Syria: An Economic Survey 



in the Lebanon) was 13,376,000 pounds in 1911. About 85 per 

 cent is spun into raw silk in the country and then exported to 

 France. Because of the depressed condition of the silk industry, 

 silk-worm culture has grown less profitable, and in recent years 

 many mulberry plantations have made way for other plantations, 

 especially orange. 



The cultivation of oranges and lemons, especially the former, 

 has greatly increased in the last two decades. Oranges thrive on 

 the coastal plain and in the Jordan valley. As they require arti- 

 ficial irrigation in summer, they are planted either along streams 

 or on the coastal plain between Haifa and Gaza, where water may 

 be obtained at a depth of from three to thirty meters. According 

 to an official report the Vilayet of Aleppo has only 18,000 orange 

 trees bearing 180,000 okka of fruit, and 3,235 lemon trees yielding 

 32,350 okka, whereas the Vilayet of Beirut has 26,430 dunam of 

 orange and lemon trees producing 21,078,000 okka of fruit. There 

 are no statistics at hand of the area of the large orange plantations 

 in the Mutessariflik of Jerusalem (especially around Jaffa), but 

 it may be estimated at 30,000 dunam, producing 50,000,000 okka. 

 The Jewish and the German colonists plant seventy trees to the 

 dunam. The Jaffa oranges are larger than those of Northern 

 Syria. About 8,000,000 francs worth of oranges (not counting 

 the value of the cases) are exported to Liverpool, and smaller 

 quantities are sent to Eastern ports. The consumption of oranges 

 in Syria is very high. The total value of the Syrian orange and 

 lemon yield comes to about 15,000,000 francs. 



Among the other fruit trees grown in Syria are fig, apple, 

 pear, peach, apricot, pomegranate, mulberry (red, with edible 

 fruit), almond, pistachio, and walnut trees. The fruit of the carob 

 tree is partly made into syrup in Damascus and Sidon, and partly 

 exported. The value of all these fruits may be estimated at 

 10,000,000 francs. Almonds are cultivated mainly in Palestine. 

 In 1913, 528,000 pounds of almonds, worth 225,000 francs, were 

 exported from Jaffa. The total value of the almond crop is about 

 1,000,000 francs annually. Pistachio nuts are grown in Aleppo. 



4. Wild Fruits. 



Licorice is collected in large quantities by the fellaheen in 

 Northern Syria and sold to an American firm in Alexandretta, 

 by whom it is exported. Since 1914 there is a tax of 2 

 para (1/5 cent) on every okka of licorice that is exported. 

 Other wild plants are buckthorn berries, galls, gum, tragacanth, 



20 



