234 CEREAL CULTIVATION IN TRIPOLI. 

rest is left to nature, and the uses of the harrow and weeding 
are unknown. No manure is employed save the droppings 
of animals which pasture on the stubble after harvest, and 
then only in the rare instances where the peasant is rich in 
flocks‘and herds. The ploughshare, constructed of wood and 
tipped with iron, is from 15 to 18 inches long, and about four 
inches broad, and turns up the soil to a depth of about 33 
inches. It is drawn by one animal (cow, camel, ass, or old 
horse), and weighs from 14 to 22 lbs., according to the strength 
of the anima! and the condition of the soil. Although by 
this process the soil is scratched rather than ploughed, experi- 
ence has proved that where the rainfall is small, deeper 
ploughing is prejudicial to the young plants by exposing too 
great a depth of soil to the drying action of the weather, thus 
preventing them in due time from profiting by the underlying 
moisture. Some two years ago, two Scotch gentlemen who 
are engaged in agriculture in Cyprus introduced light Scotch 
ploughs on their lands but were obliged to revert to the 
native plough as best adapted to the cliraate and its small - 
rainfall. But even with these primitive methods, such is the 
fertility of the soil, aided solely by atmospheric agencies, that, 
with abundant and opportune rains, the results are surprising 
in point of yield. The superabundance of available land and 
the long fallow which it permits must, however, also be taken 
3 
into account. A “good crop” is so called in Tripoli when 
twentyfold of the seed sown is realised, a ‘‘ poor one” when 
the yield is only tenfold, and a return of seven or eightfold 
suffices only to recoup the cost of cultivation. 
The area under barley is more than three-fourths of the 
cultivated land. It constitutes the food of the bulk of the 
people, and is the mainstay of the country. Owing to the 
excellent quality and whiteness of Tripoli barley it is 
sought after for malting purposes, and the surplus beyond 
What is required for local wants goes almost entirely to 
England. No exotic seed is imported, the native being: 
esteemed superior. Its average weight per imperial bushel 
is about 58 lbs. Stored in Tripoli it rapidly deteriorates 
through weevils and flies, but in warehouses in England 
it preserves its good condition for two or three years. In the 
