1909.] 



Agriculture in Syria. 



129 



stage ; for ensilage the crop can be cut later, but it is better to 

 cut before the pods begin to ripen ; for green forage, cutting 

 may begin earlier and continue rather later than for either 

 hay or ensilage ; the crop may be cut for seed after the pods 

 become about half-ripe. 



Owing to its coarse habit of growth, the soy bean is some- 

 what difficult to make into hay in moist climates, and the 

 plant is liable to lose a large part of its leaves, but there can 

 be no question as to its high feeding value when cut at the 

 right season and properly cured. 



It is probably best used as green forage. The great varia- 

 tion in the season of maturity of the different varieties makes 

 it possible to have a succession of forage throughout the 

 greater part of the summer and autumn. It is stated to be 

 excellent for dairy cattle, though stock do not always relish 

 it at first. 



It has also been successfully made into silage in the United 

 States. 



The Board have received, through the Foreign Office, a 

 report prepared by Mr. G. P. Devey, H.M. Consul at 

 Damascus, on the "Agriculture, Tithes, 

 Agriculture in and Taxes of the Syria Vilayet." This 

 Syria. report can be inspected at the office 



of the Board, 8 Whitehall Place, S.W. 

 It appears that in an average year the production of this 

 Vilayet, the area of which is about one-fourth that of the 

 British Isles, is 6,500,000 bushels of wheat, 2,200,000 

 bushels of barley, together with chick peas, maize, millet, 

 lentils, and peas, bringing up the total yield to 9,333,000 

 bushels. Of this quantity about 500,000 bushels are exported 

 through the ports of Haifa and Beirut, 2,000,000 bushels go 

 to other parts of Syria, while the remainder is consumed at 

 home. These figures can only be regarded as approximate; 

 no reliable statistics being in existence. The crops in 1908 

 were exceptionally productive, and the yield was probably 

 30 per cent, more than the above estimate. 



Farming is as yet carried on in this province with primi- 

 tive simplicity, and no new methods or implements have 

 been introduced. No good systems of irrigation exist, and 



