Syria: An Economic Survey 



cultivation have so far not been brilliant. Therefore, there 

 is a tendency to devote part of the land to orchards, as in the 

 Judaean colonies, and to engage in so-called diversified farm- 

 ing. As a matter of fact, grain cultivation in Palestine is less 

 profitable for the European immigrant than orchards and, more- 

 over, the Jew seems to have a greater aptitude for the care 

 of trees than for grain cultivation. In any case, the excellence of 

 the tree plantations in the Jewish colonies is admitted without a 

 dissenting voice. They are generally considered models, whereas 

 grain cultivation and animal husbandry as practised by the Jews 

 leave much to be desired, and have not as yet proved unquestionably 

 profitable. 



Since the administration of the colonies has been in the hands 

 of the J. C. A., an effort has been made after a fifteen-year period 

 of support to set the colonists on their own feet again. The 

 J. C. A. succeeded in reducing the subsidies accorded the colo- 

 nists by a considerable amount, and in rendering some of the 

 colonies entirely independent. This task was facilitated by the 

 immigration, even before 1900, of a number of rich Eastern Euro- 

 pean Jews, adherents of the Hovevei Zion (Friends of Zion) move- 

 ment, who either founded their own plantations or else formed 

 societies in Europe whose representatives were sent to Palestine for 

 that purpose. The number of private plantations has grown since 

 1908, when several stock companies founded under Zionist auspices 

 began to establish farms, and so to popularize cultivation on a 

 large scale, of which there was only one instance in Palestine before 

 that, the farm school of the J. C. A. in Sedjera, founded in 1899. 

 As a result Jewish agricultural colonization not only was enriched, 

 but it acquired a spirit of independence which had a salutary effect 

 on the "dependent" colonies. 



It has sometimes been asserted, especially by German agricul- 

 turists, that the Jewish colonists are not real farmers, but rather 

 manufacturers of and dealers in fruits. Unquestionably the Jewish 

 plantation colonies have a strong commercial tinge. In this respect 

 they differ from the German colonies and approach American farms 

 in character. The proprietor does not participate in the work 

 himself, but undertakes the bookkeeping and the sale of 

 the fruit. It may well be asked whether in Palestine that which 

 the German farmer, judging by German standards, considers a 

 defect, may not represent a higher grade of agricultural activity. 

 In one respect, however, this commercial tendency is a great draw- 

 back, for it keeps the planter from growing requirements which 



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