JEWISH COLONIZATION IN PALESTINE 431 



own land under its own vines and fig trees. And even from the stand- 

 point of safety more is to be gained by developing readier means of com- 

 munication and transporation than by crowding the people into small 

 inaccessible villages. 



In spite of all that has been said of the devastation of Palestine, the 

 country has rich possibilities of agricultural development. The prevail- 

 ing notion that the Promised Land is now a hopeless desert rests largely 

 on the impressions of travelers who confine themselves to the regular 

 tourist route from Jaffa up to Jerusalem and then down to Jericho and 

 the Dead Sea. The districts visited on such a trip give about as correct 

 an idea of the country as might be obtained if a visitor to California 

 were to land at Los Angeles or San Diego, and then travel over the 

 mountains to Indio and the Salton Sea. Even the most recent account 

 of Palestine, written by a professional geographer, shows a very inade- 

 quate appreciation of the factors that determine the agricultural possi- 

 bilities of the country. 3 



The agricultural possibilities of Palestine are not likely to be appre- 

 ciated by visitors from Europe and America until some readily acces- 

 sible part of the country is developed on the basis of farm homes. 

 People who live in crowded villages are not likely to attain any very 

 high degree of agricultural prosperity or to make very rapid agricul- 

 tural progress. What the colonists have been able to accomplish under 

 their present methods of living affords ample evidence of a self-sacri- 

 ficing determination, worthy, not of a better cause, but of a better 

 course, more directly aimed toward agricultural improvement. 



The natural conditions are undoubtedly favorable, and the desire 

 for agricultural progress exists, but effective combination of the two 

 elements must also be secured. The leaders among the colonists are 

 no longer resting their hopes for the future upon securing political con- 

 trol of the country through purchase or diplomatic negotiations. 

 Whatever the political status of the country the essential conditions will 

 remain the same, in the sense that the whole resident population must 

 be considered in any program that is to assure the permanent progress 

 of the colonists. Thus the human problem is even more serious than 

 the agricultural problem. The human environment of the colonists 

 needs to be improved, no less than the agricultural environment. The 

 only possible solution of either problem is through agricultural and 



3 See Huntington, E., ' ' Palestine and its Transformation, ' ' 1911. This 

 author considers it very unfortunate that most of the rain comes in the winter 

 instead of in the summer season when the crops are growing, but overlooks the 

 further facts that nearly all of the precipitation occurs in the form of very 

 gentle rain, and that the granular limestone soil is extremely well adapted to 

 absorb and retain the moisture till the crop season arrives. The sesame and 

 sorghum crops grow without any rain, on moisture stored in the soil by dry 

 farming methods. 



