72 



1 FOREIGN OFFICE REPORTS. 



[June 1896: 



hindrance to the establishment and extension of these colonies 

 unless encouraged by home support, but time and proper 

 training will, it is believed, do much to remove this inherent 

 prejudice. 



The sowing, reaping, &c, is carried out in these colonies in 

 accordance with the latest improvements adopted in Europe, and 

 the colonies themselves have become like model farms to the 

 surrounding peasantry, and will, it is expected, in course of 

 years, produce a beneficial effect on the rural population of 

 Palestine. That of Richon-le-Siori, which is the largest colony 

 in this district, is occupied almost exclusively with the cultiva- 

 tion of the vine, and with the manufacture of wine. Large 

 additional wine vaults have recently been built, and cuttings 

 from the best French vines have been introduced, and are 

 being cultivated in the colony. Already the wine made is of 

 a very fair quality, but as more attention is devoted to its 

 manufacture a very superior kind will ultimately be produced. 

 In connection with the manufacture of wine, a steam factory for 

 ' making casks, for driving machinery for purposes of irrigation, 

 and for the manufacture of ice and of glass bottles, is now in 

 full working order. 



In the other colonies, such as Ekron and Petah-Tekwah, more 

 attention is given to the cultivation of fruit trees of various 

 kinds and the growing of crops, and large tracts of land which' 

 were formerly either marshes or lying waste have been reclaimed! 

 and are now productive. A very fair training in agriculture is 

 afforded to Jewish youths by the agricultural school near Jaffa 

 called Mikweh Israel, where a considerable number of pupils are 

 boarded free of expense, and are also instructed in all the 

 elementary branches of education. Further north, on the slopes 

 of Mount Carmel, in an elevated and healthy locality, the large 

 Jewish colony of Zammarin is situated, which of late years has- 

 become populous and flourishing, providing a means of livelihood 

 to many of the Jews who had settled in the vicinity of Safed 

 and Tiberias. Other Jewish colonies have been established in 

 Palestine, but those mentioned above have been the most 

 successful. 



[Foreign Office Report, Annual Series, No. 1G98. Price l\d.\ 



Switzerland and Protection. 



The Board have received through the Foreign Office a copy 

 of a report from the Swiss Federal Council to the Federal 

 Assembly on the subject of a petition presented by 8,900 voters, 

 in favour of protective measures for Swiss agricultural products 

 and for cereals in particular. The Federal Council recommends 

 the rejection of the petition on various grounds, detailed in the 

 report, of which the following are the most interesting : — 



The first reason is stated to be that the present Swiss tariff 

 was, on its introduction in 1891, subjected to a certain amount 



