﻿LAND 
  USE 
  — 
  LOWDERMILK 
  415 
  

  

  soil 
  erosion 
  is 
  low 
  on 
  flat 
  lands, 
  but 
  it 
  is 
  critical 
  on 
  sloping 
  lands. 
  

   Flat 
  lands 
  have 
  their 
  problems, 
  it 
  is 
  true, 
  in 
  the 
  rise 
  of 
  water 
  tables 
  

   and 
  in 
  the 
  accumulation 
  of 
  salts, 
  but 
  drainage 
  is 
  usually 
  sufficient. 
  

   Other 
  problems 
  occur 
  in 
  the 
  formation 
  of 
  sand 
  dunes, 
  for 
  which 
  

   fixation 
  with 
  vegetation 
  is 
  the 
  solution. 
  But 
  the 
  tiller 
  of 
  soil 
  has 
  met 
  

   his 
  greatest 
  problem 
  throughout 
  the 
  ages 
  in 
  maintaining 
  cultivation 
  

   on 
  sloping 
  lands. 
  We 
  found 
  failures 
  and 
  successes 
  throughout 
  this 
  

   broad 
  expanse 
  of 
  land. 
  

  

  ANCIENT 
  PHOENICIA 
  AND 
  SLOPE 
  FARMING 
  

  

  The 
  Near 
  East 
  is 
  believed 
  by 
  archeologists 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  scene 
  of 
  the 
  

   beginnings 
  of 
  agriculture 
  which 
  made 
  the 
  growth 
  of 
  western 
  civiliza- 
  

   tion 
  possible 
  (11) 
  . 
  2 
  It 
  is 
  probable 
  that 
  irrigated 
  agriculture 
  preceded 
  

   rain 
  agriculture. 
  The 
  flat 
  lands 
  of 
  the 
  Nile 
  Valley 
  and 
  Mesopotamia 
  

   were 
  irrigated 
  before 
  the 
  slopes 
  of 
  ancient 
  Phoenicia 
  were 
  cleared 
  and 
  

   cultivated. 
  It 
  is 
  probable 
  also 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  on 
  the 
  slopes 
  of 
  the 
  orig- 
  

   inally 
  forest-clad 
  mountains 
  of 
  ancient 
  Phoenicia 
  that 
  rain 
  agriculture 
  

   first 
  began, 
  and 
  at 
  the 
  same 
  time 
  the 
  tiller 
  of 
  soil 
  of 
  our 
  western 
  civil- 
  

   ization 
  first 
  encountered 
  the 
  hazards 
  of 
  slope 
  cultivation 
  and 
  of 
  soil 
  

   erosion. 
  It 
  is 
  also 
  probable 
  that 
  the 
  tillers 
  of 
  soil 
  first 
  controlled 
  

   erosion 
  here 
  with 
  rock 
  walls 
  to 
  terrace 
  sloping 
  lands. 
  

  

  In 
  this 
  connection, 
  we 
  must 
  refer 
  to 
  the 
  remarkable 
  terraces 
  of 
  

   Peru. 
  I 
  am 
  unaware 
  if 
  the 
  age 
  of 
  the 
  terraces 
  of 
  Peru 
  has 
  been 
  de- 
  

   termined. 
  Certainly 
  they 
  were 
  developed 
  by 
  the 
  genius 
  of 
  a 
  resource- 
  

   ful 
  people 
  in 
  great 
  antiquity 
  and 
  independently 
  of 
  the 
  Phoenicians 
  

   in 
  the 
  Near 
  East, 
  for 
  which 
  they 
  deserve 
  equal 
  praise 
  for 
  a 
  marvelous 
  

   achievement. 
  

  

  About 
  5,300 
  years 
  ago, 
  the 
  Phoenicians 
  migrated 
  from 
  the 
  desert 
  

   and 
  settled 
  along 
  the 
  eastern 
  shore 
  of 
  the 
  Mediterranean 
  Sea, 
  estab- 
  

   lishing 
  the 
  harbor 
  towns 
  of 
  Tyre 
  and 
  Sidon, 
  Beyrouth 
  and 
  Byblos. 
  

   They 
  found 
  their 
  land 
  mountainous, 
  rising 
  to 
  a 
  crest 
  of 
  10,000 
  feet 
  

   and 
  heavily 
  covered 
  with 
  forests, 
  the 
  greatest 
  extent 
  of 
  which 
  were 
  

   the 
  forests 
  of 
  the 
  famous 
  cedars 
  of 
  Lebanon. 
  These 
  forests 
  became 
  

   the 
  timber 
  supply 
  for 
  the 
  treeless 
  alluvial 
  plains 
  of 
  the 
  Nile 
  and 
  of 
  

   Mesopotamia. 
  This 
  conclusion 
  is 
  inferred 
  from 
  inscriptions 
  such 
  as 
  

   one 
  on 
  the 
  Temple 
  of 
  Karnak, 
  Egypt, 
  placed 
  at 
  2840 
  B. 
  C, 
  which 
  

   announces 
  the 
  arrival 
  in 
  Egypt 
  of 
  40 
  ships 
  laden 
  with 
  timber 
  of 
  the 
  

   cedars 
  of 
  Lebanon 
  (2). 
  Inscriptions 
  found 
  in 
  excavations 
  of 
  Nineveh 
  

   and 
  of 
  ancient 
  Babylon 
  refer 
  to 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  "huge 
  cedars 
  from 
  Mount 
  

   Lebanon" 
  in 
  the 
  construction 
  of 
  buildings 
  (9). 
  

  

  In 
  this 
  mountainous 
  land 
  rising 
  boldly 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  sea 
  there 
  was 
  little 
  

   flat 
  land 
  along 
  the 
  coast. 
  The 
  growing 
  population 
  doubtless 
  soon 
  

   exceeded 
  the 
  carrying 
  capacity 
  of 
  these 
  restricted 
  flat 
  lands 
  and 
  was 
  

  

  * 
  Numbers 
  in 
  parentheses 
  refer 
  to 
  literature 
  cited. 
  

  

  