20 AGRICULTURAL AND BOTANICAL EXPLORATIONS IN PALESTINE. 



sure that this difference is really one of variety; the superiority is 

 probably due to the soil. The villages of Et-Tireh, Ijzim, and Ain 

 Ghazal (mother of gazelles), in the foothills of Mount Carmel, are 

 renowned for this superior olive. All the trees reported from there 

 were found to grow in rich land made up of volcanic tufa and disin- 

 tegrated basalts from the old eruptions of the Secondary epoch. 



Er-Rameh, in upper Galilee, 1,300 to 2,000 feet in altitude, holds 

 the record for the productivity and quality of its olives. There is 

 here a fair degree of uniformity in the character of the fruit, and 

 the best methods of cultivation in the country are here in use. 



A number of other varieties are found in the region of Damascus. 

 The altitude here is 2,000 to 2,300 feet, and the winters are rather 



Fig. 4. — Olive groves on rocky soil in the environs of Jerusalem, showing artificial terracing. 



severe. Some of these varieties are especially rich in oil ; others par- 

 ticularly well adapted for table use. The only one called "Damas- 

 cus " olive remains green in color until ripe and is preserved simply 

 by means of lye made of ashes. It is often as large as a pigeon's egg, 

 larger than any of the Spanish " aceitunas Sevillanas " or " aceitunas 

 de la Reina " that I have ever seen. 



As the winters are mild in the particular regions where I have car- 

 ried on my work, I have studied the resistance of our forms and 

 varieties in relation to heat and drought rather than to cold. But as 

 there are varieties growing in parts of Palestine where the winters 

 are severe I have no reason to doubt that there are forms among these 

 which will grow well in those parts of California, Texas, etc., where 

 winter temperatures are relatively low. In fact, our olives extend 



180 



