EGYPT AND SOUTHERN PALESTINE 289 



export. It is very improbable then that sheep will ever super- 

 sede cotton in Egypt, but as an adjunct to good agricultural 

 methods the sheep is destined to remain. 



Sinai will ever be a " no man's land." Now we come to the 

 open downs of Southern Palestine. There are, perhaps, many 

 aspiring Palestine squatters in the ranks of the Australian 

 Light Horse. 



As in Egypt, so in Palestine, grain is more in demand as a 

 commodity of trade than wool and meat. Wheat and b?rley 

 can be put in and harvested so cheaply ; there is an abundance 

 of cheap native adult and child labour, so that the poorest 

 fields show a profit. Under Turkish maladministration there 

 was no freehold land other than house sites and small garden 

 plots, and of the so-called leasehold land the lessee had no 

 security of tenure, and the Government could walk in at any 

 time, hence we see no improvements, no fences, no water 

 schemes, no plantations of trees, and few houses other than 

 those dilapidated mud huts dotting the landscape. Under 

 new British land laws settlement will be encouraged, and cereal 

 growing should make big strides. Sheep will continue an ad- 

 junct to dry farming, but under better conditions the breeds 

 should improve. The squatter idea will be cut right out ; it 

 is unlikely that large areas will be held solely for grazing. 

 Holdings will be fenced. It is almost certain that good supplies 

 of artesian and sub-artesian water will be tapped throughout 

 the country. Proper surveys will be made, and new roads and 

 railways will cross the land. 



For the identification of these native breeds of sheep and their 

 local geographical distribution I am indebted to G. C. Dud- 

 geon, Esq., and Mohammed Askar Effendi, of the Ministry of 

 Agriculture. 



