of the c om-

pact usuriboth." This is done as a rule by men working in pairs

to the acco mpa nime nt of the song "El Allah", and it is over

by the beginning of the hot time of the day, the time for thresh-

ing. All the draug ht anim als, the ox, the ass and the cow,

go up to tread the produce which is heaped up on the thresh-ing-floor. W hen the produc e 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 sp ans of an ox, an ass and

a camel togethe r. A little boy looks after the threshin g-bo ard,

and in the heat of the day goes round and round with his ani-

mals. The dry.stu bble is crushed under the threshing-board and

the produce is sepa rated into straw, short crushed stubble an d

grain. The father Fellah stand s by, turning and clearing the

threshing-floor until the day cools and the shadows of eveninglengthen. Then the animals also are liberate d. The child takes

them to the well to water them, brings them back to the thresh-

ing-floor, and ties them to man gers full of tibn which have

been prepared for them. Mean while the Fellah makes his pre-

paration 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 "ksn ria" (first threshing) is

finished and there are no stalks left in the threshed produ ce

("tarcha", in Hebrew "medusha"). The Fellah then lifts up the

"tarcha" and arrange s it in a close heap facing east and w est, andprepares to separate the straw from the wheat. He winnows when

there is a wind blow ing and com me nces with the first morning

breezes. When he has finished winnow ing the heap he scatters it

again over the "tarcha", and comm ences to thresh "tnai." In the

"tnai" threshing the Fellah does not use the threshing-boa rd, 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 way-

for a few days . Now an d then he exam ines to see if there are

still any grains in the clumps. When no more are found, the-

"tna i" is finished. He then lifts up the "t arch a" a second time

and arranges it in a heap as in the "ksaria ". He swe eps 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 thresh-

ing-floor, and arran ges it into a special heap which is called,

the heap of the "terabia h". He winnows the "tna i" in the

morning and evening winds to separa te the straw, and in the

midday w inds to separ ate the grain from the stubb le. When the

wind slacken s a little between midday and evening, from abou t

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..

The se remna nts are in turn arranged in another hea p which is

called the heap of the "sa ba liah " for a new threshing-floor

("tarc ha" ), threshes it, lifts it up and winno ws it. Finally he

winnows the heap of the "tarabiah" from dust, and clods of earth,

with grains are left in the hea p. The wives of the Fellaheen

beat this heap with sticks, break up the clods of earth, and

strain the grain s. Wh atever is left after the beating and the-

straining they wash in water, softening the earth an d picking

out the grain s. The thresh ing is done in the heat of the day

when the sun beats down on the head, after the dew which,

came down on the produc e has evaporated, and the produce

has become so dry that it can be easily broken up under the-feet of the animals and the spikes of the threshing-board.

This is the thresh ing system common in Judea . In Galilee-

the fellah prep ares a little h eap every day, the thresh ing of

which may be finished during the day. The second day he adds-

26

a fresh heap and threshes it during the day, and so on. When the

first threshing of the whole heap — called the "ks aria " — is

finished, the little thresh ed hea ps lie aroun d in a w ide circle the

centre of which — the place where the heap of produ ce lay-

before — is empty. In the spac e left in the centre the fellah

arranges new threshing heaps (in Galilee called "na'am"), and

every evening when its thresh ing is finished, he add s it to the

big heap. Thus, the threshing of the "na'am" is carried on till

the whole "ks aria " is finished, and only then doe s the fellah

start winnowing.

The threshing of the sesame is done in a spec ial w ay.

The sesame stalks are arran ged in a closed circle, from which

they are taken out in bun dles . The se are then beaten with a

stick on the ends of the pod s. This mak es the seeds fall out,

and the empty stalks are then put back into the middle of the

circle. Th us the sesam e threshing-floor is com pose d of thre e

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 stacke d in the shape of a cone, and is plas t-

ered with a mixture of mud, stubble and dung to a thickness

o( few centimetres. Th is forms the storehouse of tibn. These

storehouses are alwa ys erected by the side of the thr esh ing -

floors. Dung for burning is stuck on the walls of these sto re-

houses to dry.

The period of the threshing -floor, with all its vario us ma -

nifestations, goes on from Iyar to Tishri (May to Oc tobe r), d ur-ing which time it is a scene of varying c olou rs. Th e heap s

of wheat are golden ye llow, those of durra are white like milk,

while those of sesam e shine with a pale gold. Th e mixed spa ns

of ox, ass, and camel yojced to the thre shin g-bo ard go round

and round, led by a little boy . The men winn ow to the wind

27



the prod uce that has been thresh ed, the corn falling by its.

weight in columns while the chaff flies away. The women beat

with stic ks and sm all hamm ers the re mna nts of the stalks which

have esc aped the threshin g-bo ard and the hoofs of the animals,

and shake the sieves. From the time of Ruth up to this day

there has scarcely been any chan ge, neither in the method s of

operation nor in its notions.

28

First thveshins with animals

Threshing with the threshing hoard



Final fcLireshini^ witk animals

Yiew of the thrcshinqr floor

C h a p t e r T h re e .

' ' 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 se ason,

except wheat, w hich continues to grow for abou t six weeks

after the later rains. Summer p lants grow in the sunny pe riod,

being nurtured by the deposits of rain which are stored in the

ground, and by the dew, and rain itself reach es 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 se same . Leg uminous plants

and summer plants are called " ker ab" (i. e. rotation crops).

Cereals are sown after kera b, 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 plan ts in heavy

soil are w heat and. barley; the main summ er crops are durra

and sesame. Barley is the best crop in light soil and w heat in

heavy soil, which is the more important in the sphere of crop-

growing. Durra is best in poor soil a nd sesam e in rich soil

and in a rainy year. In Galilee chick-pe as do well, in Judea

and in Samaria not. Karsena, jilb ana, and lentils are not of

much importanc e, and are only for dom estic use . In the rota-

tion of crops they take the place of durra or sesame on the-

29



Yiev,' of the threshing floor

*?$\

C h a p t e r T h re e .

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 sea son,

except wheat, w hich continues to grow for abou t six weeks

after the later rains. Summer plants grow in the sunny pe riod,

being nurtured by the deposits of rain which are stored in the

ground, and by the dew, and rain itself rea che s 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 sesa me . Legu minou s plants

and summer plants a re cailed "ke rab " (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 summ er crops are durra

and sesame. Barley is the best crop in light soil and wheat inheavy soil, which is the more important in the sphere of crop-

growing. Durra is best in poor soil a nd sesam e in rich soil

and in a rainy year. In Galilee chic k-pea s do well, in Judea

and in Samaria not. Karsena, jilba na, a nd lentils are not of

much importan ce, and are only for dom estic use. In the rota-

tion of crops they take the place of durra or sesame on the-

29



slope s of the mountain s or on the moun tains. The rotation of

crops usual on light sandy ground is barley and lupines. Lu-

pines 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

drou ghts are frequent, a rotation of three years is usua l: (1) durra,

(2) sesame or fallow, (3) whe at. In the same way a rotation of

three years is observ ed on soil the prod ucts of which suffer

from the ravag es of insect pests (Arad, m eduad , Syringopais

temperatella): two years of kerab and one year of wheat.

Division of the field a ccording to the kinds of crops. — In

regard to area the major portion is taken up by whea t and

durra . As a rule the Fe llah sows half of his fields set aside for

winter plants with two thirds w heat a nd less than o ne-third

barley. The same ap plies to durra and sesam e, durra taking up

the greater part of the area. In a rainy year the area devotedto sesam e is increas ed. Hence one may say that the rotation of

crops as a rule i s: one year wh eat and one year durra, or one

year wheat and one year sesame.

In the valley of Jezreel and in Galilee legum inous plants

are sown more than in Judea and Sharon, the districts where

durra and sesam e thrive be st. T he fields from Petah Tikvah

to Tulkarem have a particularly g ood appearance. Handsome

fields of durr a and sesam e 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 dim-

inished and that of durra increased.

The order of sowing is, first beans, then barley, karsena,

early lentils, and last of all wheat. Sow ing is finished by the

middle of Shebat (Februa ry). Of summer plants the first to be

30

sown is chick peas, then c ome s durra an d last of all after the

later rains sesame.

The distribution of pla nts in the fields of the Emek is in

the following proportion:

From 8—10 kels*) of wheat 60 dunams

2.5 kels barley 10 duna ms

1 — 1.5 kels karse na 5 dunam s0.5 kels lentils 5 duna ms

V3 kel durra 50 dunam s!/8 kel sesame 10 duna ms

2 kels chickpeas- 10 dunams

150 dunam s = l feddan.

The kerabs according to their importance. — The kerabs are

not all of the same value. The most valuable are not the nitro-

gen-fixers but the cultivated c rops . The storing of m oisture in

(he ground and the destru ction of weed s are more impo rtant

than the storing of nitrog en for increasin g the yields. Wh enthere is not sufficient mo isture in the grou nd the materia ls

of nutriment found in abu nda nce in the earth are of no avail,

since they are not soluble and consequently cannot be absorbed

by She plant. It is the we eds th at destroy the crop s. 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 exception-

ally favourable cond itions for its develop men t, as it does not

meet with any com petitors which encroach up on its preserve s.

These plants also destroy the fieldmice, or at any rate make itharder .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: whe at and legum inous crops 72-75 kgs., durra 72 kg,

bar ley 50 kgs, sesame 50 kgs. Every kel contains 12 "meeds" .

31



cases, if it is.properly prepared, be a better kerab than chick-

peas , for instance, which gather nitrogen.

As already stated, w heat and barley are the principal

sou rces of the incom e of the farm. In the choic e of kerabs-

preference has al.vays to be given to those which create the

best cond itions for the developm ent of these p lants. A distinct-

ion must be made between kerabs for summer plants, kerabs forhalf-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 pa rticu lar care. It is broken up in such a way as to

become loose and open to the air, w hile being well drenched

with rain water in its lower layers. Th e mulch of the brokea

and loosened crust protects the rain water which is stored inthe ground from evapor ation. Th e 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 ex-

hau st the surface layer, and they prep are a path for the whear;

which is to come after them. The constant hoeing required Ut~

sesam e loosens the ground still more and preserves its moist-

ure. The constant w eeding also destroys the weed which are|« I

left after the winter plo ugh ing s. The dest ructio n of wee ds, ~"~

has been mentioned, is an essential condition for the success

of the wheat, w hich com es to grief even in the best soils if thweeding is not done properly . The fertile soil which produce

the wheat p roduces also p lants 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 impossib le to exterminate them by weeding;

alone. Not only is the wheat injured through being trodden ~

32

Banna field [Ladies' fingers, Hibiscus]



" • •



H

— a:

C O C O C O C O

r o > — co co i— i— u> coL U W V O CT\ - J >— —J CO ON 00 Ul O --J CO ~-J <J\ i—•

I . I I I I I I Ii — I * - C O C O U l C O U l <_ n

V O * » - J - ^ 1

O »— i—

I I I

O 00 »—' I I

^ Ul 00

CO CO -J

i— 00 O\

-J OI I

i—> — 4I I

H , -O -R

nQ. Q.

34

NumberofFeddan!

CD

S o

CO

crq

CO

I by the wee ders, but their efforts to destroy all the we eds are

unavailing. War must be joined with the weeds while the fields

are under kerabs, and the whe at must find a field prop erly

prepared for it in respect both of tillage and of the eradication

of weeds.

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 con sidera ble. Very often all the

trouble and care bestow ed on it are only for the sake of the

wheat that is to come after it. Such wh eat alway s yield s a lar-

ger crop than w ould b e the case if it were sown in a field of

any other kerab . The whea t is sown after it without any further

prep aratio n of the soil, because after the plucking of the s esam e

the surface soil is left loose , broken up, leaving e xcellent m ulch

and free from all remn ants of stalks. The seeds are merely buried

by one ploughing over close furrows. The drawback of sesame

is that its success depend s too m uch 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. Fu rther, the same

crop does not all ripen at one time, and this makes the in-

gathering more difficult.

B. Bamia. — Of equal value with sesame is bamia. This

plant is not very com mon in Palestin e. It is sown with a spac e

of 60—80 cm s. between the rows , and it is ploug hed over all

the time that it is growing. The roots are stronge r than those

of sesam e, and draw up their sustena nce from below . The

plants look like twigs of woo d, and form a covering for the

groun d. The bamia leaves the ground free from wee ds; but

it leaves be hind strong stalks which have to be cleared away

from the field.

C. Durra. — Durra is of inferior value, as it exh austs the

soil. It has , however, d eep ro ots, and it loose ns the groun d and

35

i\



peas. In Galilee peas are importa nt as a kerab , especially in

places where sesame does not thrive owing to climatic condi-tions or to the character oi the soil. The great advan tages of

these kerabs is that througho ut 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 afterward s. These species are also nitrogen-

gathe rers, 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 -sick le. Remnants of the roots are always left in

the ground, even when the plants are plucked up by hand.3. Winter kerabs. — Bea ns, lentils, karsena, "h ilba", and

other kinds of legum inous 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.

Thi s plant requires a deep soil, and in thin soil it will not

36

throw s a shad e 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. T he dew has unqu estionably a great influence on its

grow th. As late as ten o'clock in the morning its leaves are

still wet with dew. Be sides the fact already mentione d, that the

durra exhausts the soil, it has a further drawback, because the

field sown with it is left covered with large stalk s which have

to be cleared away (though it must be mentioned that they

serve as food for cattle and as fuel, and therefore cann ot be

reckoned as w aste), and the whole ground is broken into }

crannies.

2. Half-summer kerabs.— Karsena, late lentils and chick-

prosper. These species as a rule do not produce large crops

and beans are worth the trouble they require only in first-class

soil. W hen it is grown repeate dly in the same field, its yield

falls off. Still, when th ere is no other k erab it has to be sow n

for the s ake of the w heat which is to follow it. In pl ace s

where sesame will not grow well on account of climatic con-

ditions, it is practically the only kerab. Beans may also be reaped

with a scythe or reaping m achin e; 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 m oisture still remains in the ground, and

later on it causes to spring up summe r weeds which are in-

jurious to the wheat which is sown subsequ ently. 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 m ore

reliable.

Among winter kerabs are to be reckoned also vegetables

like onions etc. These plants possess all the advantages enum-

erated in the sesame, and some of them even surpass it. T he

special preparatio n of the ground, the constant hoeing and

weeding, and the properties of the plants themselves with their

peculiar deep-grow ing, b road, stro ng and branching roots — all

these things improve the mechanical charac ter of the g round,

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. Th is kerab is po ssible, however, only in

37



villages close to a town which prov ides a market for veg e-

tables, and on limited a reas , and* it is not merely a sub sidiary

prod uct used for the rotation of seed s, b ut it has substan tive

value of its own as an important source of income. The same

remark applies to the water-melons which are used as a sum-

mer kerab for barley in certain districts , especially in the ne igh-

bourho od of the sea-ports in Sharon . T hese plants bring inmuch more than wheat and barley; they are reckoned the prime

source of incom e in the farm, and they are an end in them -

selves rather than a mere accessory to wheat and barley.

4. Fallow- - In places where sesame does not thrive, like

the Jorda n valley, or in districts whe re 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

kera bs and a portion is left fallow,- that is to say, it is ploug hed

at the end of the winter, and then left fallow for a year.

Th e fellaheen call this tillage "kera b bar ad" i. e. rainy

tillage. In the N orth it is called "sunny crop -grow ing" and in

the South "sun fallow." Th is is the metho d of dry farming, but in

an imperfect form , becau se it lacks the operatio ns 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 pra ctised only in certain cases and under special conditions.

C h a p t e r F o u r .THE HARMONIOUS STRUCTURE.

The whole farm of the Fellah forms an organic unity. Every-

thing is produce d in it by his own po we rs; he is not depend -

ent on any external econom ic factors and he is not affected

by the changes and vicissitudes of the outer world. The sim-

plicity 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 app ears

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 catt le. All work in his ho use

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 tw o fields rota tion of crop s there is thoroug h

regularity. The winter cereals alternate either with cultivated

crops or with nitrogen-gatherers. But the only product which

yields a good income withou t involving much expen diture is

wheat. It is a higher yielder in itself than other c rops, and the

reaping and ingathering do not cost much. The other specie s

require plucking, some of them w eeding and tending, operation s

which require many hand s. These manual operations however

do not affect the profit of the Fellah. His work h as no money

i i

38 39



value for him. It is no commodity in the market and there is

no price for it. In a country where ind ustry 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 comm ands 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 implem ents and quick-w orking

cattle if the work can be done also with light implem ents w hich

he acquires for a few pou nds 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 appe aran ce and in its structure seem s to

have risen out of the soil on which it stands. It is indeed for-

med from that soil—dust of its dust and stone of its stones. The

Arab village is a creature which takes its colour from its envi-

ronmen t. In the plain it is built of mud, all hom e man ufacture

not costing a penny. The m aterials are co mp osed of the dust

of the earth, of the straw w hich it prod uces and of the dung

of the animals which it feeds. These prime materials are work-

ed 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 m ountains the houses

are built of stones from the mou ntains. The mem bers of the

Fellah's family collect the stones with their own h ands and

raise the w alls, and the village builder only comp letes the struc-

ture. The Fellah buys from outs ide nothing ex cept the corner

stones and woo d for the roof and the do or. The stalks of tall

grass covered with dust are used to cover the roofs. This dust

produc es 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

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.Afakini, sun-dried bricks

Bin for chopped straw (teben)



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Buildings. - In the Shefelah the whole village is surrounded

with a mud wall. Acc ording 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. The y are, howe ver, sufficient for

the needs of the Fellah. H ouse adjoins ho use and every court

is surroun ded with a high fence made of mud . Th is 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 roomwhich serve s at once as a dwelling for m en, a resting place for

beasts and a storehouse for produce, i The house of the well-

to-do Fellah has a numbe r of room s: 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 "tab bun " (the oven). Som etimes two families

live in one court. The low conical straw-stack s 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, ston es £ 3—4; wood for

roof and door £ 2 ; build er's w ages from £ 5—6 ; total

£ 10—12. In the Shefelah, stub ble (Kash) £ 1 — 1.5; wood

£ 2; total £ 3-3.5.

Working Animals.— The Fellah's implements are also home

ma de; they are not brought from a distance or from abroad.

The w hole of his land, covering from 120 to^ 150 dunams , he-

works with three oxen , or with a horse or a camel - " seek a" in

his own langua ge. He gives the preference to oxen for thefollowing rea son s: (1) they are cheaper to maintain than any

other draught an ima l; (2) the working day is longer with them,

as the oxen do not re quire to rest at midday . It is usual to go

out to the field with, three oxen and to work with two, change

43

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 forthe farm whe ther 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 twomonths 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 fo llows: 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 bringshim 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

4445

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46

open field; coarse gras ses which any other animal would dis-

dain are delightful to the palate of the cam el. The "sab ar"

(cactus) which grows roun d the villages serves a double purpo se :

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 m aster ad ds bea ns, straw, and a small qu antity

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 pr oduct of the h ome , 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, th ough the

mouth of the animal can. So too the fowls. No special food

is provided for them. They rummag e in the dung heap s and

live on the refuse and the insects creeping about there. Never-

theless they are good layers ; in some cases they are equal in

this respe ct to b irds of good stock and they have the advantag e

over them of being immune against several diseases.

Implements. — The Fellah 's implem ents are few in number

and light in weight. He carries his p lough on his should ers

when he returns from work, and a young boy looks after the

threshing boar d a nd the m ule attached to it. All his implem ents

are hom e-m ade, formed out of wood obtained on the spo t

(mostly from Zizyphus Spina Christi), only the coulter being

made of iron. The plough canno t be beaten for simp licity,

lightness and suitability to the climate, to the condition of work

and to the object in view. It performs at one stroke and with-

out calling for any undue strain or effort th e function of a

plough, a roller and a harrow . It does not bring up c lods, 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

i f

u

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i



in his passage, and, of course, it does not make them grow or

increase their numb er. When rain comes down for a long time

continuou sly or with brief in tervals, the Arab p lough is the only

one with which work can be don e. In such c ondition s th e

European plough does not cut the ground, but packs the dust

together, makes brick s, rolls the earth into ciods , and dam age s

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 shee p 20

An ass 3 - 4

A plough 0.40

A threshing-bo ard 0.60

Two wooden picks 0.15One iron pick 0.20

7 sack s for straw 0.60

One scythe 0.10

One yoke or pole 0.60

Ropes for bindin g 0.30

2 sieves 0.25

Adding a cow £ 6-10, a goat £ 0.80-1,

and 30 fowls £ : 3 -4

Total 41.20 — 47.20

14 — 14

the total for all implements and sources

of food supply is £55 .20— 61.2 0

1

48

Income and Expenditure of an Ordinary Fellah.



; li'-'t

( 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

Comm unal charges ,,Various, repairs etc. „

Osher and Verko

7

6.50

1.60

0.30

4.50

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

Olive oil 7 jars

ClothingVegetable, rice, lamp-oil, sugar etc.

2 . Income.

30 dunams wheat at 50 kg.

10 „ barley at 60 „

[0 „ karsena

30 ,, durra

1 0 „ sesame800 litres milk

1,000 eggs

Outside labour

49

ar etc.

expenditure

Total income

£

£

i )

n

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£

£

£

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£

19.90 \

1 6 ;•

7.50 !

9 !2 '

5 i

4 i

6 :;

49.50 !

69.40 != ij

20

6

6

6.50

3

12

5

12

70.50

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Yearly Expenditure of a Wealthy Fellah working

Three Feddans.

(number of souls in the family—15).

Wheat

Burgul (cooked wheat grains)

Lentils

Chick peasBeans

Olive oil

Milk

Leben

Semneh (cooked butter)

Soap

Salt

Onions

Meat

RiceEggs

Coffee

60 kels

3 ' !)

2 „

1 „1 „

100 roti

360 ,,

360 „

4 „

15 „

35 „

40 „

25 „

25 „1,800 pieces

The following live stock is held for the use of the hou seh old :

8 milch cows the lactation period of which e xtends over

six m onth s; 40—50 goa ts; 30 fowls.

Th e cow s and g oats yield 10—12 roti of milk daily. A

numbe r of eggs is sold, the income therefrom belonging to the

housewife.

The fellah in question h as also a "madafeh" (reception

room) and a separate women's house.

50

C h a p t e r F i v e .

THE WAY OF LIFE OF THE FELLAH.

1. The Fe l l ah ' s W ork ing Day .

Not every Fellah performs hard labour. The head s of

family g roup s end eavou r by every me ans to free themse lves, as

far as poss ible, from the obligation s of work. The w ell-to-do

arrange their farming in such a w ay as to let the work be done

by a "harat" (hired workman). This does not apply to the

wom en, 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 herb s in the field for cooking, pluc king herb s 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 re spects the

wom an 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 produc e on her head, or when she goes

crouching under the load of bundle s of herbs and gleaningsfrom the field on her shoulder.

Her work ing 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

51



of the night being a s of yore. And the same summ oner, who se

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 wor ship 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

chang es, even in the meanings of the summo ns. It is the third ;

crow of the cock that portends goo d fortune. Who ever takes

the road before cock crow do es 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 rooste r, be it said of the ordinary rooster. •

It is this triple c ock crow which is called awal sia/ia, tani sia/ia

an d 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 a cclaims life and daily bread. All

the pro phets of misfortune from Jeremiah to the herald s of

vision saw the wrath of God in the silencing of the voice of

the bridegroo m and the bride, in the loss of the murmu r 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 d ough of the

flour ground before day break by candle light and bake her flat *

cakes. Perhaps the milling is less toilsome in the cool of the night.

Weed ing and hoeing , harve sting 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. Suckin gs and infants yet in the cradle are borne '

out to the fields on their mo ther's hea ds and shou lders. In

the heat of the day they stay outdo ors in their cradles, right ;

among the toilers.

Hours of work.—T he 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 "pitt ah" while he is ploug hing. He

returns home abou t an hour after sunset, when he feeds his

animal and eats his own evening meal. After a few hou rs sleep

he gets up and goes to feed his oxen till daylig ht. Then he

goe s through another day in the same way. In harvest time

the Fellah begins to reap at daybre ak and goes on without

cessation till two h ours after midday . He then returns home

and gets something to eat, rests abou t two hours, and

then brings his draugh t anima l — his ass or came l —, loads it

with the produ ce which has been reaped and takes it to the

threshing -floor. During threshing time work begins with sun-

rise. Till seven he is occupied in turning over the heap or

winno wing. After that begins the threshing, which goes on till

after midd ay. From four o 'clock he turns o ver the threshed

produce (tarh'a) or makes it into a heap again.

The seasons o f w ork. — The farm of the Fellah does not

dema nd the undivided attention of its owner in this way d uring

the who le of the yea r, it occ upie s him only for four or five

months: three or four weeks in sowing the winter crops, three

or four week s in sowing the som mer crop s, and over three

months in threshing work, while two months he is idle on

accou nt of the rain. In this way he has ab out five mon ths

free for outside work (see table 4, p. 20).

The Fellah 's farm in the plain is usually mon ocultural,

being devoted wholly to crops. Occasionally the Fellah ha s

also a few score of olive frees and a handfu l 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 doe s not occupy the

Fellah the whole of the year. He is free for other work for

53

about five months. During this period he tries to gain aT a b l e 12.



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 occu-

pation in the stone quarri es, either actually working in the quar-

ries or acting as eamel-driv ers to transpor t the stones to the

towns. Those who live on the mountains work at the furnaces

and at making charcoa l. For burning lime they use "na tch "(Poterium spinosum ), a brushwood that grows on the mounta ins.

Wages are from 8—10 Piastres a day.

2 . S ize o f F a rms .

The normal unit. — An ordinary Fellah has a portion in

the village land of from 70—100 duna ms . He wor ks the whole

of this area w ithout outside assistanc e. One who has more land

engages a "hara t." T he w ages of the "h arat" 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 awa y from the

village lets his land to a tenant. The large landow ners in Ga-

lilee had stone dwellings everywhere for the residence of these

tenants. The terms of tenancy are very simple. The Effendi

gives the us e 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 D unams

in Valley of Esdraelon, in certain places 120 Dunam s) engages

a "h arat " and p ays 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 G overnment. 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.

Wheat

Barley

Lentils

Karsena

Chickpeas

Faeuum Graee.

Horse be a ns

Durra

7 0 0 - -

257-800

41-360

112-200

117-920

18-400

30-360

61-200

T o t a l 1339-240

E x p e n d i t u r e L. E.

Total seed expenses :

Tithe ;

Wahaif expenses- \

Harateen 263-288;

less weedingexpenses 3- -

144-480

167-132

118-547

260-288

Total exp.

Owner ' s part

690-447

648-793

1339-240

Sources of dat a: Calculat ed according to average p r i c e s , quantity of crops as obtained

in Tabgha (Lake of Tiberias).

See P . J . C. "Laudwirtschaftliches v o m S e e Genesareih", " D a s Heiiiê Land", M ay

1922. p. SO.

B .Income

Crops

Whe a t

Barley

Lentils

Karsena

Chickpeas

Faenum Graec.

Horse be a ns

Dur ra

T ot a l

CO

e

n

in am

< Q

52

14

9

15

14

7

2

7

120

and

<u

y}

530

150

90

150

112

42

42

14

1130

Expenditure per Feddan

to |

Yie

i n

5300

2250

360

750

900

210

' 250: 850

110870

2

Os

h

£ j

K i 1 o g r a

663 615

281 ! 235

45 6

94 11

113 26

26 1 4

31 ! 4

1061 60

i i

i

a

n

m s

1325

562

90

188

225

52

62

212

•n

"c |

o £"r-OJ

3133

1228

231

44 3

476

124

139

| 392

!

1 "

Owner ' s Part

in KIg ; in LP

2167 | 21.670

1022 I 8-176

1 2 9 | 1-419

307 3-684

424 4-664

86 j 688

111 1-221

458 | 2-352

4704 43-874

1 In this district one feddan = 120 dunams.2 Wahaif expenditures : Seed guard, Harvesting works, Threshing.

Typesof farms

1

UJ

5CO

1

No. !?-» -Kr "r' S i



w to A co

rj\ U> to Ul

^ I

era —

U l

1

CO

U

i

1

1

1

423-20

135

1

U l

1

U

-

o

136

I

U l

1

84

U)

n . :a • -3 •

Outside 1Work i

f | •

A*

U l0

CO

CA

CO

0

U lto

U l

0

CO

co

OJ

CO0

CO

COu>6\

CO

CO

U l

0

0

COco

U l

>£*U l

- j0

— J-

2 »'

n = 5

= : °no11 "—

Hro 0

Q ~"— ""*Ex-

0

>—

1

z

—

x<

c 1

n I ~

n •

o -•

^ 1o

H. ô' —

z: -2j

?

00

-

Ul

1—

0

U

0

Ul

CO

U)

j

I

to

00

500

.>.

0

U)

U i

o^0

CU OJ

U l

a 00 00 0

UlUU

00

-

1—

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£*

01—

Ul>—

to

00

to

129-8i^r

O

co100Ul

00

Ul

OO

ON CO

0 00 0

_^

U)

co

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03

ro

g

Q .

a.

U l

Ul

Ul

U)Ul

U)

>—

1

UlUl0t~200—

Ul

^^,

coUl00

CT\: "

0

<jj

0

f

0

0srro

00

03

—.

Ul

Ul

Ul

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to

to

1

Ul

Ul

00

0—

000 -

- 0

CO0

Ms — y

Q»\

OO

- J

to0

0Xro(1

Area in dunams

aC

0

Winter

Cereals

Legumin.! >

Winter

Plants : "" i

Summer

Cereals

Cultivat

53 |

Plants 1

Me n 0

ro •

O

23 •

—

A n i -m;i Is

7?n> 0

Cows > 7

Sheep3 CL

vi r1"

Cereals

Legu-minous iPlants

Sesame

710'

- • —

j/" ~"

O <=• T,C —O O

i/i O JQ

Q. "** ^* ^nro " - ,

Grainsin Kgs.

Me n < 1

A ni - 5"

inals JJ

ro

03

?r

Far

-a0

—

O

-1

^:o

56

At harvest time lie hires day labourers, giving them food



Fellniieen dwelling liouse

' Iter fliiTirffr

M l• S H H

\ V t

s s , . ^ i l lSUB

11If1

111i

r

iiiEiI

1Bedouin tent; the wifu ninkiny buttor

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 bringin g the prod uce from the field, for inga theri ng

and for threshing.All expe nses are borne by the tenant, except that for

watching, in which the owner also shares. In lieu of this outlay

the Effendi take s a meed (a twelfth part of a kel) for every

feddan wat ched . For the food of the cattle at thres hing time

also the tenant has to pay a meed for every head.

A 3. The Hous ehold of the Fella h .

The diet of the Fellah is poor and mon otonous . His staple

food is the "pittah " which he ba kes every day. A few "pit tahs "

with onions or radishes form his morning and midday meals.

A cooked meal — called by him "tabie kh" — is only preparedfor him in the evening. It consists of the herb "k hub beza " flavoured

with onions and pepper. When tomatoes are in season he eats

tomato salad flavoured with p epper. P epper 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. T he poorer Fellahs

do not obtain from their fields enough for their food and theymake up the deficiency partly by gleaning, partly by purcha se

rom outside.

Mi/k. — In many villages milk is obtained from sheep by

those who have their own sheph erds. The average number of

57

heads is 15—20. The sheep pasture on the m ountains, in the

cereal fields, and in the durra fields. The flocks are more nu-where there are no olive trees they use sesame oil which they



merous in mars hy 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 herbage-

is plentiful. All the year round the sheep live on dry food. T he

Arab cow yields about six hundred litres of milk a year, trie-

whole of it in the course of a few month s. The ewe yiel ds

50—60 litres of milk. Most of the milk is used for making curdsand 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 few-

articles in exchange.

Eggs. — Most of the Fellaheen have 30— 40 fowls. N ot one

of them knows how many eg gs he collects nor do they pay any

attention to this branc h. In the home they use this article of

food chiefly to entertain visitors. As a rule the woman sells the

eggs and gets in exchan ge 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 obtain s in the market from the sale of fowls, cheese-

and eggs, she purc hase s 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 dishof his is "pi ttah " dippe d in oil. He consum es a jar of oil p er

person per year. In some villages the Fellah has his own olive -

trees. He presses the olives in the neighbouring oil-press, leaving

the refuse in payment, while he takes away the oil. In villages.

58

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 neighbourin g 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 clo thing falls under two h ea ds :

(1) Clothing bought once a yea r; (2) Clothing bou ght every four

or five years. Every year the Fellah buys a "to b." If a Fellah

is asked how old he is he will answ er: "1 have bough t so and

so many pairs of shoes and tob s." In times of scarcity he

buys a tob every two years. An "abai ah" is bought every four

or five years, and a "tarboush" every five or six years. Expenditure

on clothing is made up as fol lows : "to bs" for a family £

2.5; shoes £ 1; proportion of the cost of the tarboush andabaiah £ 0.50; total £ 4.—

Soap. — The Fellah uses soap only for w ashing clothe s.

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 was hed once a month or once in two

months. Most families use two to for bars of soap a year, i. e.

2—4 okias, costing 6 PT. a year.

4. T he Communa l Organ isa t ion .

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 grou ps (the Hamuleh), and

59

their function is to settle dis putes which arise between the Th e right of use of every Fellah to the share mark ed on



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 comm unity. Once every two years it is

divided up among the inhabita nts of the village. The land itself

is divided into three or four main sections according to the num-

ber of Hamulehs in the village.

Every Fe llah has the right of use of a certain sha re 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), sim ilar to the Feddan of the Mishna, sometim es

by K erat (eve ry 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 situa tion. For examp le,,the land of a village

whos e area is 15,000 dunams may be divided into 30 bloc ks.

Each block (M uka) h as a different nam e which is derived from

some incident that occurred in the village or from the person

to whom the land belongs.

For instance :

Jazirat el Tak huna = Station on island,

Bez Iyoun el Assavur = Swamp "Ain el Assavour"

Kalat el Beader

El Belita

Maiab el Jazlan

El Majir

Kur Amar

= Platform of Threshing Fioor

= Oak

= Place of Gazelles,

= Caves

= Valley of Amar.

60

the Musha land is not concentrated in one block, but scattered

among the various blocks of the land of which the village is

compo sed, or in a number of single blocks, accord ing to an

agreement with the villagers. The Fellah's share is therefore

divided into plots . It may be that his plot or parce l 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 accordin g to the

kind of land. It is possible for a Seeka to be scattered among

20—30 places,l even though the number of blocks be l ess ; for

sometim es 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 4—5 metres and

the length some hund reds, 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 "T ual" , after the length of the str ips ;

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.

Sometim es the land is indicated as Musha theoretically,

whereas it is actually, by agreement among the villagers, sub-

divided land. Jewish colonies have done much to influence the

neighbouring villages to become "Mafruz" land, i. e. each indi-

vidual has his own separate land, but it is scattered in a

number of places.

The usual sha re of a fellah in the land amoun ts to from

V2—1 fedda n. Betw een Gaza and Jaffa Egyp tian fellaheen have

settled on small holdings of 30- 40 dunam s. S ometim es one of

the Sheik s or Effendis own s a half or a third of the whole

village . In som e villages it is only the Hamu lehs which differ in

61

fixed by tradition and are well know n. They are also recognised



the number of sehem s they own, some h aving a larger portion,

some a smailer, while within the Hamulah the land is divided

according to the numbe r of individuals and their share-rights.

Th e actual ow ners hip of the land of variou s villages usually

does not go back, acco rding to the report of old Sheiks, even

two gene ration s. A hundre d or hun dred and fifty years ago many

lands were empty of inhabitants. Their workers lived in neigh-bouring towns or in large villages. In the same way the southern

Fellah at the present day lives in Hebron, in Gaza, or in Beth-

Gub rin, and his land is a day or two days journe y away. Even

the capital cities of to-d ay , like Jaffa and Jerusalem, were in-

habited 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, andmen of might seized it and would not give it to others . Space

was limited and quarrels were frequent. The weak banded to-

gether into families, and took up their fixed abo de on the land

which they tilled. In some cases the wo rkers could not live in

the village owing to the shortage of water. Th ey manage d,

however, to find som e old stop ped-up wells, by opening which

they obtained wa ter; and so the last obstacles were removed.

Ploughing plots. —After the first rains the Sheiks and the

Mukhtars go out to mea sure the fields and to assign each to

his part. Measurement is made with an ox-goad about two anda 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 "h amu leh" every year, as their boundaries are

62

by ancient landm arks, which are often "living landma rks," 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 "lep eh" under the tarbou sh with

rags of different c olours, each colour re presen ting a plot.

Parcellation. — Since 1928, the Survey Depa rtment of the

Government carry out the parcellation in accordance with a list

of share s in each of the cultivation block s, which is supplied

to them by the Land Settlemen t Departme nt, after consultation

with the village authorities.

The communal affairs. — The co mm unal affairs of the village

are few. As a rule they are confined to the watch ing of the

fields and the go vernm ent taxes, and in a few villages they

include the water supply . The re is a special charge for water

only in villages where the water is deep dow n and has to bedrawn 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 undertak e

a con tract for the draw ing of the wate r, especially in the period

when the drau ght anim als are occupied in the field, that is, for

six months in the year. The d aug hters of the village carry the

water on their h eads in pit che rs, 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 expenseof watching is distributed according to area, each sehem

contributing one mesha (5 rottles of whe at). The charge for

water is made according to the number of heads and pitchers,

as a rule five Pia stres 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 whe at 40 piastres

for wa ter 120

For defraying the expen ses of the Muk htaria, of journeys

and of entertaining soldiers the Government returns 2—2 l/20/»

of the taxes to the Mukhtar.

64

C h a p t e r S i x .

THE FELLAH'S FARM UNDER EXPERIMENT.

An area of 250 duna ms is divided into seven differenttypes of farm units at the branch station at Gevath (Valley

of Esdra elon). The p urpo se of the investigation is to com pare

the typical farms estab lished in Palestine from the point of

view of the cost of cro p-pro ducti on and ret urn s; and like-

wise to ascertain the possibility of developing holdings on mo-

dern lines.

The plan of experiments was laid out by the Divisions of

Rural Econo mics and of Agronomy. The work is carried out

by the Division of Agronomy.

The area set aside for the primitive type of farm is culti-vated strictly in acc ordan ce with the prevailing system. To

ensure greater certainty, this portion has been handed over to

an Arab fellah, wh o cultivates it at his own expen se, a ccord ing

to his own me thods withou t any influence on our part, the

Division simply taking exact notes on his methods of cultiva-

tion, hours of work, the cost of maintaining his working teams

and of providing his essential food requirements.

This arrange men t will provide a clear picture from an eco -

nomic point of view ofithe advantages and disadvantages of each

type of farm under consideration over a long experimental period.

Th e Aim of the Ex per im ent s .

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

65

Division of Plant-B reeding. In regard to the first, the system Economy. — The economic value of some methods,

cost of production, etc., can hardly be established in expe-



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 Ex perimental Station, which show any relevance to the sub -

ject under review . The best method s of cultivation, combination

of manures, quantities of seeds and sowing dates are adopted.

The best selected seeds from the Division of Plant-B reedingare used. Control of diseas es and insect pests is practised

according to the instructions of the Divisions of Plant Pathology

and Entomology.

The aim of the experime nts is also to verify and to com-

pare 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 . Wh ile this size is quite sufficient to furnish com -

parative data of a relative value between the various metho ds

tried, it is too small to give their abso lute yields , themanaging 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

manu ring experime nts the investigation is limited to green

manuring versus non-man uring. Other treatments, like tillage etc.,

are done in the customary manner of the country. In the eco-

nomic 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 wh ether they are realisable under field conditions on

accoun t of technical difficulties involved, for example, the method

of sowing in strips and cultivating during the growing season

between the rows.

rimental plots , and larger fields a pproac hing 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 reg ion: —(1 ) The fellah's prim itive 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 consolid ated mixed farm, while between

them, the remaining types constitute gradual steps in deve lop-

ment These include transition farms which gradually approach

the mixed farm accord ing to a definite p lan in ad vance, 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 calc ulate d; the standard of life is low, in many cases below

poverty level.

2. The consolidated mixed farm. — This farm is described

in a separate ess ay. Its characte ristics ar e: — 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 organisa tion are

mo der n; the standard of life is com parable to that prev ailing inall 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.

66 67

l< ->Tli11



The mixed farm is the only one which can serve as an

example in respect of the stand ard 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 propose d to introduce in the other

types of farms.

Living Area.— As the consta nt factor we take a givenstanda rd of life in a certain period of years . The factors se-

curing it are subject to variatio n. 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 inten-

sification, etc.

Size of unit in the intensive farm. - T h e unit established for

an intensive farm is, for non-irrigated land 100—130 dunams;

for heavy irrigated soil, 30 dunams; for plantation soil accordingto the quality 10- 15 duna ms . 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 except-

ional cases in seasons of stress.

The extensive farm. - The size of this farm will require an

area three or m ore tim es greater than that in the above exam ples

in order to sec ure the given standa rd of life, because in a farm

of this type the revenue is com posed of the surplus income deri-

ved from the difference between the standards of life of the owner

and the workm an, in con trast to the intensive farm which reallydepe nds upon family labou r 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 cr oppin g system require excessive m anual labour and

these cro ps cannot, in virtue of their yields, produce a surplu s

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 perman ent

condition. Its system enables the prep aratio n of large areas

with few labour forces and also the increase of fertility of the

soil. The machine is, in such transition farm, im peratively

necessary; primitive tools cannot in this case take its place.

The size of the fellah's farm. —The improvement of the fel-lah's farm is possib le only in such units a s a re es tablished for

types of intensive farms dependent on the family's labour, for the

following re aso ns: —(1) the extensive transition farm can be co nsi-

dered only for unsettled areas of land and not for land distribu ted

between clos e settle rs; and (2) this farm requir es a very heavy

equipm ent costing large su ms, requires qualified labour, and

supp orts a thin popula tion. On the other ha nd it is poss ible to

raise a sm allholding to the degree of the descr ibed 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 o rganisation are entirely adap ted for growing fodder

and maintaining cows. The first dairy farms were founded on

non-irriga ble land or with slight auxiliary irrigation. Th is is

the position also to-day. The path to growing of fodder and

improvem ent of cattle is for the most part beaten out. Not so

the pa th to the market which has not yet even been found.

For by market we must mean foreign marke ts, seeing that in

Palestine the urban po pulation is sma ll and their purc hasingpower low.

In other countries intensification in agriculture proceeded

by way of conversion of grain to meat and milk. It is po s-

sible that in Palestine redem ption will come to heavy agri-

culture by "the milky way." Milk prod ucts will stand c omp et-

ition in eastern markets. All the factors of production available

69



in the country are absolutely favourable, as the writer has sho wn

in special s tudies. But a national economy cannot be depende nt

on solitary branche s even when they exist and certainly when

they are only a matter of speculation. Possibly the dairy

farm will produce competitive produ cts from heavy irrigated

soil alone. It is, therefore, necessary, for greater protection, toseek also system s of intensification which are not depend ent

upon cattle breeding.

P l a n o f E x p e r i m e n t s .

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 c arot and the wild Canary gras s. 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 erad ication of wee ds in the Arab farming fields was

done by han d little by little, in the course of successive years

of cultivation. T he soil was in a very ex hausted state, and cropsgrow n in the first year were low in y ield. Owing to the relative-

ly large size of field, only a single com ponen t of the rotation

occupies the field at a time, and, consequently, results will only

be obtain ed at the end of the variou s periods. In this respect

the farm differs from the experim ental fields, where all the com-

ponents 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

rotation s of the country, name ly: wh eat-se sam e, whea t-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.

P r e c i p i t a t i o n : — T a b l e 1 5 .

Rainfall at Gevath Experiment Station.

Month

October

November

DecemberJanuary

February

March

April

May

June

Total

1925—1926

5

9

14

9

4

5

a .5

19-7

78.01 9 6 - 7

9 4 - 4

4 3 - 3

2 0 - 0

192(5—1927

46 452-1

3

13

14

19

7

9

1 3 - 5

277-51 1 2 - 5

1 6 7 - 0

3 8 - 5

5 2 - 0

1 92 7— 19 28 1 92 8— 19 29

-Q - s

6 5 661-0

4

3

6

10

20

5

2 3 - 5

4 4 - 8

2 1 - 5

1 1 9 - 7

2 0 1 - 7

1 0 - 3

1 2 - 5

7 4 ' 0

1 5 5 - 2

2 3 L - 3

1 9 2 - 5

2 8 - 3

3 7 - 2

6-0

6-0

1929—1930

-.5 I «z« i a.

4 8 I 421-5 I 66 ! 743-0

0- 5

1 2 3 - 5

1 3 1 - 7

1 6 2 - 3

7 7 - 2

8-7

4 0 - 5

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 lan d in tenancy. He comesto work the 60 dunam s at the Station at the proper time of

operation. His family consists of six pe rso ns : the fellah and

his wife, two so ns, 3 and 17 years old, a nd 2 daug hters ,

6 months and 15 years old.

In addition to the fields of the Station the fellah wo rks

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 sum-

mer 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:

Kind of crop

Wheat

Barley

Beans

Sesame

Durra

Yield

in kels

50

28

20

19

14

f k

n

10

6

10

4

3

arh

d

ie

F

m

lOUS

suppl

15

4

-

-

5

Seeds

kels

15

3_ 2

1

1

Surplus for sale '

Quantity j Valuekels | .u

10

15

10

14

7-500

6- -

7'500

18-200

2-500

To ta l 41-700

Every worker receives 4—6 pittahs during the day, weighing

about 1 kg., a nd ve getables. When a cooked m eal is prepared,

as burghul, lentils or rice, he takes a portion of it to the field,

besides the evening meal. Then he receives during the day,

according to the seaso n: eggs or olives or tomatoes, or figs,

or saba r (cac tus fruits), and so metim es leben (sour milk) or

olive oil.

The home and farm ex pend iture of the fellah is compose d

of the following items:

' Tax es, viz. Osher and Verko and commun al expens es are not taken into account.

» Se eds which the fellah receives from the landowne r are included under "Tenancy

fees." Prices calcu lated as average of the years 1927-1929.

72

sesainu

Sosamo rhreshirur floor

A . Food.



I I l . ' i 1 | ) ( t f i l l l l T i l

9—

4

—

3

10

—

—

—

5

.—

.750

.500

.200

.260

.950

.180

.600

.500

.—

12 Kels W heat at 75 kgs. eac h, for

flour, regular price per ton £ 10-

1 kel wheat — 75 k gs. for burgu l

30 rotl meat for Sab bath s and Feasts

at 150 mils (each time xi2 rotl)

30 rotl onions per year

24 rotl olive oil at 140 mils

Rice, soap , salt, peppe r etc. during

the year, 30 mils daily

1 tin petrol per year

Semneh (cooked butter)

V2 kel lentils (37.5 kgs) at £1 per kel

Vegetables, muskmelons etc. during

the year 5.— 34.940In a ddition, the eggs of four laying hens

are used. Milk is bought only in the event ofsickness 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 8—10years 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, ex-

cept in the season of green fodder and theseason of pasture.

4 kels karsen a at 750 mils 3.—

4 „ durrha „ 4 0 0 „ 1.600

3 „ barle y „ 450 „ 1.400 6,—

Total Home and Farm Expenditure during the year £46.74 0

73

The rotation crops as well as the cereals alternate with one-



Ty pes of F a rm s unde r Expe r imen t .

/. Arab fanning. — Th ese 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 dun anis

each and based upon three types of two-year rotation :—(1) chick-peas and whea t; (2) durrha and whea t; (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- , thr ee-, and

four-year rotatio n. The total area is 30 dunam s. Crops of the

four-year rotation : leguminous, wheat, sum me r-crop s, flax.

Three-year rotation : leguminous, wheat, summer-crops. Two-year

rotation: leguminous, wheat.

4. Grain farming with cultivator. — Partition, size and rota -

tion are the same as in No. 3, but the cro ps are grow n in strips.

between which the soil is cultivated.

5. Farming based on green manuring. — 30 dunams,. divided

into three sub-fields. Green m anuring every two, three andfour years.

6. Cultivated fallow. — 30 dunam s, divided into three sub-

fields ; the same as in No. 5, but dry-farming takes the place

of green manuring.

7. Dairy farming. — 40 dunams, divided into two sub -

fields, 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 m ethods are being investigated : (1) Fallow, (2) G reen

manuring , (3) S owing in strips, with or withou t the help of

fertilizers. The frequency of repeating the first two methods are

also investigated in these fields.

Dry Far min g. *)

"Fallow practice is credited with being able to increase-

yields because of the following beneficial pro per ties :

It assures an adequate amount of moisture in the soil for

high yield s even in dry years , it r esto res 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 thatof the total rainfall. Even the m ore hu mid regions take on

a less favourable asp ect in regard to the su pply 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 larger-

area than the strictly dry regions of the country-"

"Fallow as Restorer of Fertility.-The depletion of soil

fertility is becoming more and more consp icuou s, owing to

the continuous cropping for gra in. A s dry-farming is to be-

come finally synonymous with dairyless farming, farm manurewill sooner or later go out of use. Th e only way of returning

to the soil the elements drawn from it by crops will be by

*) The paragraphs deal ing with "Dry Farming," "Green Manure" and

"Sowing in Strips" are extracts of a study by M. Elazari, Division of Ag-

ronomy , Agr. Exp. Station. The study in full compr ehen ses res ults of ex-

periments made in 1921 — 1930, and will be soon published.

75

adding chemical fertilizers. The practice of green m anuring

presents a problem by itself. It may be that this way of farm-

estimated to be about 80%. Weeds also seriously interfere with

the growth of the crop and may considerably reduce the yields.



ing will contin ue to proc eed, 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 sum mer months, from

April to October or November. But those months happen to be

at the same time quite dry and the mois ture content of the soil

is too low to stimulate intensive bacterial activities.

Thus , it seem s that the interc alatio n 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 condi-

tions. — As is pointed out above, the non-irrigable land is to be

confined to exclus ive grain farmin g. Until the last few year s,

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 con-

ditions, 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

continu ously; a reduction of yields of both crops is to be ex-

pected. In some region s, 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. F or the year of 1930, the damage is

76

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 succe ed.

For the other regions, fallowing seems to be the only effica-

cious 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 wee ds, and constitu tes 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 m ain object of green m anuring is to provide the

soil with org anic m atter, 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 un-

animously recognis ed. 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 c onside ration . Bes ides its very limited

production, actual and prospective, it will be confined to dairy

adver se conditions of rainfall. For the success of the winter

crops depends not as much upon the total rainfall as upon its

distribution.



farming. For the non-i rrigab le and conse quently strictly grain

farming the green manu ring may be the only resource of or-

ganic matter supply.

The green manu ring realises to full extent many of the

advanta ges of the dry farming method. If well prepared, the

green m anure will allow to get rid of weeds and pests. Itwill keep moisture in soil and hence encourage bacterial activities

all the year ro und. 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 man uring may advantageo usly substitute

the dry farming meth od, any way in regions with moderate

rainfall.

The same as dry-farming the green manuring may be con-

sidered as a transitory or perm anent p ractice . It may constantlyalternate with the cereal or only be intercalated from time to time.

All these effects and variations are being dealt with inthose fields."

Sowing in Strips.

"Sowing of cereals in spaced strips and cultivating between

them is not custom ary in this country. In some parts of the

drier region of the sout hern b order, rows are spaced to about

30—35 cms., but are left uncultivated during the growth of the

crop. This way of sowin g 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

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 conditio ns.

The explanation of this is easily grasped. Whatever the state

of hu midity of the soil m ay be, fissures are boun d to form

sooner or later after a certain period of dry weather persist s.

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 dry ness 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 possi ble the forma-

tion 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 imp leme nts.

The system of spacing enjoys some of the special proper-

ties of both the cultivating fallow system and green m anuring,

and moreover leav es no area un sown, as in these two syste ms.

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."

79

Plan of Experiments (Explanations to biagram).

fl. bry Fa rmi ng .I , Four-year rota t ion : fallow, wheat, summer or leguminous, cereal .

Map of Experimental Fields.

ion OP FARM ECONOMICS>w /r^pnn }rom nznn



1 with fertilizer, 2 without fertilizer.II. Three-year rota t ion: fa l low, wheat , f lax. 1 with fertilizer, 2 with-

out fertilizer.Hi. B i-annual rot at.: fallow, wheat. 1 with fertilizer, 2 without fertilizer.

B. Gre e n Aa nur i ng .I . Four-y ear r ota t io n: cover crop, wheat , summer crop, i lax, or

cereal . 1 with fertilizer, 2 without fertilizer.

II. Three-ye ar ro ta t io n: cover crop, wheat , f lax. 1 with fertilizer,2 without fertilizer.

III. Two-year rota t ion : cover crop, wheat . 1 with fertilizer, 2 with-

out fertilizer.

C. Grain Farming, Cul t ivated.

I . Four-ye ar rota t ion : leguminous, w heat , summer crop, f lax or

cereal . 1 with fertilizer, 2 without fertilizer.

II. Three-year rota t ion: leguminous, summer crop, wheat . 1 with

fertilizer, 2 without fertilizer.III. Two -year rota t io n: leguminous, (summer crop? ), wheat . 1 with

fertilizer, 2 without fertilizer.

fr. Grain Farming, not Cult ivated.

i . Four-y ear rota t ion: leguminous, wheat , summer crop, f lax orcereal . 1 with fertilizer, 2 without fertilizer.

II. Three-y ear ro ta t io n: leguminous, summ er crop, wheat . 1 with

fertilizer, 2 without fertilizer.III. Two -year rota t ion: leguminous, (summer crop ?), w heat . 1 with'

fertilizer, 2 without fertilizer.IV. Two-year rota t ion : durra , wheat . 1 with fertil., 2 without fertil.

V. T wo-ye a r ro t a t . : se sa me , whe a t. 1 with fertil., 2 without fertil.

E. bai ry Farming.Four -ye a r ro t a t i on : whe a t and barley; maize for grain and forage;

barley and wheat ; pumpkins, beets, c lover and vetch.

F. Fe l l a he e n Fa rmi ng .

I . Two-year rota t ion : whe a t and leguminous.

II. Two-year rota t ion : wheat and dur ra .III . Two-year rota t ion : wheat and se sa me .IV. Two -year ro ta t ion: leguminous, wheat . 1with fertilizer, 2 without

fertilizer.V. Two-year rota t ion : durra , wheat . 1 with fertil., 2 without fertilizer.VI. Two-ye ar ro ta t io n: sesame , wheat . 1 wi th ferti l. , 2 without fertilizer*

80

OVATH

For explanations see pp. 80 and 82.

81

Explanations to map

1929



Field

A.

B .

C.

"

D .

,»

I.

11.

111.

I.II .

III .[_

11 .

111.1.

11.

,. III .

., i v -„ v -

E. 1.

2 .

, 3.

., 4-

it 5-

,. 6.

> i " •

,. 8 -

,. 9.

V.

VI .

1926 1927 I 1928

ca

F- [I j l W h e a t | Durra.- u - ( Barley

„ HI- >

Durra

Chick-Peas

Wheat

•Wheat

Durra

82

Oats

Dry farm.Barley

Oats

Green man.

WheatFlax

Fenugrec

Wheat

Flax

Fenugrec

Wheat

Wheat

Wheat

Vetch

Clover

Beets

Pumpkins

MaizeMaize

Wheat

Barley

Durra

Sesame

Wheat

Wheat

Wheat

Fallow

Wheat

Fallow

G i " . manure

Wheat

Gr . manure

Fenugrec

Wheat

Maize

Fenugrec

Wheat

Maize

Durra

Sesame

Wheat

VetchCloverBeetsPumpkins

Wheat

DurraSesame

T h e f e l h i l i ' • o u i i i i ^ h i w o r k , ( i u v a t U i ' l x p . S t .

Sowing sesame with a funnel, Oevath Exp. S t .

Resu l t s o f Expe r imen ts in F ie ld s o f the F e l lah .

Calendar of operations. — The fields of the experiment had



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

Wheat field foi-Hlized with pliosphiitu and 01'.•SpvnHi K. Npor i i nonn i

[can nitrate,

been badly neglected and were full of weeds, and this neces-

sitated two ploughings of the soil, instead of the usual one,

before sow ing (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 underwinter crops (an area of 30 dunams) required 80 days male

labour, 10 days female, 26 days child labour, 41 days yoke of

cattle (one hor se = one pa ir of oxen) and 50 day s w ork of ass.

Operations on land under summer crops (an equal area) required

41 days male labou r, 13 days female, 6 days child lab our, 25

days of the pair of oxen, and 31 days of a ss. Th e tim e required

for operation s on the w hole area for winter and sum mer crops,

60 dunams, about half a feddan, necessitated 121 days male

labour, 23 days female, 32 days child labo ur, 67 days of the

cattle and 81 days of ass. A whole feddan thus requ ires 242days male labour , 46 days female, 64 days child labou r, 134

clays of cat tle, 162 days of ass , that is to say alm ost 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 yea rs. The year 1929/30 has

not been taken into accoun t in view of the mice plague, as a

result of which the winter crop w as heavily da mag ed and even

the summ er crop did not escape . The average gross revenuehas reached £3 3 per 60 dunam, and the net income £2 5. The

gross revenue per feddan or 120 dunams is thus £6 6 and the

net income £5 0. The gross income of the feddan in the Emek

(150 dunams) is £82 and the net income £62.500.

83

The size of a family farm . — The size of a farm within the

capac ity of one family (without hired labour) is determined

T a b l e 16.

Calendar of Operation in Arab Farming ExperimentsAgr. Exp. Station Gvath.



chiefly by the duration of the ploughing season (see Table 4,

o. 20). One yoke of cattle need s one adult wurker — the harath:

he c annot be procu red as a daily labourer, but ha s to be

engag ed by the year. His wages are paid in kind and amount

to abou t £ 18 — £2 2 per year. Details of the amou nt of grain

paid to the hired lab ourer in Galilee are given in table 12, p,55 . The wage of the harath in Judea is as follows :

6 sacks of wheat 930 kgs.

3 barley 450 „

3 „ „ durra 450 ,.

One abayah

Cash

£ 9.000

„ 3.600

„ 3.600

„ 0.5C0

„ 1.500

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.

Nat ural pasture alone does not suffice for their sustena nce, 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

pe r year . On the farm for which detai led figures of revenue

an d yield are given in Ta ble 12, p. 55, from one feddan (120

dun am s) about 11 ton of grains are obtaine d, and this on land

of good quality. £4 4 goes to the owner of the land, £22 to

the harat h. The surplus income of the owner is only made

pos sibl e by a ruthless exploitation of the harath who is in con-sequ enc e living below the poverty line. The lowest limit of

exp ense s of the ha rath must be £ 50 which is the sum spent by

a n ot entirely dest itute fe llah's fam ily. Det ails of the expen-

ditur e of the fellah are given in separate tab les on pp. 49

and 73.

84

Operat ions

Opening furrows for wintercrop s

Ploughing and sowing „ „

Weeding and hoeing „ ,

Ploughing on the chick peas field

,, ). > dur ra ,,

„ , , , , sesa me „

,, and sow ing chick peas

„ ,, ,, du rra

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

Harvest ing and t ransport

of sesameThreshing of wheat

Winnowing and cleaning ofwheatThreshing of sesame

Harvest ing and t ransportof durra

Threshing of durra

Winnowing and cleaningof wheat

1926-27 1927-28

15-XI1-21-X1I

28'29-IH

28-29-1II

30-31-111

1-2-IV

14'15-IV

j

28 -V

28-V

20-VI

10-15-V1I

16-18-V1I

18-19- VII

20-29-VJ1

29-31'Vl l

4-7-IX

8"10-X

8'11-X

85

10-28.XI 1-2.X1I

11-23-!

22'25-lH

1928-29

5-14.XI

2'15-XH

30.111, 3.1V, 22. V

21-28-111 30-111' T4-IV

130-111 1"4-IV

17'23-lV

6-13-VI

9-13-VII

4"29-VIII

30-VIII

14-15-VI1I

25-26-1V

27"28- IV

28-IV

11-17-V

12-18-VI

'24-27-vi

24-31.V1II, 1-6.IX

9-20-IX

29-30.1X, 1-8.X

6"7-X

8-11-IX

17-IX

T ab

W O R K I N G

A. Wheat Experimental Field

le 17.

D A Y S ,

at Gevath (Arab Farming).



Y e a r s

Area of the plot

Kinds of Work

1. Opening furrows

2, Ploughing

& Sowing

3. Weeding

4. Harvest

5. Transport

6. Threshing

7. Winnowing

Total

1925 - 26

23

Workers

3%

10

-

17

9

18

2

59VT!

c

o

_

IS

277

- io

— -

-

—

-

5

-

6

- '

187;

Dunams

Animals

2o

-

-

-

8'/3

-

-X

0

37 7

12

-

—

-

1577

<

37 7

1273

-

-

6

7

—

29—

1926 - 27

30 Dunams

Worke r s

50

_

18-5 -

2

3

14

32

5

2

7

6

10-5J -

8 00 20

•a

O

_

3

-

5

15-5

23-5

Animals

S! = 1 «X ! O ! <

1i

- J 4 9 - 7 5 ] 6-25J

I _ i _1 i

4 ! ~ i 1

-1 ~ |l2

161 — ! 7I

1 !

20 49-75I26-25

(J

B. Dur-ra Experimental Field

Y e a r s

Area of the plot

Kinds of Work

1. Opening furrows

2. Ploughing & Sowing

3. Hoeing

4. Harvest & Transport

5. Threshing <S Winnowing

Total

1925 - 2 6

20 Dunams

Worke r s

1

37 3

45

6

0

1873

le

0

—

2

2

4

0

8

Ch

3

2

-

-

0

5

Animals

s

Ho

4 2 3

4

-

—

-

873

c

0

-

2

-

-

CO

As

3

4

-

2

-

9

1926 - 2 7

15 Uunams

Worke r s

S

8

6

-

9-5

7

30-5

c

0

—

-

2

7

1

10

Ch

—

2

-

—

-

I2 !

Animals

si =,r 0 ! <

i

- 1 6

-

—

-

-

_

16

-

6

4

-

6i

12-5 2-5

44-5 18-5

! 1927 - 2 8

3 0 D u n a m s

W o r k e r s

Me

17-25

114-50

4

22

-

25-50

3-50

86-75

W

ome

—

-

3

1

-

1

Ch

d

—

-

4

9-5

5-5

11

- o-s|

5 3 0 - s j

Animals

Ho

—

-

-

-

-

5

51

Ox

29

As

14-5

29J14-5

-

-

-

48

—

106

-

5-5

12-5

11

—

58-0

1928 - 29

30 Dunams

Worke r s

a

<

8-8

16-4

2

16

5-5

19-5

8

76- 2 :

W

ome

-

-

10

—

-

0-5

Chid.

2-4

-

1-5

10- 5

5-5

6-51

" 2

10- 5

1

28-41

A n i m a l s

Ho

—

Ox

21-6

- 32-8

-

-

-

10-5

-

-

-

—

_ | _

10-5 54-4

<

14

17

-

15

9

14-5

8

77-5

4 years

for 30

W o r k e r s

Me

7-6

15-6

2

15-7

7-8

25-1

6-2

80-0

W

ome

-

4-5

2-4

u

1-4

3-3

2-1

5-0

1-81 4-0i

1-9J102

-

10-6

0 6

26-6

averageDunams

Animals

Ho

—

-

-

1-0

1-0

10-6

-

Ox

13-9

31-8

—

-

-

12

i

12 - 6 i 57 - 7

As

8-2

13-7

-

5-4

10-3

10-4

2

50-0

)

- Tit.

VI I

at G e va th ( Ara b F ar m in g

1927 - 28

30 Dunams

1 Workers

M

e

9-75

12-5

—

2

1

25-25

W

ome

-

-

—

—

—

-

Ch

d

—

6-25

—

1-5

-

7-75

Animals

Ho

—

-

—

—

-

-

Ox

28-75

25 —

—

-

1-5

55-25

<

13-75

12-50

-

1

—

27-25

1928- - 2 9

15 Dunams

Worke r s

M

e

6-5

6

-

8-5

1

22-0

W

ome

—

-

—

8-5

0-5

9-0

C

d

—

2

-

-

-

2

Animals

—

-

—

-

-

—

Ox

13

10

—

23

As

7-5

6

9-5

-

—

23

4 yearsfor 30 1

Worke r s

Me

11-1

10-6

1-9

11-8

5-7

41-1

W

ome

-

0-8

1-8

9-2

1-0

12-8

Ch

d

M

4-3

-

0-4

-

5-8

a ve ra geDunams

Animals

Ho

1-8

1-5

-

-

-

3'3

Ox

21-7

17-5

—

As

U - 3

9-6

-

- 8-8

8-5

47'7

1-7

31-4

if

m

/ 1 /

v

8 6 87 1.0

T a b l e IS .

Income and Expenditure of Arab Farm under Experiment in Gevath.(60 dunaras)



1926-1927

1927-1928

1928-1929

Average

Average per

dunam

1 N

W

h

21'280

15-300

19-150

18-577

0-619

Du

a

12-136

5-288

10-952

9-459

0-631

C 0£

C p

5-250

_

M E

S

me

10-734!

—

_

T

a

1

38-666

20-588

40-836

33-363

0-556

EXPENDITURE

S

3-293

2-786

2-994

3-023

0-050

F

2 - -

2 - -

2 - -

0-034

T

h

3-866

2-058

4-083

3-335

0-056

T

a

9-159

6-844

9-077

8-360

0-140

Ne

F

In

29-507

13-744

31-759

25-003

0-416

1. Calculated acc ordi ng to the following pric es: Wheat £ 10, Durr a£8 , Chickpeas £ 10, Sesame £26.

2 Manuring exp enses , amounting to S3 on the average, which wereincurred for experime ntal purp ose s, are not included in the items of ex-penditure.

T a b l e 19.

Returns per Dunam on Experimental Plots,Arab Farming.

Year

1925-26

1926-27

1927-28

1928-29

Average

Wheat

Ara

in d

25-2

30-0

30-0

30-0

-

-

10-4

8-9

8-9

-

R e t u r n kgs

— 1 -a

ii™ eO

js B

87-8

61-7

51-9

77-2

69-6

mauur

—

80-2

-

82-1

81-1

Chick peas

Ara

duna

14

15

-

-

S

—

8-1

-

-

-

c

Retur

24-3

35-0

-

-

29-6

=

Ara

duna

-

15

30

15

-

Durrs

k

S

0-4

0-4

0-8

i

1

Retur

-

101-1

22-0

47-0

56-7

Barley

- E

Ara

d

5.6

-

-

-

k

S

-

-

-

-

n k

Retur

95-0

-

-

-

-

Sesame

— c

Are

dun»

-

-

-

15

-

k

S

-

-

0-6

-

ka

Retur

—

-

27-5

T)

l - T J

F e ! l ; i h w i n - f i r f i e l ' l fi t . < : H > v ; i t l i

"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 mot to be app lied in this in stan ce the farm

above considered would have to grant the harath the wage of



A \ 'he : i t s ow n in s t r ips , ( l e va t i i K .\ [> . S t .

"Wh eat follow ing culH vat e ' l f ; i l low , <"!<-vaMi Ex p. ?f.

£5 0 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 elementa ry pers ona l ne eds of the

harath, the farmer's own profit would drop to £ 31 2; and if

the harath were to receive a yearly wage of £6 0, which is

the desirable standa rd, 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, o btained

in the richly fertile land referred to in Ta ble 12, the averag e

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 theminimum sum required for the maintenance of the harath, on

which it is absolutely impossib le 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 con-

clusion 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-

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

89

Resu l t s o f Expe r imen ts in Modern F a rming* ) .

The experimental period of three years (dairy farming three

year s, farms of other type s one ye ar; is hardl y sufficient for

of returns since all the factors of product ion in modern farms

have been specially studied on hundre ds of actual farms (not

experimental ones), the results of which have been published in



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 con-

sideration 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 draw n at the present stage refer only to the results of the

use of vario us f ertiliser s, bu t not to the efficacy or other wise of

the new methods of cultivation employed.

All the land used for experiments was, till the year 1926/27,

"bur " (u ncultiva ted). In this year, a portion was sown with

barley, and yielded up to 500 kgs. per hectare. The rest of the

land w as 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 summ arise 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 r epresents 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 m eans of hired lab our. The aim is a mere com parison

•) The d etailed de scriptio n will be publish ed by the Division of

A g r o n o my .

90

a separate treatise.

Fields A. & B.: Dry F arming and Green Manuring.

These experiments were started in the years 1928/1929 and

1929/30, i. e. that in those years only prepara tory w ork 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.

Details of experimentW J]

Grain

I'2051-317

777

e a t

Str aw

2'169- |

1'4591

' B a r

Grain

1-8942-577

i-238

1 e y

Straw

2-2732<835

1-330

| O

Grain

1-1621697

869

1 t S

Straw

2-3244-260

2'429

1. Phosphate and Nit ra te

(in one appl icat ion)Nitrate in two applications

2. No fertilizer

The co mparative experiments w ith fertilisers in the above-

mentioned fields were made not for their own sake, bu t only to

discover the influence of fertilisers on different system s of cul-

tivation.

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 con-

sequenc e the yield suffered from sun -bu rnin g 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 resu lts of the Division of Agronomy give the

following yield of wheat, after green manu re and after Details of experimentsW h e a t F l a x Fen i grec



leguminous crops for grain, on an average for three years, in

kilogrammes per hectare :

Fertilizer

None

Ph o sp h a te

Phos phat e cS Nitrogen

After green After graincrops

l'030

1'862

l'84O

852

1'218

1-222

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 cultivate d fallow . . . 1,750 kgs.

after sesa me with fertilizer . 1,425 „

Fields C. & D.: Sowing in Strips Versu s Ordinary Sowing.

An a rea of 6 he ctares is de voted to the study of these

methods .

The method of sowing in s trips is charac terised by the

fact that all the crops which enter into the rotation are sown

in spaced strips allowing cultivation between them.

Rotation. Three different rotation s are included. See ex-

plantations, p. 80.

The experiments were started in the year 1928/29.

Fer tiliz ers. Half the area of each field was fertilized that

year with Phosphate and Nitrate of Soda for comparative pur-

poses. In future the entire field will be fertilized, as resu lts of

previous years show few prospects to increase yields without

fertilizer. The following Tab le gives the yields obtained in

1928/29 (in kgs. per hectare).

92

Field C. Strips : —

1. Phosphate and

Nitrate2. No fertilizer

Field D. Ordinary sowing: —1. Phosphate and

Nitrate

2. No fertilizer

Grain

1'591

691

1'282

706

Straw

3'661

1-612

-

Grain

540

377

601

403

Straw

6-543

1-773 |

2-765 j

2059

Grain

766

181

1-184

341

Si raw

1-609

1-196

2-487

888

The area worked by "c ultivato rs" w as sown in strips,

each co nsistin g of four rows with space s 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, espe cially to destroy the wee ds. 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 compo sed of fodder crops and

of cereals in almo st equal parts . The following fodder crops

are sown :

Clover, vetch hay, stock beets, pumpkins, maize

for forage, maize for grain 1 hecta re.Wheat and barley 1 hectare.

The cereals and the fodder crops also alternate amon g

them, so that each crop appea rs 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 susta in 2 cow? . Some chang es in regard to area are,

Yields of Fodder Crops (Green Fodder),(in Tons per Hectare).

Yieldobtained in



however, made from time to time.

Manure. Manure at the amount of 40 -4 5 tons per hectare

is applied every four yea rs. Until now only old manure was

used. The manure is applied before the fodder cro ps: 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. Immedia-

tely after the harv est of the crop, the soil is ploughed at a

depth of 18 -2 0 cm. In these experim ental fields, plough ing 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 sowin g. It is of more importance for the

forage crops to be sown early than for the cereals.

The expe rimen ts starte d in the year 1926/27, when o ne

fourth of the field, V2 hec tare, was manure d, and the variou s

rotation cro ps were sown. It was disco ntinued for the year1928/29, and retaken again in the following years.

The following yields were recorded:

94

3

Kinds of fodder

Clover

Vetch

Pumpkins

Maize

Maize for grain

Beets

an averagedairy farm

30

25

25

10

1-2

40

1926/27

41-4

19-5

7-7

16-7

1-26

23-6

1928/29 1929'30

12 0

16

6-4

5-2

1-27

40

16

3-9

8-2

R emar k s

') Due to delayin sowing

After sapling

Yields of Cereals on Various Crops,(in Kgs. per Hectare).

Rotation Crops(Kerab)

Vetch

Clover

BeetsPumpkins

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

93 5

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 incom e b ut only de termine 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 indic ated 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 poss ible to keep onecow per hecta re. The balanc e of revenue and expenditure from

this type of farm is given in Chapter VII, table on page 99i

and table 20, p. 109.

95

The lasting effect of the application of chemical and

organic fertilisers extends over a conside rable 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



ITarvestin.ir with binder

C h a p t e r S e v e n .

MODERNISING THE FELLAH'S FARM.

In the following chapter we shall set down only in general

outline those graduate d improvem ents which are feasible in thefarm of the fellah. A detailed programme, together with precise

demonstrative evidence, both econ omic and tech nical, will be

the subject of a se parate study b ased 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 tran s-

itory period in its prevailing form without impo rtant change s

in his draught anima ls, impleme nts, crop rotation, or his way

of life. Its objective is increase of revenue without appre ciableincrease of the items of expenditure.

B. The improvements proposed are principally of a bio-

logical 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 advan ce 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 S tages in. Mod ernisation

of a Primitive Farm.

The Heavy Crane. — Up-to-date instruments of product-

ion introduced in the mo dernisation of primitive farms in

97

the first transitory stage may be compared, in many instances,

to the use of the heavy and co stly cran e to lift ligh t and in-

significant lo ads . The " cra ne" is the capital invested in the

The capital investment in a diversified farm based on

own labour amounts to £1,200 excluding land, when completely

equipped w ith all instruments of production. The value of the



form of buildings , machinery and to ol s; the "load" is the net

profit remaining for the suppo rt of the working family. In the ab-

sence of exact co rrespon dence between crane and load, the

balan ce of the farm is lost and it is doomed to constant

failure.The capital investment in a consolidated diverse farm (of

the Germ an type) in Palestine amou nts to £3,50 0. Its area is

from 250—300 dun ams . Its chief source of revenue is from its

milk produc tion. 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 ab out £10 0. 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 ploughm an receives £2 8 per year; astable boy £ 10 per year. T he daily wage is 8P T. If hired

labo ur is to be paid at a rate affording a human standard of

living — £ 7 per monthly field laboure r, £ 5 per monthly stable

man and 17P T. for a daily labou rer — expenditure on this item

will rise to £16 4 instead of £ 47 with the result that the net

profit will disapp ear and the farme r-ow ner's standard of life be

lowe red. In creased intensification cannot bring about the desired

salvat ion, b ecause increased produc tion by intensification is re-

quired to m aintain the b alance of profit of the dairy. The farm

serving as illustration obtained £2 50 from dairy produce whenmilk was 2P T. per litre. When it drops to 1 PT., double the

quantity must be produced with the same expenditure, with a

corre spon ding increase when the price fluctuates from 1.3 to

1.5 P T.

98

land, from 100 to 130 dunams, reaches £500. The average cash

revenue from such farm is £ 260. Exp enditure in cash £ 190,

including about £80 on purchased commodities for the family.

Depreciation swallows £21 — total expenditure is £2 11 . The

family also consumes about £ 70 worth of the farm's prod ucts.

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 suppo rt, and a net profit of £ 9. Interest

on capital and ground-rent is not ca lculated. T he following ta ble

illustrates the turnover of the three farm types discu ssed :

T

o

F

m

A

B

C

D

E

Are a

in dunam

250

100

120

250

8 0 - 1 0 0

InvestedCapital

Land

i

i ' 250

500

500

l'OOO

300

Equip-ment

2-250

1'200

700

420

80

u

CJ J;

410

250

150

195

70

To

a

Ca

Ex

i

d

u

e

!

310

211

141

135

35

S

y

j

o

h

j

h

d

in

C

!

£

110

80

40

60

. 15

2 £

100

49

q

-

F

m p

o

d

e

;

q

e

th

y

ofh

h

d

!

70

70

50-60

17

35

Totalbenefit

: derivedfrom

the farm

280

199

99-109

77

50

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 m onth they would earn £ 168 per annum under nor-mal working h ours, with no over-time, none of the worrie s of

*) A «• Germ an farm, B = Small holding farm (full equip ment) ,C=» Small holding farm (transitional stage ), D = Grain farm w orking w ithmodern im plements acco rding 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 surp lus of £112 (£ 42 in cash

and £ 70 in produce ) abo ve the family's remuneration for labour.

for labour performed when all other expenses ate paid and 5

per cent interest on the capital. On the average for all farms

the labo ur earnings of the family amount to 69 kroner per hectare



This difference is secured only because of the discrepancy be-

tween the two stan dard s of life of the owner and his worke rs.

In type B the farm bring s in £ 199, that is, the farmer re -

ceives a surplus of £3 1 above the family's rem uneration. In

order, therefore, to obtain a surplu s profit of £1 12 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. Th is is the "exp ensive cran e" w hich 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 ave rage for all farms w ith 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 othe rs." •

"The average size for farms with less than 10 hectares is

about 6 hectares. The total labour income per farm will then be

479X 6=2,87 4 Danish kroner or 69 ore per calculated working

hour. By com paring 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 w as lower than the normal wages." *)

..."the farms have been ab le to pay the family rem uneration

*) 0. H. Larse n, Organ isation and D evelopm ent of Investigations inAgricultural Economics and Farm Management in Denmark, 1927.

100

or about half the calculated normal remuneration. The labour

earnings have been highest in the group of less than 10 hectares ,

amoun ting here to 1,436 kroner per farm and for farm s 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 intere stis to be paid on the capital. In 192 6-2 7 the labour earnin gs

amounted to 1,634 kroner per farm for the small-holdings, 639

kroner for the med ium -sized farms, and the deficiency for the

large farms w as 4,288 kroner. A compa rison of the figures for

the two years show s a considerable pr ogres s both for the large

and the medium -sized farms w hile in the small-ho ldings the

labour earnings have declined by about 200 kroner per farm.

In 192 7-2 8 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 ye ar if wor king for thesame number of hours in other farms at the going w age. In

1926—27 the labour earnings were 25 per cent below normal

remuneration for the same group of farms."*)

The instrum ents of production themselves employed in each

of the abov e typ es of farms are as links of a chain, each of

which must be firmly w elded, 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 buildin gs. Heavy ploughs can only be drawn by

strong animals who require plenty of good food. One draughtanim al's food requ ires 20 dunam or one-fifth of the farm's estate .

*) Results of Dan ish Farm Accounts in the Accounting Year 1927-28.Bureau of Farm M anagem ent and Agricultural Econo mics, 21st Report,4th October 1928.

101

Machinery require s pro per s heds for protection and skilled wor-

kers to operate it. All this complicated mechanism calls for

much attention and absorb s most of (he time of the worke rs.

crease becau se 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



The q uestion for co nsideration is this : is all this cu mbe r-

some machinery an indispens able n ecessity, or is it possibl e to

obtain the returns quoted above with a simpler and cheap er

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 biolo-

gical 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 agriculture— biology and mechan ics. The

former embraces manure systems, modern crop rotation, improve-

ment of seeds, improvem ent of domestic animals, control of

diseases and pests. Mechanics embraces implements without

which the biological forces cannot be op erated such as pl oughs

for cultivating system s, implem ents for sowing, manuring andcontrol 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 advancem ent of agriculture, in.

incr eas ing the fertility of the earth and the revenue from the farm

was always the biological factor. At times this was due to the

laborato ry 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 enorm ous 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

ploug h. There are not more sheaves grown with a harvesting"

machine than with a scyth e, nor c'oes li e arro'-in of srrain in-

and pests is possible only as-t he result of extensive rese arch

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 principa l 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 conques ts are not made w ith the rapidity charac teristic

of the mechanical world.

The function of the machine in agriculture and in partic-

ular regarding the single p erson '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 ra ther 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 be-

cause of the drift to urban industry; it was likewise an essen-

tial 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 Den-

mark. There a farm of 7 hectare s h as a pair of draugh t animals,

a series of ploug hs, sowing m achine, dynamo and huge buildin gs.

The super-intensification in milk produc tion, breeding of pigs

and poultry, so occupies the farm er's family that he has but

little time for field labour . The fast working machine is a stan d-

by when he is pressed for time. He is ob liged to use it even

for a small area, explo iting 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 o f 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 pro-duction 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 imped iment when it is a prem ature 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 agri-

culture, bringing complications into the entire farm.

The same im plement may be a means of production and

a mean s of luxury acco rdin g to the extent of its use. The fast

motor is a means of production if there is enough work to run

it for economic purp oses every day in the week. The ass, forexample, cannot at its rate of speed execute the same am ount

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 condition s there is nothing better than the a ss with its

natural slow ness. The m otor has ceased to be a factor of pro-

duction and has become luxury.

In a land of small farmer s only the wo rking family and

not the hired hand s determine the system of work. The size

of the "living area " determ ines the essen tial rate of speed in order-to comp lete all the labour, with its rational distribution, accord-

ing to the calendar of operation for each season throughout

the year. That instrument which corres pond s to such rate of

speed and guarantees the proper standard of life is an instrument

104

i r oc i l . y i e ld ing $00 l i f i r s [H .T yj ;U '

C r o s s b r e d , . \ r a b ; n u l D u f o l i, 1 s t ^ n n o n i f . in n , y i e l d i n g UVIT -JfKif)

l i f e r s ( j iw niyo fur f l i r e o ye a r s )

of production; that which works at exceptional speed during a

few days in the seas on and rema ins idle the rest of the time

for lack of work, owing to the limits of the "living area," is a luxury.



Orosshrced, Beyrouth

.Hid Friesi.in (Vi Kriesian

Mood), nvoni^c yield for

\-o;irs 2.935 liters.

. .Beyro uth ;nid

ricsi;iii. avcni1.;!' yield for

MIS 2.711 lit I T S . .

Crossbreed, Beyroatlifind Friesinu (3A l^riesiau

lilood), average yield for

three years 3,517 liters.

Psycholog ical causes may make the latter instrument essential

even when it is pos sibl e to perform the w ork it does with

slower and simpler tool s. It is possib le, for example, that the

Danish fanner cannot adapt himself to the tempo of the pre-

vious generation and has adopted modern speed even thoughit 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 aspects—homes, 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 con-

ceivable that with these ancient instruments of production, ex-

hibited merely as a memory of early days, prevailing returnscould be obtaine d 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. Possib ly this refinement has also affected the cows

and pigs who, if not now maintained according to modern stan-

dards , would deteriora te. Possibly quality cro ps, those which

withstand competition require special arrange men ts, involving

additio nal invest men ts and a large turnover . It is difficult to

distinguish fundamentally in modern agriculture between whatis vital and what is luxurious or convenient. At all events the

"leverage " to obtain profits in all these cases is ponderou s

and intricate.

In many developed countries agriculture has during the last

105

decade suffered m ore or less from se rious crises. Under stress

the Governm ent as sists the agricultu rists in various w ays, direct

and indirec t, by gran ts, long term loans at low interest, by

maintaining scientific and economic institutions at its expense,

takes the benefits he enjoys as a guide for the primitive .man.

If you ado rn the hut of the fellah with a Rem bran dt paintin g you

not only mar the picture but fail to give enjoyment to the fel-

lah, who derives pleasure from mere coloured advertism ents.



the openin g up of marke ts, protective tariffs, etc., thus relieving

the indiv idual 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 discre p-

ancies arising from the excess of investments for the conveni-ence and comfort of the worker as comp ared with those essential

for produ cing revenue. T he purely ec onom ic 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 organ ism. 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 mon otono us, 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 co mpa red 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 impos sible. 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 machin es we comm it 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 stand ards of the higher civilisation do not correspond to

primitive wants. The man of culture misses his goal when he

106

It is necessary first to advance him gradually to such a state

of culture that his aestheti c 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 mea ns of com fort.

The art of reforming the primitive farm is to determ ine

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 gradua l de-

velopm ent from the easy to the difficult st age. The "crane" of

which we have spoken must be an o rganic product of the land

itself, growing naturally like the crops. It must be prepared for

during the transition stage w hen the fellah's nature is still

character ised by satisfaction with little for this characteri stic is

also suscep tible of change. Until the needs of the fellah inc rease 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 expe nditu re.

Tho se vehicles of labour produced gradually on the farm

itself will never become excessive even when, as the farm devel-

ops, they serve not purely for production but also for convenience.

The farm will in course of time exchange its primitive impleme nts

for mo dern ones and so chang e its form free of the abov e m en-

tioned causes of conflict.

Improving the Fellah's Farm with his Present

Instruments of Production.

Transition stages in Palestine's modern farm.—The modern

farm w as from a certain poin t of view born with a d efect— its

107

num erous requirem ents. It begins with large expend itures prior

to its receipt of even small return s. Every modern farm in the

country is handica pped at the start by an expense of £8 0 per

annum. Half of this sum comprises communal expenses for se-

T a b l e 2 0.

C o mp ar a t iv e Expenditure on Different Types of Farms (in £).

I tems German Farm

Smallholder's

Farm

Smallholder's

Farm (trans- Fellah's Farm



curity, education , orga nisatio n, and for such needs as conc en-

trated foods, maintenance of machinery, chemical fertilizer.

In every modern farm, in civilised countries, a large pro-

portion of the farmer's instruments of production represent"accumulated capital," gathered during gene rations and trans-

mitted from father to son just as the treasures of the home. Jewish

colonisation in Pale stine also doe s not provid e the settler with

a complete equipm ent, w hich c osts about £ 1,200, but only

with a partial equipment, costing £70 0. During a prolonged

period of years the settler can , by his thrift and self-dep rivation,

acquire the complete equipm ent. His instruments of production

will, therefore, be almost half composed of virtual accumulated

capital. For the fellah the transition will be lightened, in partic -

ular if he c ontinue s for a certain time to utilise the common

draught-animal and implements and not tractors or motors.

The stages of prog ress in the develop men t 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 susten ance , 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 £2 0 to £3 0 during the transition period.

Th is is all it is nec ess ary to find at first, for with it the fellah

begin s to appr oach a cultured standard of life, and the farm

108

(self-working) itory stage)

Seed s

Labour

Feeding

Manure

Maintenance ofBuildings

Tax es

Sundry

Depreciation

Colony Expenditure:

Education

Guard of Colony andFields

Administration

General Exp.Sick Fund

Pasture

Bulls

Fire Insurance

Dues of Workers 'Organisation

Sundry

Home Expenditure:

Food and Sundry

Clothes and Shoes

Farm productsused for household

12 —

3-200

5-150)

47—

59 —

6—

10 —

20 —

12—

046—

1-6501 22—

30 —I

70 — i 180—

Total Expenditure I 402—

10-250

- • 500 ;• i

10-250|3-400

1-250

4-000i

—550

l-800|

50 —

10—

10—

21 —

32 —

60 —

20 —

7 0 — I 1 5 0 —

281—

10—

—500

7-250l

3-400'

1 —

4-500)

—5501

I1-8001

50 —

4—

6—

2—

10—

29 —

30 —

10—

55 — 95 —

11 —

4—

35 —

7—

7—

4-500

0-300

1-600

50 —

196—

*) Usual ly old cows are rep laced in this farm by par t of (he you ng

other par t being sold — and thus d eprec iat ion is reduced by £ 23.

70-400

offspring— the

109

T a b l e 21 .

Sta nda rd of Living on F a r m s in T ra ns i to ry S ta ge in DifferentSe t t l e me n t s (in .€).

I tems of ExpenditurePrise

of unit Farm A Farm B Fa rm C

will of itself increase its receipts until it reaches the maximum

development possible.

This additional income does not call for any revolution in the



weightmls

/. Food and Necessaries

a. bought from outside

SugarOilCracked grainsI egumesPo ta to esFruit and vegetablesSugar for jamToilet soapPeiro l

Total for the monthTotal for the year

MeatClothingNevvspaper jMiscellaneous

Total bought fromoutside

b. Derived from the Farm

Wh eatMilkEggsChickenVegetablesG r ap esja m

Total according \omarket pr ice

Total food andn ecessa r ies

/ /. Communal Expend.

Sick fundEducation

Orga n i s a t ion t a xe sM is c e l l a ne ous

T o ta l C o lony Exp.Tota> Expenditure

65

180708030

7025

150

1030

4100

101000

1-500

6-75015—8—5 - -4—2—3 - -

2-4006—

1-2001 —

33-200

43-750

76-950

10-600

87-550

•840

22-0802—8 - -1-7001 —

4-50021 —

6—3-5003 -

2—

2 4009 - -

1-200

34-780

42 —

76-780

12-600

89-380

- • 1 0 0

—250-•170- •050- •120- •100-•030

- •060- •120

1-000120006—7 - -1-5002 - -

4-50021 —

6 - -5* —3—

2—

2-4009 —

1-200

28-500

41-500

7 0 - -

12 60082-600

Number of family members: two adults and two children .Source of data: Special survey arranged by the author in about

200 farms.

11 0

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 neces-

sary attention. The few selected farms from the lengthy listtables 9 and 11, page 42, 46 serve as striking exam ples. The

question is how shall we make all the farms cap able 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 cro ps; and 3. Diversification. The se factors can be

brought into operation with small mea ns 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 manurethe 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 alloca ted for it. Par tly it can be

used for fodd er; the green m anure can be turned under by hand

without changing the plough or by easily affixing to it a share.

Wage s cannot be calculated here for in an y case there is no

deman d for hired labo ur, and hands in a village for whom

there is no demand must inevitably remain idle. The Experi-mental Station will publish the results of its research es 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 spe cies

il l

or changing the prevailing time of sowing . The re asons are

as follows :-

A change of rotation calls for fundamental changes in the

whole structure of the farm, different draught animals and con-



sequently 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 fromyields, as well as opp ressive labour. It requires a heavy plough

which in turn needs a strong draugh t an imal. 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 cloverharvest or because-of a regulated distribution of labour in or-

der to prolong the working seaso n. In a small grain farm such

oppressive plou ghing 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 to-

dispense with the feed of the stubble and the remains of the harvest.

The yields of the fellah can be increased without exces-

sive manipula tions simply by carefully p reparin g a good rotation

crop, by use . of fertilizers and selected seed s.Prep aration of good rotation crops. The fellah who pre-

pares a good rotation crop by additional ploughing and weed-

ing increases the yield of such crops as sesam e and durra,.

and in consequence also of the cereals which follow them in

112

rotation. Th e add itional p loughin gs preserv e the moisture of the

soil, the determining factor in the life of all plants in semi-arid

countries. The plou ghing s and weedings de stroy the harmful

weeds which cause a double evil, absorbing the moisture



gathered with m uch effort in the soil and squeezing out the

productive plants. The defects in the prepa ration of a good

rotation crop are the result of a lack of good draug ht anim als.

The fellah may not exchan ge 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 perh aps, 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 m ust

breed them at home by crossing the native cows with a bull of

pedigree breed.

Use of fertilizers. Comm ercial fertilizer opera tes succe ss-

fully only w hen the land is cultivated prop erly, aerated and

conserving moisture. When the plant is thirsty it cannot well

benefit from the nourishment prepared for it in the ground.

Our experim ents have show n satisfactory results in particula r

with fodder and flax. By improving the rotation crop the moisture

is well preserved and the weeds destroyed so that the nourish-

ing elements are liberated to the benefit of the plants.

Selected seeds withstand drought, disease and various

pests. They increase the yield up to appro xima tely 15% with-

out supplementary improveme nts. The Experimental Station

has obtained good results from its early experim ents with seeds.

The Governm ent sho uld p rovide at a fixed price selected seeds

for each region in accordance with its climatic conditions.

3. Diversification. — In most pa rts of the coun try the farm

of the fellah is depend ent on one culture and it is not surpr i-

sing 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 additio nal branches should be native

pisntsiions and home produce of various kinds.

Native plantatio ns. A small area. 5 to 10 dunams, should

be given over for irrigated or dry pla ntations according to local

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 m arkets for the new crops and the forward



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 .

Dom estic p roduce . Each farm g rows vegetables for its own

use and sells the surplus. But it is also pos sible to grow cer-

tain vegetables as cash crops like onion s. Egypt exports great

quantities of onions and there is no reason why the local fellah

should not compete with it. Each fellah can also m aintain

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 expo rts 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 cross ing in

the modern farms of the country are astonish ing. The

offspring of a native cow and D utch bull prod uces after its first

calf 2,500 litres of milk per annum in place of 700 litres, the

prod uctio n of its dam . Th e fellah requ ires for this farm a pure

bred bull able to produc e both a series of working oxen and

cows noted for milk and m eat. The Agricultural Departm ent

of the Government at its Stud Farm at Acre has secured satis-factory results from Devon buils. The maintenance of the herds

can remain for the most part as at present with the addition

of a few suppleme ntary improv ements, for the herds will not

radica lly chan ge their mode of life. They will continue to live

114

move of the farm as it develops of its own accord.

Improving the poultry. This is possible in two w ay s: — by

crossing the local hens with Leghorns or Rhode Island Reds

or by pure selection. T he local hen w ithstands pests betterthan the imp orted , and it is also a good layer. Its m anne r 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 mode rn

investments.

There are two types of farms which both form an organic

unity being harmonious in their organisation and balancing their

income and expend iture: 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. T hefirst lives by its very limitations, the poorness of its income and

the absence of expendi ture; the second by the creative powe r

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 rejecte d, for it

compels the worker to live below the poverty level. From the point

of view of national econom y it may be said tha t the prim itive

farm exists not on any positive qualities inherent in it, but uponthe negative aspect of the country's economy. With any d evel-

opment 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 gat es to Am erica or to any othe r

115

country which promises better conditions of livelihood, there ;

will without doubt be a large emigration from the country.

The aband onm ent of primitive farming is imperative not

T a b l e 2 2 .

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

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



only for the new settler coming with a high standard of living

from Euro pe, but also for the fellah. The aim of b oth is the

sam e; the difference is only in the rate of speed at which it is

to be attai ned , and the difficulty is in finding a su itable path

of transition. Transitio n farms include both n on-rationa l and

rational types. The former are those which are b urdened w.th

the heavy ma chinery of tne mod ern farm while yet retaining he

usual cro pping system of the farm of the fellah. The se the

author calls «se mi-m odern farms" - modern in expenditure and

primitive in revenue , or sp ending like farmers and earning

like fellaheen. Goo d transition farms are those which cnange

the whole system of farming by converting grains into milk

and eggs. .

Illustrations a re nu merous and will be brou ght in a special

study The income and expenditure specified in Tab les 22 and 23,

(pp '11 7- 11 9) may serve as an example. On the border of the

fellah's farms described in Tab les 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 inc om e and of field retur ns it will be seen that the

latter farm is in neither respect superior to the former.

Modern i s ing the Fe l l ah ' s Farm in accord wi th

Geograph ica l Di s t r ibu t ion o f Farming Sys tems .

Village lands can be schem atically divided into the following

div ision s: - (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-irrig able; (3) The lands in the plain bordering the

foot-hills; and (4) the valleys. (See map facing p. 120).

116

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

31-8! 26746I

23-41 29846

6-9J 3075

2-51 1875

10-3

12-6

1-8

3388

562

85

0-0

3-0

93 8

418

325

24-1

14-0

2-7

6-9

2-1

10-9

9-7

0-5

19235

12604

3367

3627

560

7187

8593

647

0-9

14-4

30

waggon

89-6

117

34-2 22450

11-5 12827

4-2 2632i

2-4! 1324

3-7 2307

l'O! 420

} 3-0i846

105waggon

3-0 -

65-0

OO

in Kilograms

8 41 7 98 J 656

I |1275| 900j 1115

1247

446) 52 6

i750| 26 7

626

551

329| 659| 404

420

45 886

47! 1294! ~

836|

% \\ 282

= I / 3 5wag.

33

wag.

108 -

T a b

Cash Income and Expenditure and Net

N 0 M

1 e 23.

Farm Income at Tel-Adass 1916—1919 in L.E.

E X P E N D I T U R E



I t e m s1916- 17

L.E.

1917 - 18

L.E .

1 9 1 8 - 1 9

L.E.

1. Field crops

2. Vegetables

3. Dairy: Milk

Calves

4. Poul t ry : Eggs

Poul t ry

5. Out s i de -Work

6. Sundry

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

- • 7 6 2

78-088

T ot a l 580-044 667-531

676-898

99-804

5-390

3-288

3-507

25-911

814-798

Area in hectares

No. of cows

No. of heifers

Young stock

Poul t ry

Net farm income per hectare

Net farm income per feddan(150 dunams)

Price of wheat per ton

93-8

5

4

50

3-701

50-334

16- -

2

4

59

3830

52-088

16- ~

65-0

75

3-440

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

i t e m s

1. Fie ld crops:

Seed

Insurance

Threshing

Tithe

Sundry

2. Ve ge t a b l e s :

Seed

Manure and Sundry

3. Da i ry :

Oil Cakes

Pasture

Bull and Sundry

4. Poultry

5. Working Animals

6. General Expenses

Total

Net Farm Income

T ot a l

1916 - 17

L.E.

80-276

-

-

82-273

— 162-549

4-143

- 4-143

- • 1 0 2

7-120

2-342 9-564

—

3-918

48-804

228-978

351-066

580-044

1917 - 18

L.E.

113-800

6-242

-

60-484

11-960192-486

11-663

3-210 14-873

- • 0 4 1

—

2 308 2-349

- • 334

12-623

93.687

316-352

351-179

667-531

1918- 19

L.E.

153'596

4-505

80-198

77-220

36'040 352-359

9-772

16-858 26-630

—

-

—

- • 8 8 3

2-703

208-597

591-172

223-636

814-808

119

1. Sandy soil bordering heavy soil. — In a paral lel l ine -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 the re are visible to the eye the bou ndarie s

niw^&$«life\^

/UGGEJTED GEOGRAPHICAL



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

crop s suitable for heavy soil we must be satisfied, as a tem po-

rary 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 ty pe s: -- th at 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 ofBeit-Da jan 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 heav y so il. While it is clear that the returns will not equal

those from a grove on its natural soil, the smaller results

will be much grea ter than from any other irrigated c ultures,

even though the gro ve is not as long lived as • that in its

natural soil, and requir es additional work ing days for its cul-

tivation. We are not referring to the capitalistic plantation which

thrives on the surplu s remainin g after wages have been paid.

Thi s will be a sm all farm which entirely depe nds on the num ber

of work ing hand s in the family and not the number of hours

they work, for the market for hired labour is very limited and

a workin g family will be able itself to devote the necessary

120

DI/TR1BUTION OF

FAR.M ING 5Y5TEM S

PALESTINE.

* nm c g ^

I >s I ! o

5 o

attention for an orchard even in heav y so il. In this section

it is also possible to p lant an orchard on 5 dunam s, vegetables

on 5 dunams such as onions w hich have, a market, and a little

fodder. It must be emphasized that over-modernisation will also

com plicate this farm by the excessive investm ents. There is no



. a5 3

5

I I

±(£ 1

I

oo'J

q § q

fa 1

UP

1

_

H H P :

•I-]HB

a.

o $

o ° *« 2o £o °

m

11i J

^ J -

1 '* ''•'

' ' -

3U ..• / , 7 T <

~ ~ ~ • , . - ' . • .

— • • . • - -

1 - 1 :••••••

2 3

5 ?

I

o

000o

6

I

• o

Oo

Jr

CM

oo00

5 O« 3

- >

r ^ <n o m

-< <

n> /n cH ntc ^1

2

J

" -j

. 7.

• k—.-J _lJ

uj

oo

o0o0

m

I

need for costly w ater i nsta llatio ns; there is no need to exchan ge

the method of drawing water by means of the blind mule's or

camel's circumambu lations for that by electricity. Th e water

drawn by the m ule moistens the soil just the same as thatdrawn 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 plo t of 5 duna ms. In su ch case the electric

force is not a mea ns of prod uction in the field of the fellah,

just a s the substitution of his oil lam p in the home by an

electric lamp will not be considered productive. Manuring,

adequate irrigation, pruning the dry branches, selection of buds,

the c ontrol of pests and diseases, all these biological factors

are the sole means of production. The comfort of electricity willbe 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 abov e. The increase of the area

unit in com parison with irrigated soil will provide what is

lacking in the presen t stand ard of life. Th e unit for mod ern

farms has been fixed at 100 duna ms on unirrigated soil, an d

25-30 duna ms on heavy irrigated soil. T he fellah's farm can secu re

the same net profit as the modern farm, for not hav ing 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 foot-

121

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 h olding capac ity natural to mountain

soil together with its percolating quality make the hilly region

T a b l e 24.

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

Districts ba

1Area Number :>> - >- 5 a



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 foundwhich flourish in irrigated heavy soil and aremarketable . In this

short transition period there is no need to exploit all the irri-

gation 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 andmulberry for silk. The area

unit for soil of this type is fixed in a complete modern farm at25 dunams. If we take into consideration that not all the water

will be exploited during the transition period for intensive cul-

tivation, we shall attain returns securing a desirable standard

of life with another similar area in reserve.

122

Acre — mountain

Acre — plainHaifa — mountain

Haifa — plainNazareih — mountain

Nazareth — plainTulkarem — mountain

Tulkarem — plain

Jerusalem — mountainRamallah

Bethlehem

Jericho

JaffaRamleh — mountainRamleh — plain

Ga z aHebronNablusBeersheba

Jenin — mountainJenin — plain

BeisanTiberias

Safed

T ot a l

T o w n s

Grand Total

i£ >

2 "o

43

754

2426

839

13

6559

9

3

305220

633591-

676

3037

41

822

18

i

in dunams

1

I

544188

136412652395

460522

| 316301

i 229629340108

392657

352000

354000

4600001)

654000

412000

360000

377000

128000022350002)

15740003)

12500000689400

144600

377000428000

754000

26023212

410000

26433212")

of souls

24867

424820787

11036124192838

21837

97852869426901

17955890

1760524148

17615

54615369944074872898

2896319348738

13771

14029

514315242867

757182i

c ,_

Q £

46

3132

243912642581

76

39i)1

43

6747

4317 2>

26 3)l

6 |

4213233219

201722 |

29*)

1

« c v•2 3 -d -a .

Z o o .

22.04

j 32.26j 31.38

41.73

25.4781.20

115.58

40.13

12.27

13.16

25.821)734.90

23.40

14.91

21.40

23.4460.42 2

>

38.633)

171.50

23.79

74.77

43.14

31.08

53.75

50.600.58

34.55^)

1) Af t er deduc t i ng 280, 000 duna m s dese r t l and 180, 000 dunan i s , or 10.02 dunar n per h e a dor 100 sou l s per km

2 r e m a i n .

2) After ded uct ing 622,6C0 dt in ams des er t lan d 1,612,400 d u n a m s , or 43.50 dunam per h e a d ,or 23 s o u l s per km' r e m a i n .

3) After deduct i ng 468 ,800 duna ms des ert land 1,105,200 d u n a n i s , or 27.10 d u n a m per Iiead»or 37 s o u l s per km' r e m a i n .

<) After ded uct i ng 1 ,371 ,400 duna ms des ert land 25 ,061 ,812 duna ms , or 33.10 d u n a m per h e a d ,or 30 s o u l s per km' r e m a i n .

S o u r c e of d a t a : Dr. J. T h o n , The L a n d P r o b l e m . " H a p o e i H a z a i r " , N o . 3 0 (41) 1930-

123

The Sums Required for the Improvement of the

Fellah's Farm.

The improvement is of 'two kin ds: suc h-as is apt to come

due to inner grow th and such a s require special sum s of mone y.

1



Betterment due to inner growth. - The improvement of kerabs,

improvement of seeds and the arrangemen t of a plantation near

the village do not involve large sum s. All the fellaheen are to

partake in the raising of the money for purchase of bulls forjoint use. The sum to be paid by the individual will not be high.

There is no need of burdening anyone with any purchasing

ex pen ses; for w ith the natural growth the fellah will get the

strong bulls and the. improved cow s.

]a like manner the fellah should not arrange any tree-nur-

series. 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 one-

fifth of the field, so that within five yea rs 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 technica l improvements cannot be • made possible

without credit facilities at a low interest-rate. The fellah, howev er,

deeply in debt, will find this kind of credit of no avail, as long

as he is not freed from th is bu rde n; for the value of his farm

and all-its income as a basi s of cred it will not allow an amo unt

to be lent to him high enough to bring about the desired effect.Only when the fellah w ill 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)

A pass ing o bserver, seeing the soil with its scanty yields



l\<vky grou nd I Wo re ^laiiniig (K iryatu Auavim)

Young orchard on torrnced rooky ground (TCiryath ln avi m)

and the w orker in his low estate, would be apt to judge harshly

of the nature of both. But he would be mistak en, 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 stand ing,

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 nothin g 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 w hole financial burden of his country was im-

posed upon the peasant for many ages. The tithe and the other

taxes in themselves were enough to break his back; and yetthey were as nothing as compared with their concomitants , —

the tax-gathe rers and other agents of the rulers, who placed the

peasan t at the mercy of the usurers and the specula tors who

pretended to be sav iors in his time of di stress . In order to free

himself from these latter, he was compelled to sell his p rodu ce

at-low prices and to buy it back again for his household ne eds

and : for sowing his fields at double and fourfold price s. He

descended lower than the beast of-burden, who se instinct impels

it to rebel when it is too po orly .fed. But, because he- being

human, his reason ing pow ers impelled him to accept a yoke soheavy- that he'could'" not even attempt to -rebel.. Everything for

him was as a-heavenly decree: the iniquity of his-rulers and

•the oppre ssion of their agents, even at third and fourth - hand.L Even when he looks up from his depths to the- heights ,

125

the fellah sees only poverty. The ancient Hebrew, for example,

called the Milky Way the "River of Fi re." 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

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 y ears successfully

combatte d; that the Government has a well planned organiza-

tion for the control of contagious animal diseases and pests and



primitive mode of cultivation, but by the prevailing social system

and the misrule of the Turkish government and its predecessors.

Th e fellah's primitive wisdom, which is enshrined in many folk-

sayi ngs about all side s of farming, would suffice him for ex-tracting 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 movem ent 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 moderni-

sation for him ; all increases of income will slip through his fingers.

The modern isation of agriculture requires not only agrarian

reforms, as an undispensable requisite, but the creation of pre-

liminary conditions for the introduction of technical improvements.

The creation of these p reliminary conditio ns is necessarily a

Governm ent function, being beyond the powers of the individual

or even of private organiza tions. If, for example, cattle plague

is a constan t visitor to a country (as in Palestine under the

Tur kish rule), there is no use in improvin g the bre eds ; or a

locust invasion which, if it come only once in 15 years, des troys

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

disease s 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 province s of research and admin istration.

Many valuable beginnings have been made from the administrative

126

for the inspe ction of fruit. In the cours e of time it has prov ided

good means of commun ication without which the mod ernisa -

tion of agriculture is unthinkable.

When introducing technical improvements, a clear distinc-tion 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 self-

sufficiency, 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 worke r of the city, and the former m ust not be expec ted

to be content with little. Unless their standards are equalized,

nothing will bar the rush from the village to the city. T herefore,

with the increase in the needs of the tiller of the soil, the raisingof cash crops becomes an imperative necessity.

The strengthenin g of the farm in the heavy soil zone de-

pends not only upon money crops, but also upon the diversity

of its crops. Only the orang e can b ear the burden of the

national economy alone, because,, owing to its monopoly, its

suppor ting 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, asecond in dairying, a third in almond plantations, and a fourth

in tobacco. Th ese produ cts m ay be a negligible quantity in the

market, and yet, taken all" together, they form a respectab le

127

source of livelih ood. The pres ent type of grain farm, with itssingle crop, can by no means support close settlement with a

decent standard of living.

When we speak of cash cro ps, we always have the world

markets in mind. It is in great industrial countries that agricul-

ture can m aintain 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 mar kets can they maintain themselves

except upon their produce r's capacity for suffering. But the cul-

tivator's n eeds increase whether crops do or not, and even theyare not secure without a tariff wall.

The path of transit ion is lined with sh arply 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 im port s. On the other han d, protecti ve tariffs are a

two-edged sword. There are in backward countries no strong

shou lder s to bear, the bu rden, — neithe r in the cities nor on the

land. And there can be no cer tainty that the benefits will accrue

to the worker and not to the money-lender and the speculator.

Backw ard countries are like a runner who comes to the

races just a little bit late, and so has no chance against rivals

with no grea ter skill th an h is ow n. 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, organiza-

tion, and financial agencies. In ten years science and organiza-

tion can attain results not secured during centuries of adhering

to old traditions.

128

THE HEBREW UNIVERSITYFaculty of Agricultural, Food and,

OF JERUSALEM



Environmental Quality Sciences

Department of Field Crops, Vegetables and Genetics

y

Hea p of dur ra 7i>

Sieving gram . 73

TJie feilaii coming to work S'2

S o wi n g s e s a m e wi t h a t u n n e l . 3 2

Wh eat f ie ld wi thout fer t i l izer , 8 3

Wheat . f ie ld fe r t i l ized S 3

Fe l lah whea t f ie ld a t G e v a t h . . . . - . . . S S:

W h e a t f i e l d f o l l o w i n g g r e e n m a n u r e 88 -

S o w i n g in s t r i p s 3 9

C ul t iva ted fa l low . . . . . . . . . . . . S 9

11iif

nH

II IIIMM



M o d e r n i s i n g , a g r i c u l t u r e 9l >

H a r v e s t i n g w i t h b i n d e r • . . . 9 7

T h r e s h i n g w i t i i n i a c h i n e 9 7

G a u l a n b r e e d c o w 1 0 4

C r o s s b r e d c o w , A r a b a n d D u t c h 1 0 4C r o s s b r e d c o w , A r a b a n d D u t c h . . . . . . - . 1 0 4

C r o s s b r e d c o w , B e y r o u t h a n d F r i e s i a n . . . . . 1 0 5 -

C r o s s b r e d c o w , B e y r o u t h a n d F n e s i a n . . . . 1 0 5 -

C r o s s b r e d c o w , B e y r o u t h a n d F r i e s i a n . . . . 1 0 5 -

P a s t u r i n g s h e e p o n t h e h i i l s o f B e n S h e m e n . . 11 2

C a r o b . g r o v e o n t h e h i i l s o f B e n S h e i n e n . . , 11 3

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 o f 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 . • . - . . . . 12 0

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 ' " : re tu rns in P a l e s t i n e . , . . . , , . . 1 2 1 .

Did ca rob t ree o n r o c k y g r o u n d . • . , . . . 1 24

C arob p lan ted on r o c k y g r o u n d . . . . , . . 1 2 4

Ko 'Jky g round be fo re p lan t ing . . . . . . . 1 2 5

Y o u n y o r c h a r d o u t e r r a c e d r o c k v g r o u n d . . , 125 -

XII

L

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in

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1i

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 sow edst thy- seed ' and: water edst

, : : : ' " i t 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 . • •••' • ;

;;••/ • ' • • • 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 i t i s

. . . , • . a land .of h i l ls and va l ley , and dr ink e th wa t e r o f



Water ^rheel ("Sakiu")

. . the r a in o f heave n .

"A land whic h the Lord thy Go d ca re th for ;

the eyes o f the Lord thy God a re a lways upon- i t

1 •••• : • f rom the beg inn ing o i the yea r even un to the end

. ' - . . . ' . of t he year , . • • • . ••• , -

• • . . . . . [Deut. XI, 10- 12] -

C h a p t e r O n e .

WAITING FOR THE RAIN.

The an cient He brew s used to divide the year into two de-

finite perio ds —• the seas on of the rain and the seaso n of the

sun. This divis ion cor responds to the charac te r of the count ry,

which h as no transition p eriod s of any length , l ike sprin g

and autumn in other coun t r ies . From the middle.';of- Che shva n

(Octob er ) - to the m iddle o rN isa n (Apr i l ) ; ra in .: f al l s: , a t inte rva ls-

for .about- forty, or-fifty., d ay s, and ' to . 'an' am oun t; of: from five

hundred- to six :hund red.mi l l im et res . For seven mon ths dhe .coupt ry

M s ;dr y-w ith ou t-a ' drop of-: rain,- .and •"• t h e . , .sun-, reigns^ supreme: '.In

't h e 'Jorda n Valley -the- rainy- days'.are- fewer, :the: rainfall less, : and

t h e " days of hot . sunshine , more numerous . ' In the .Negeb the r a in-

fall only am ou nts , to, from two; to. three hun dred millim etres; and-

even this - is not regular every year . Years of dro ugh t in th at

dis t r ic t a re -nothing unusua l . .

Prayers for rain. — The rains themselves are divided

into falls — first, second and third. The Hebrew word for this —

"re bia h" — itself sy mb olise s 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 dow n in the night, then in the

morning the wind blew, the clouds scattered, the sun came out

m

iiu



and the earth dried. In the good days, according to the Talm ud,

the rain used to come on W ednesday 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, andeveryone arose to his work, thus show ing that fhev were doing

the work of Heaven. The Rabbis say that since the day of the

destruc tion of the Tem ple the rains have not come down from

the "good store hous e." In ancient times fasts were decreeded

on accou nt of the delay of the rainfall. If the seven teenth of

Marcheshvan (Novem ber) arrived and rain had not yet fallen,

the students of the Beth-H amidrash alone used to fast M onday,

Thursday, and Monday. If the New Moon of Kislev (December)

arrived and rain had not yet fallen, the Beth-D in order ed the

whole community to fast three days, Monday, Thu rsday and

Mon day. If these went by and there was still no answ er, 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 nec essary, to build or to plant, and to give greetings

to one another ; they were to be like men who were in d isgrace

with the Almighty. If Nisan (April) came and the sun reached

the beginning of the conste llatio n of the Ox, they did not fast

any more, because rain at that sea son 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 observe d. The Ark was brought out into the

t J

W 4 . '

, 1 5 '

$£3j - n-

C h a p t e r T w o .



SEASONS OF AGRICULTURAL WORK.

The festivals of Israel are fixed for the most part accord-

ing to the season s of agricultural labou r: the counting of theOmer from the feast of Pas sov er, the feast of first fruits, and

the feast of in-gathering. Now as of old the work of the thresh-

ing floor finishes in the farm of the F ellah at the end of Tish ri

(Octo ber), From harvest time to in-gathering man and beast

pass from the confinement of the clay hut to the un conl'ined

threshing-floor under the open sky. That is then where life

throbs both by day and night. The harvest pa sses, the summer

ends, the thresh ing finishes, and the threshi ng floor is emptie d

of living creatures and the last rem nants of produc e. Then

commences the great work of household renovation, the women,

taking comm and. It is they who gather dry grass in the fields

and bring it home on their should ers, 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 plas tering

the roofs and the wails. Under the diligent hands of the women

the walls are clothed with new coats of plaster. The low cone-

shaped straw -stacks are renovated with a new coat of moist

plaster. The men after the hard work of the threshing-floo r

now sit with their ha nds folded and ch at idly, raisin g the while

their eyes to heaven- app eai ing ly; for withou t the ea rly rain the-

husbandman cannot go out to his work in the field.

The first rain.— The first early rain which deserves the

name m oistens the soil to a depth of about 20 mm s. It is oniy

16

ileiniiug the plough

First ploughing

rof the hea p, and eat during the period s of rest. During the

first and last threshing a muzzle is put on their mou ths. The pre-

cept "thou shalt not muzzle an ox in his threshing" is not observed.

In the days of the Turks it was custom ary to divide the



produce into eight heap s in the shape of bricklings, at the

threshing place, and occasionally in the field. One of the eight

heap s was for the taxgatherer of the Osher Tax. The G overn-

ment took its portion in kind, and farmed out the Osher by

public auction. Th e taxgatherer used to pitch his tent, which

was ornam ented with bright-colo ured curtains by the side of

the threshing floor. The luxury of this tent w as in glaring

contra st with the poverty of the environme nt. Its watc hers ha d

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 wood en presses which

left their shape on the heaps of grain. Every touch altered the

shape and revealed the offence. The present Governm ent had

arranged after the occupation to receive the Osher tax in money.It sent a ssess ors to value the crops, and the owner of the

produ ce paid according to the valuation, in instalme nts. If the

village could not come to an agreement with the asse ssors ,

they divided the harvest on some threshing-floors into ten

heaps, from which the assessor choosed one. They then threshed

this one and u sed this as a standa rd 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 cerea ls,

sesame and durra.

Recently the estimation of the Osher wa s rectified and itis 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 wh ole ; in the village a special comm ittee is formed levying

40 to 70 mils per dunam, according to the types of the soil.

24

Harvest of wheat

Loading

The threshing. — The first operation in connection with the

threshing-floor is the scattering and breaking up of the com -

pact "suriboth ." This is done as a rule by men working in pairs

to the accomp animent of the song "El Allah", and it is over

by the beginning of the hot time of the day, the time for thresh-

ing. All the draught animals, the ox, the ass and the cow,



Feeding stubbles

go up to tread the produce which is heaped up on the thresh-

ing-floor. W hen the produc e lias been sufficiently tro dden

the camel is added to the "choir". The threshin g-boa rd is awooden 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 th reshing -board,

and in the heat of the day goes round and round with his ani-

mals. The dry. stubble is crushed under the thresh ine-boa rd and

the produce is separate d 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 anima ls also are liberated. The child takes

them to the well to water them, brings them back to the thresh-ing-floor, and ties them to man gers full of tibn which have

been prepared for them. Meanwhile the Fellah makes his pre-

paration 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 "ksa ria" (first threshing) is

finished and there are no stalk s left in the threshed pro duce

(wtarcha", in Hebrew "me dus ha" ). 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 comm ences with the first morningbreezes. When he h as finished winnow ing the heap he scatters it

again over the "tarcha", and comm ences to thresh "tna i." In the

"tnai" threshing the Fellah does not use the threshing-board, as it

25

the prod uce that has been threshe d, the corn falling by its

weight in columns while the chaff flies away. The women beat

with sticks and small ham mers the rem nants of the stalks which

have escap ed 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.

28

First tln-cslnn.H1 with animals

Threshing with the threshing board

cases, if i t is properly prepared, be a better kerab than chick-

pe a s , for ins tance , which ga ther ni t rogen.

As already st ated , whea t and b arley are the principal,

sou rces of the in com e of the farm. In the choic e of kerabs

preference has al.vays to be given to those which create the

best con ditio ns for the develo pm ent of these pla nts. A distinct-



ion must be made be tween kerab s for summ er plants , ke rabs for

ha l f - summer plants , and kerabs for winte r plants .

/ . Summer kerabs. — In the front rank s tan ds s esa me , which,practically has no equal. I ts t ime of sowing is late; i t should

not be sown till the rainy peri od has entirely pas sed because

then the soil in which it is sow n ca nnot form a hard crust and

become closed to the air and the dew. The ground is prepared

for i t with p articu lar care. I t 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 lowe r layers. The mulch of the broken,

and loosene d crust prot ects the rain water which is stored in

the grou nd from evap orat ion . Th e nitr if ication is powerful and

inten sive. Th e roots are strong and .piercing like a sp it; theydraw their suste nan ce from the lower layers , they do not ex-

haus t the surface layer , and they prep are a path for the wheat

which is to come after them. The constant hoeing required by;

sesame loosens the ground s t i l l more and preserves i t s mois t -

ure. Th e constant wee din g also des troy s the weed which are-?

left af ter the winter p lou ghi ng s. T he destructio n of wee ds, as"

has been mentio ned, is an essen tial co nditio n for the succes s

of the whea t, wh ich com es to grief ev en in the best soils if the?

weed ing is not don e pro perl y. T he ferti le soil which produce 0-

the wheat pro duc es als o pla nts which press i t close and try to

squeeze it out, and when these obtain a foothold in the midst

of the whea t i t is imp oss ible to exterm inate them by weeding

alone. Not only is the wheat injured through being trodden on.

32

Banna field [Ladies' fingers, Hibiscus]



value for him. I t is no com mo dity in the mark et and there is

no price for i t. In a country where indus try is not yet even in

its cradle and where agriculture is primitive to the last degree,

labou r has no money valu e. Every li t t le therefore cou nts. In

a place where la bour com man ds no pr ice there i s no need to be

particu lar abou t t ime and to desp ise slow work . The re is no

harm in putting on a spur t one day and sitt ing idle the next.



Wha t i s the use of t ime-saving implem ents and quick -workin g

cattle If the work can be don e also with light imp leme nts w hich

he acquires for a few po und s and which last him ail his l ife,

sometimes being lef t over for his son?

External a ppearance and structure. — T h e w h o l e v i l l a g e

both in its external app eara nce and in its struc ture seem s to

have r isen out of the soil on which it stan ds. I t is indeed for-

med from that soil— dus t of i ts dust and stone of i ts ston es. The

Arab village is a creature which takes its colour from its envi-

ronm ent. In the plain it is built of mud, all hom e m anufacture

not costing a penn y. Th e materials are co mp ose d of the dust

of the earth, of the straw w hich it pro du ces and of the dun g

of the animals which it feeds. These prime materials are work-

ed up by the hands of women who ga ther s tubble , m ake s t r aw,

mix earth and water to make mud , harden the mud with cow

dun g which has been dried in sun and breaks in their ha nds ,

and bake bricks . On the slop es of the m oun tains the hous es

are built of stone s from the mo unt ains . The mem bers of the

Fellah 's family collect the ston es with their own han ds and

raise the walls, and the village builder only com pletes the struc-

ture. The Fellah buys from outside nothin g ex cept the corner

stones and w ood for the roof and the door. The stalks of tall

grass covered with dust are used to cover the roofs. This dust

produc es grass and herbs . Only in vi l lages near to town which have

been "spo ilt by civilis ation " ha ve they begu n lately to cover the

roof with imported ti les.

40

RsSrtSi7?S5: /•••/-< ts:j£zt t i l

. U a k ii i u ' ^ u i i - d r i e d l i n c k s

Cin foL' cliop[)cd straw (teben)

in his passage, and, of course, it does not make them grow or

increase their numb er. 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 pio ugh does not cut the ground, but packs the dust

together, makes bricks, rolls the earth into clods, and damag es

the ground for years. Hence in rainy years the Arab plough



prolongs the working season.

Investment capital. — The whole "c apita l" 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 or 20 sheep

An ass

A plough

A threshing-board

Two wooden picks

One iron pick

7 sacks for straw

One scythe

One yoke or pole

Ropes for binding

2 sieves

15

20

-2 0

- 4

0.40

0.60

0.15

0.20

0.600.10

0.60

0.30

0.25

Total 41.20 — 47,20

Adding a cow £ 6-10, a goat £ 0.80-1,

and 30 fowls £ 3 - 4 14 _ 14

the total for all implements and sources

of food supply is £5 5. 20 — 61.20

Income and Expenditure of an Ordinary Fellah.

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

i. Expenditure. —

a. Farm Expen ses :

Food tor two oxen, 2 kanta r s sesame

cake or bean s £

S e e ds6.50



' ^ ^ / H ^ ' j i ' ^Communa l c ha r ge s

Var ious , r epa i r s e tc .

Osher and Verko

H ouse ho l d e xpe nd i t u re :

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

C l o t h i ng

Vege table , r ice , lamp-oi l sugar e tc .

Tota l expendi ture

1.60

0.30

4.5019.90

16

7.50

9

2

5

49.50

69.40

2. Income. —30 dunams whea t a t 50 kg.

10 „ barl ey at 60 „

i0 , , karse na

30 „ dur ra

10 , , sesa me

800 'litres milk

1,000 eggs

Outs ide labour

20

6

6

6.50

o

12

512

: i; •(

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Tota l income 70.50

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00 9 \Z)

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091

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005

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001

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•e

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. . .

•SUI . IEJ q u . i y jo s s t l X j ^ SUOJ.IIJA uo s u . n i j o ^ c l o . 1 3 puu S U . ) jo

.4. Food.

12 Kels W heat at 75 kgs. each , for

flour, regu lar price p er ton £ 10

1 kel wheat — 75 kgs. for burgui

30 rotl meat for Sabbat hs and Feasts

at 150 mils (each time 1;2 rotl)

9

—

—

. — •

.750

.500

.200



30 rotl onions per year

24 rotl olive oil at 140 mils

Rice, soap , salt, pepper etc. duringthe 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 yearIn ad ditio n, the eggs of four laying hens

are used. Milk is bought only in the event ofsickness and thus costs but very little.

B. Clothing.

2 suits for each member of the familyduring the year, at 300 mils each

1 pair of shoes for each member of the-

family during the year, at 300 mils each

1 "Abaiah" (cloak), bought every 8—10

years for each member of the family,

at 600 mils _

C. Feed for Working Animals.

4 Oxen, 2 asses, fed during the year, ex-

cept in the sea son of green fodder and theseason of pasture.

4 keis karsena at 750 mils4 „ durrha „ 400 „

3 „ barley „ 450 „

Total Home and Farm Expenditure during the year

73

3

10

—

—•

—

5

.260

.950

.180

.600

.500

.— 34.940

.600

1.800

.400 5.S00

3.—1.600

1.400 6.—

£46.740

A.

p

elcl

I.

11.

111.

1926

Explanations to map teaming.

1927 . 1928 1929 1930

H a t s

Dry farm.

Ba r l e y

O a t s

FallowW h e a t

Fai lo w

Gr . a i a u u t



C.

II.

in .

ii .

,, HI-

D. i.

,, II-

,, HI.

„ IV.

HI-

V.

VI.

\ W h e a t ; D u r r a " W h e a t( Ba r i e y Chick-

Peas

Durra j Wheat Durra

G r e e n man.

W i i e a t

F l a x

F e n u g r e c

W h e a t

F i a x

F e n u ^ r e c

W h e a t

W h e a t

W h e a t

Ve t c h

C1 o v e r

B e e t s

P u m p k i n s

M a i z e

M a i z e

W h e a t

Ba t i e y

D u r r a

S e s a m e

W h e a t

W h e a t

1 W h e a t

W h e a t

G r . m a n u r

F e n u ^ r e c

W h e a tM a i z e

Feiui ' ^rec

W h e a t

M a i z e

D u r r a

S e s a m e

• W l ie ; i t

V e. L i iC.DVtf

: Wheat

Durra:; Sesame

82

T l i i ' I ' l ' i l n ii i • ! > i i i i I I L ! ' work,

Sowing sesanie with a funnel, Hevatli Exp. St.

Resul ts of Experiments in Fie lds of the Fellah.

Calendar of operations. — The fields of the experiment had

been b adly neglected and were full of weeds, and this neces-

sitated two ploughings of the soil, instead of the usual one,

before so wing (see Table 17). These operation s thus needed

almost the same number of workdays as were required for the



Nir. field wi tho ut fe rriiizer ;•••(• iievaHi Kxperinienral

Whnat fielil t 'eitilimi with phosphate ami Chilean nitrat

^fvnfli K.xpiH'imouhil Stati on

tine ploughing tor preparation of seed-beds, this in contrast to

Tables 3 and 4 (P p. 18, 21). All operation s on land under

winter crop s (an area of 30 dunam s) required 80 days malelabour, 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 lab our, 13 clays female, 6 day s child labo ur, 26

days of the pair of oxen, and 31 day s of ass . The time require d

for operations on the whole area for winter and sum mer crops,

60 ciunams, abou t half a feddan, nece ssitated 121 day s 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, 134days of cattle, 162 day s of ass, that is to say almo st all the

available working days during the whole year (see Table 4,

p. 20).

Revenue a nd 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 yea rs. Th e 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 da mage d and even

the summer crop did not escap e. The average gross revenue

has reached £ 33 per 60 dunam, and the net income £ 25 . Thegross revenue per feddan or 120 dunams is thus £6 6 and the

net income £5 0. The gross incom e of the feddan in the Emek

(150 dunams) is £82 and the net income £62.500.

83

T a b l e IS .

Income and Expenditure of Arab Farm under Experiment in Gevath.( 6 0 d u n a m s )

1926-1927

I N C O M Ee

5 I:- ; "5 v) 1 5 J! 13

21-280H2-136i5-250i -

i

38-666

EXPENDITURE

00 '-L. '—

3 - 2 9 3 2 - - ; 3 - 8 6 6

3

9-159

Ne

F

m

In

me

|

29-507



1927-1928

1928-1929

Average

Average perdunam

! !

15-300; 5-2881 - j -I

!19-150110 952! - J0-734I

18-577, 9-459! - ! -

0-6191 0-631J - I - j

20-588

40-836

33-363

0-556

2-786 2 - - ;2-058!i ;

2-994 2 - - 4-0831

3-02312- - ;3-335:

0-050i0-034;0-056

6-844

9-077

8-360

0-140

13-744

31-759

25-003

0-416

1. C a lc u l a t e d a c c o r d in g to t h e f o l l o w in g p r i c e s : Wh e a t i 1 0, D u r r a

£ S, C h i c k p e a s £ iO, Sesam e E 26 .

2 Ma n u r in g e x p e n s e s , a m o u n t in g to £ 3 on th e a v e r a g e , w h ic h w e r e

incur red for expe r im enta l pur po ses , a r e no t inc lu ded in the i tems of ex-

p e n d i tu r e .

T a b l e 19.

Returns per Dunam on Experimental Plots,Arab Farming.

Year

1925-26

i926"27

1927"28

i928'29

\verage

<3

25-2

30-0

30-0;

30-0

-

Wheat

Return

_ Sii = S!

oo_: ! s s i

- :87-8 |

1O-4J61-7J8

8-951-9J

;<gs

1

-0-2

-

8-977-2I82-1

1 ;

- 69-681-1

Chick

< -a ! oo

14 -

15 ! 8-

- -

- -

- -

peas

! •"

! ~

|24-3

1J35-0

i -

-

29-6

V=

-

15

30

15

._

Durra

•A

- \

04 !

0-4

0-8j

~ I

-

-

101-1

22-0

47-0

56-7

Barley

| . j , ; SO

ea l

mn

5.6! - 95-0

_ ! _ i _i i

! I

- - -

-j

Sesame

-

-

-

15

-

«j Si

fJl ! 24

- : -

_ _

0-6i27*5

i

88!^

M -

The ca tchword oi modern capi ta l i s t ic econom y is " l ive

and let l ive." If this motto be applied in this instan ce the farm

abov e considere d wou ld have to grant the harath the wage of

£5 0 per year at the very least. This wo uld mean the lowe ring

of the reven ue 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 obtain s an inco me of £6 49 .



o w n i n . - f r i[ i .

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

If he were to satisfy the most elem entary pers onal 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 £ 60 , which is

the desirab le stan dard , the farmer 's profit would sink to

only £ 190.

The land under exp erimen t does not give such yields, and

according to its properties i t is of the type most common in

the cou ntry. Instea d of a yield of 11 ton per fedd an, obta ined

in the richly fertile land referred to in Ta bl e 12, the average

yield is here 6.5 ton; the revenue from one feddan is thus not

£ 6 6 , as in the former case, but only £5 0 . Th e latter is the

minimum sum required for the mainten ance of the harath , on

which it i s absolute ly impossible to make any reduc t ion. The

owner of the land has thus nothing left over for himself, an d

can only live by harsh e xploitation of the hara th. The con-

clusion 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-

growing region of the country agriculture can only yield a bare

living, and not furnish interest on capital.

89

The lasting effect of the application of chemical and

organic fertilisers extends over 3 considerab le period of time,

according to the findings of the D ivision of Agronomy. The

results given here are not intended to be conclusive but to serve

as a record of observations made.



I;

96

C h a p t e r S e v e n .

MODERNISING THE FELLAH'S FARM.

In the following c hap ter we shall set down only in genera l



out l ine those gradu a ted improv ements which a re f eas ible in th e

farm of the feliah. A detailed pro gram me , tog ether with precise

demonst ra t ive evidence , both econom ic and technica l , wi ll be

the subject of a separa te s tudy base d on an analy sis of the

various types of existing farms in the grain region of the country.

The following scheme of improv ements r es ts axiomat ica l ly upon

two pre l iminary sup posi t ion s :

A, Tha t the fellah's farm rema ins durin g a specif ic tra ns-

itory period in its prevailing form with out im port ant cha nge s

in his draught anim als , implem ents , c rop rota t ion, or his way

of life. I ts objective is increas e of revenu e w ithou t app reci abl e

increase of the items of expenditure.

B. The improvements proposed a re pr inc ipa l ly of a bio-

iogical and not technical nature, in origin domestic, rather than

acquired by impo rt. A farm stil l in the transi tory stage cann ot

be burdened wi th massive machinery and bui lding s s ince they

are then not a mea ns of prod uctio n but of luxury . The existing

instrumen ts of prod uctio n mus t advan ce the farm to the desired

standard bv increasing the ferti l i ty of the soil , augmentation of

yields, and increase of revenue, with the consequent raising of

She sta nd ard of life.

First Transitory Stages in Modernisationof a Primitive Farm.

The Heavy Crane.— Up- to-d a te ins t rumen ts of prod uc t -

ion introd uced in the mode rnisa tion of primitiv e farms in

91

by when he is pres sed for t ime. He is oblige d to use it even

to r a sm all ar ea, ex plo iting it to the full, but also leavi ng it idle

tor long. In this case two mo tives are mixed - the mach ine as

a means of produ ction is an econo mic necessity, and as a mea ns

of luxury is a psy cho log ical necessity .

Means o/ Production and Means of Luxury. — To those who

believe implicitly that the m achin e in itself always increa ses



the fertility of the soil, it is obviously always a means of pro-

ductio n by its very nature. But those who reg ard the machin ein most of its functions only as an aid to biology, find it also

an imp edim ent w hen it is a prem ature luxury, prior to the farm

being able to bear it . i t is this conflict which is especially

revealed in the transitory stage from primitive to modern agri-

culture, bringin g com plicat ions into the entire farm.

The same implem ent may be a means of produc t ion and

a me ans of luxury acc ord ing to the extent of i ts use. The fast

mo tor is a mea ns of produc tion if there is enough work to run

it for econom ic pu rpo ses every day in the week. The ass , for

exam ple, cannot at its rate of speed exe cute the sam e am oun t

of work. But if there is oniy en ough work to run the motor a

few ho urs and for the rest of the week it sra nd s idle, its grea ter

spe ed lias only a luxury and not an ec ono mic value. Under

such conditi ons there is nothing better than the ass with its

natura l slow nes s. Th e motor has ceased to be a factor of pro-

duc t ion and has become luxury.

In a land of small farmers only the work ing family and

not the hired han ds determin e the system of work . Th e size

of the "living area " determ ines the essential rate of spe ed in order-

to com plete all the labou r, with its rationa l distr ib ution , accord -

ing to the calen dar of ope ration for each seas on thro ugh out

the year . Tha t ins t rument which cor resp onds to such ra te of

spe ed and gua rante es the prop er stan dard of l ife is an instrument

104

O r o s s b r e o ' l . A n i l i :1 11 <i D t i f r i i . 1 s t

; \ Y ( - v , ; - : ' ) _ - _ - ' i i • i• I f o r

i . ' . - i r s 2 . Q ' ; ) l ) : i t o r s .

o f p r o d u c t i o n ; t h a t w h i c h w o r k s a t e x c e p t i o n a l s p e e d d u r i n g a

fe w da ys in t he se a so n a nd re m a i ns i d l e t he r e s t o f t he t ime

for l a c k of work , ow i ng t o t he l i m i t s of t he " l i v i ng a re a , " i s a l u xury .

P s y c h o l o g i c a l c a u s e s m a y m a k e t h e l a t t er i n s t r u m e n t e s s e n t i a l

e ve n wh e n i t i s po ss i b l e t o pe r fo rm t he w ork i t do e s wi t h

s l o w e r a n d s i m p l e r t o o l s . I t i s p o s s i b l e , f or e x a m p l e , t h a t th e

D a n i s h f a n n e r c a n n o t a d a p t h i m s e l f t o t h e t e m p o o f t h e p r e -



J!>jyrouth .H

Cros s iH 'oe d, Be yrouth

m i d F r i e s i a u (3A 'Kriesiau

l i i ood ) , nvorn ye y ie ld forthre e ve a r s 3 .5 i 7 liters .

v i o u s g e n e r a t i o n a n d h a s a d o p t e d m o d e r n s p e e d e v e n t h o u g h

i t i s no t e c on om i c , be c a u se o f i t s c on ve n i e nc e a l one , i t i s t husbu t a n a dd i t i on a l e xp e ns e r e qu i re d by h i s s t a nd a rd o f li fe suc h

a s o t he r .he ms —f i ne c l o t h e s a nd bo o t s , a ro om y ho me , f i ne

fu rn i t u re , e t c . In De nma rk t he re i s a n e xpa ns i ve e xh i b i t i on f i e l d

o n . whi c h t he re ha s be e n e re c t e d a ve r i t a b l e a nc i e n t v i l l a ge i n

a l l a s p e c t s — h o m e s , f a r m b u i l d i n g s , y a r d s , h o u s e u t e n s i l s , t o o l s

a nd wa t e r supp l y . T he p r i mi t i ve s i mpl i c i t y o f a n e a r l i e r a ge hove r s

a ro und t he v i s i t o r a s he s t ro l l s t h roug h i t s pa t hs . I t i s c on -

c e i v a b l e t h a t w i t h th e s e a n c i e n t i n s t r u m e n t s of p r o d u c t i o n , e x -

h i b i t e d me re l y a s a me mo ry of e a r l y c l a ys , p re v a i l i ng r e t u rns

c ou l d b e ob t a i ne d by t he f a : me r , if i t we re no t fo r h i s de s i r efo r p re s e n t da y c om for t . No , t he ne e ds o f p ro duc t i on bu t t he

r e f i n e m e n t o f th e h a b i t s o f ; h e p r o d u c e r c a u s e d t h e s u b s t i t u t i o n

fo r s i m pl e a nd p l a i n t oo l s o f e xpe ns i v e , i n t r i c a t e a n d he a v y

m a c h i n e r y . P o s s i b l y t h i s r e f i n e m e n t h a s a l s o af f e ct e d t h e c o w s

a n d p i g s w h o , if n o t n o w m a i n t a i n e d a c c o r d i n g t o m o d e r n s t a n -

d a r d s , w o u l d d e t e r i o r a t e . P o s s i b l y q u a l i t y c r o p s , t h o s e w h i c h

w i t h s t a n d c o m p e t i t i o n r e q u i r e s p e c i a l a r r a n g e m e n t s , i n v o l v i n g

a dd i t i on a l i nve s t m e n t s a nd a l a rge t u rno ve r . I t i s d i f f ic u l t t o

d i s t i n g u i s h f u n d a m e n t a l l y i n m o d e r n a g r i c u l t u r e b e t w e e n w h a t

i s v i t a l a nd w ha t i s l uxu r i ou s o r c on ve n i e n t . At a l l e ve n t s t he

" l e v e r a g e " t o o b t a i n p r o f i t s i n a ll t h e s e c a s e s i s p o n d e r o u s

a n d i n t r i c a t e .

I n m a n y d e v e l o p e d c o u n t r i e s a g r i c u l t u r e h a s d u r i n g t h e l a s t

105

or changing the preva i l ing t ime of sowing . The rea sons a re

as follows :-

A chan ge of rotation calls for funda menta l cha nge s in the

whole structure of the farm, different draught animals and con-

sequently the allocation of a special area for their feed instead

of cheap pasture and util isation of the weeds around the f ield.

Chan ge of t imes of sow ing mea ns p loug hing of brit t le soil ,



which involves much ex pendi ture which i s not r ecov erable f rom

yields, as weil as opp ressi ve labo ur. I t requ ires a heavy ploug hwhich in turn needs a stron g draug ht an imal. Yet the light plou gh

is in the transition period the most successful weapon in the hands,

of the fellah in his struggle for existence. I t must not be substituted

unt i l the oppor tune moment a r r ives , because such an exchange

would upse t the whole ba lance and harmon y of the holdin g.

Sum mer plough ing of heavy soil is justif ied in certain cases

only in a dairy farm whic h g ives f irst piace in the crop rota tion

to fodder crop s such as clover and vetches . Plou ghi ng of brit t le

soi l i s some t imes obl iga tory in order to a dvan ce the c lover

harvest or beca use 'o f a r egulated dis t r ibut ion of labour in or -der to prolo ng the work ing se aso n. In a small grain farm such

oppress iv e ploughing has no econom ic jus t if icat ion whatsoever . .

In overturning the stubble it deprives the cattle of their natural

past ure, an im porta nt i tem in the econo my of the fellah. Only a

dairy farm based on stable feeding and grown fodder can afford to-

dispense with the feed of the stubble and the remains of the harvest.

The yields of the fellah can be incre ased witho ut exc es-

s ive manip ula t ions s imply by care fully prepar ing a good rota t ion

crop , by use. of fer ti l izers and selected s eed s.

Prepara t ion of good rota t ion c rops . The fe llah who pre -pares a good rota t ion c rop by addi t iona l ploug hing and w eed-

ing increase s the yield of such c rops as ses am e and durra, .

and in con seq uen ce also of the cerea ls w hich follow them in

112

rota t ion. The addi t iona l ploughin gs preserve the mois ture of the

soil , the determining factor in the life of all plants in semi-arid

count r ies . The plou ghings and weedings des t roy the harmful

weeds which cause a double evi l , absorbing the mois ture

gathered with m uch effort in the soil and squee zing out the

produ ctive plants . Th e defects in the prep aratio n of a good

rotation crop are the result of a lack of goo d d raugh t an imals .

The fellah may not exch ange his oxen for a mule which requi res



for i ts feed an area of 15 to 20 dunams thus becoming in the

present area unit a mean s of conven ience perh aps, but not of

produ ction. Th e fellah requires a pair of stro ng 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 su ccess -

fully only when the land is cultivated prop erly , aera ted and

conserving moistu re. 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 improv ing the rotation crop the m oisture

is well preserved and the weeds destroyed so that the nourish-

ing 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% with-

out supplementary improvem ents. 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 p arts of the co untry the farm

of the fellah is dep ende nt on one culture and it is not surp ri-

sing therefore that its existence is not certain. The farm can be

diversified without burde ning it with crops for w hich there is

113

attention for an orchard even in heavy soi l . In this section

it is a lso poss ible to plant an orchard on 5 dunams, vege tables

on 5 dunams such as onions which have, a marke t , and a little

fodder. It must be empha sized tha t ov er -mod ernisa t ion wi l l a l so

complicate this farm by the excess ive investments . There is no

need for costly water installations; there is no need to e xc ha nge

the method of drawing wate r by me a ns of the bl ind mule 's or

camel 's c i r cumambula t ions for that by electr icity. The water



drawn by the mule mois tens the soil just the sa me as that

drawn by electr icity or oil p u m p s , and ext rac ts in quantity and

quality no less fruit from the tree. An orange grove of 50 d u n a m s

needs the rate of speed of electricity, but such rate is super f luous

for irrigating a plot of 5 duna ms . in such case the electr ic

force is not a me a ns of produc t ion in the field of the fellah,

just as the subst i tut ion of his oil l a mp in the home by an

electric lamp will not be considered produc t ive . Manur ing,

adequa te i r r iga t ion, pruning the dry branches , se lec t ion of buds ,

trie control of pesis and diseases , all these biological factors

ar e the soie means of pr oduc t i on . 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 foot-

121

The Sums R equi r ed fo r t he Improvement o f t he

F e l l a h ' s F a r m .

The impro vemen t is of two kin ds: such as is apt to com e

due to inner grow th and such as require special sums of money.

Betterment due to inner growth. - The improvem ent of kera bs.

improv emen t of seed s and the arrang eme nt of a plantation near

the village do not involve large sum s. All the fellaheen are to

partake in the raising of the money for purch ase of bulls for



joint use. The sum to be paid by the individual will not be high.The re is no need of burden ing anyon e with any purch asing

exp ens es; for with the natural growth the fellah will get the

strong buils and the. improved cow s.

In like manner the fellah should not arrange any tree-nur-

series. 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 one -fifth of the field, so th at 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, howev er,

deep ly in de bt, will find this kind of credit of no avail, as long

as he is not freed from this b ur de n; 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 enou gh to bring abo ut the desired effect.

Only when the fellah will be clean of his d ebts will he be ina position to make use of this credit for additional improv emen ts

and working capital.

124

c ; ; r u i i r i v e o n n > i - k v ( ! 5 a l i - t . ' i - ' \ V ,i! ( l )

Carob planted 011 rocky g round, (Ben Slienieu. 1913)

A pass ing o bserver , seeing the so i l with i ts scan ty y ie lds

and the wor ker in his low estate, w ould be apt to judg e harshly

of the natu re of both . But lie would be mis take n, for gre at

pow ers are latent in both, and merely awa it the touch of a



(furvatii .Vnavmi)

Touii"; ofuliard on rrrr.icei l mck v crrounil (TCirvar.li .inavim )

devoted hand io draw them forth.

Th e exist ing si tuation is a heri tag e of very old stan din g,

whose des t ruct ive effect s cannot be done away wi th in th e

twinkling of an eve. For long generat ions everything was taken

from the t i l ler of the soil , and nothin g given him in return . And

?-5v he, hav ing no al terna tive, paid out the soil in (he s ame coin,

alwa ys taking from it and never giving. So, there wa s a twofoldJ O O O '

robbery — of the cultivator and the soil both.

Almost the wh ole financial burden of his country was im -

posed upon the peasant for many ag es. The tithe and the other

taxes in themselves were enough to break his back; and yetthey were as nothing as compared with their concom itants, —•

the tax-ga there rs and other agents of the rulers, wrho placed the

peas ant at the mercy of the usurers and the spec ulators who

preten ded to be sav iors in his time of di stress. In order to free

himself from these latter, he was com pelled to sell his pro duc e

at-lo w prices and to buy it back again for his house hold need s

and' for sowing his fields at do uble and fourfold price s. He

descen ded lower than the beast of burden, w hose instinct impels

it to rebel when it is too poorly .fed. But, beca use he- being

-human, his reasoning -powe rs impelled him to accept a yoke so

hea vy-t hat he could not even attempt to-reb el.. Everything for

him was as a-heavenly decree: the iniquity of his-rulers and

the opp ressio n of their agents, even at third and fourth - hand.

Even when he looks up from his depth s to the- heigh ts,

125

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 sum-

mer 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 :

Kind of croo

Wh ea t

Barley

Beans

Sesame

Durra

Yield

in keis

50

28

20

19

1 4

cA

Te

a

f k

n

10

6

10

4

3

5 2 2

III

15

4

-

-

5

S eeds

keis

15

3

-2

1

1

S u r p l u s for s n l e '

Q u a n t i t y , V a l u ek e i s : ii

10

15

10

14

5

7-500

6' —

7'500

18-200

2-500

Total •700

Every worker receives 4—6 pittahs during the clay, weighing

about 1 kg., and vegetables. When a cooked meal is prepared,

as burghul, lentils or rice, he takes a portion of it to the field,

besides the evening meal. Then he receives during the day,

according to the season: eggs or olives or tomatoes, or figs,

or sabar (cactus fruits), and sometimes leben (sour milk) or

olive oil.

The home and farm expenditure of the fellah is composed

of the following items :

i T a x e s , viz. O s h e r and Verko and c o m m u n a l e x p e n s e s are not t aken i n t o accoun t .

J S eeds wh i ch the fel lah receives f rom the l a n d o w n e r are i nc l uded under "T enancy

f ees . " P r i ces ca l cu l a t ed as aver age of the years 1927-1929.

72

floo

At ha rve s t t i me li e h i r e s da y l a bo ure r s , g i v i ng t he m food

a nd t ob a c c o a ll t he t i me t he y wo rk a nd 120-150 P . T . i n c a s h

per fedclan.

For we e d i ng 3 -4 po un ds a re sp e n t i n t he c ou rse of t he ye a r .

T h i s wo rk i s don e by wo me n fo r f i ve t o s i x P i a s t r e s a da v .

Fi na l l y he ha s a n a dd i t i on a l e xp e nd i t u r e o f 4 -5 ke i s o f

wheat for bringing the prod uce from the f ield, for ingath ering

and for threshing.

All expense s arc borne by the tenant, except that for



B e d o u i n t e n t ; Hi u w i f e n u i k i n y b u t t e r

watching, in which the owner also shares. In lieu of this outlay

the Effeadi tak es a meed (a twelfth part of a kei) for every

feddan watc hed. For the food of the cattle at thresh ing 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 o f t h e F e l l a h .

The diet of the Fellah is poor and mono ton ou s. His stapie

food is the "pit tah " w hich he ba kes every day. A few "pi ttah s"

wi th onions or r adishes form his morning and m idday mea ls .

A cooked mea l — ca l led by him " tabiek h" — is only prepa red

for him in the evening. I t consists of the herb " 'khubbeza" f lavoured

with onions and pepper. When tomatoes are in season he eatstoma to salad f lavoured w ith pep per. Pe ppe r and oil are his two

condiments . Most of his r equi rements a re provided by his own

fields, and he buys but l i t t le outside.

Bread. — In the diet of the Fellah the most important ar ticle

is bread. An average family of 7 souls uses 7 - 8 kanta rs of

grain ( two -third s wheat, one third durr a) . This quantity is mad e

up from the prod uce of an averag e farm. The poorer Fe llahs

do not ob tain from their fields eno ugh for their food and they

make up the deficiency partly by gleani ng, partly by purc has e

rom outs ide .Milk —In many village s milk is obta ined from sheep by

those who have the i r own sheph erds . The average number o*

57

Documents

Elazari-Volcani I 1930 - The Fellahs farm