THE RUINED GARDEN.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17907, 28 September 1918, Page 8

THE RUINED GARDEN.

Stria, the scene of Genera] Allen by's triumph over tho Crescent, is having added to her already copious history a. new page of glorious endeavour. Situated between the great rival empires of tho Ancient East, in Mesopotamia and on the Nile, and between their Greek successors tho SelcMeida and the Ptolemies, Syria was tho battleground of those early civilisations, and later it. was 6ne of the bulwarks of tho Roman dominion in tho East. In tho seventh century the decay of the Byzantino Empire loft Syria tho first prey to the Moslem onrush, and she became onco more the debating ground of the Asiatic and African rivals for the Khaliphate. Three centuries later the Cross and the Crescent made Syria a field of decision, and victory in the end rested with tho Mahommedan. This narrow strip of country between tho desert wastes and tho sea has been the Flanders of the East, and ovor its fields has marched a procession of nearly all tho world conquerors. The land, however, was not merely an arena for their conflicts. Syria was then a country of powerful attractions, and tho great captains recognised its potentialities, but under the Mohammedan misrule decay all hut overwhelmed its industry, and tho silt from the muddy Nile threatened the portals of tho rich fields. Tho straight Syrian coast line has no deep gulfs, but at Beirut there is a good harbour, and north of it there is Tripoli, so-called because it was the seat of the Phoenician League, Tyro, Sidonand Arvad, a port of even greater possibilities. Jaffa, tho port of Jerusalem and for tho grains and fruits of Philistia and Sharon, however, has felt tho influence of the Nile, though until the war broke out it was a, prosperous harbour in spite of the Turk. Haifa is the outlet for tho rich wheatfields of Esdraelon and Hauran, while in Beirut concentrates the export of tho silk manufactures of Lebanon, most of tho .local trade of Tyro and Sidon, and tho trade from Damascus. Behind these ports, supplying the great part of tho country's wealth, is tho fertile maritime plain. Of the capacity of this ancient garden* there can bo no doubt, and the march" of the British troops.brings promise of a new era of prosperity. Philistia nnrkSharon, with tho wider valleys, bearwood wheat, millet, vines, oranges, citrons, tho olive and the date, but the capacity of tho soil only renders more obviou3 the waste "of the land and tho poverty of tho native peasantry under the Turkish regime. Gorman and Jewish colonies, which have been planted sinco 1868, givo convincing evidence of tho possibilities awaiting industry. "Of the forty-five to fifty Jewish settlements in Palestine sinco 1870—said to have contained before the war some 13,000 people—there aro ten or eleven near Jaffa and southward, and others on the southern slopeß of Carmel—altogether with a. membership of over 60C0," says Sir George Adam Smith in an interesting essay on tho country. "Tho improvements they have effected in spite of the obstructions of tho Government and the agricultural inexperience of most of the settlers, have been wonderful, as tho present writer con testify from a knowledge of their progress sinco 1880. They have doubled, and in some cases trebled, the annual yield of the acres they cultivate. They have laid down new roads. They have introduced new stocks of fruit, and by researches at their experimental station are said to have developed varieties of grain and fruit fitted' to withstand the sirocco and other rigours of the climate. They have reduced tho fevers of some swampy districts bv a lavish planting of eucalyptus, known to the Arabs as 'the J own' tree.'" Esdraelon, which carries tho same conditions of fertility inland almost as far as the Jordan, is a great wheat-field into which new Jewish colonies wore just breaking when tho war began. North of Esdraelon aro tho highlands of Galilee, great fertile tablelands where in ancient times "no part lay idle" and tho olives were said to bo easier to cultivate than in any other part of Syria. South of Esdraelon, in the uplands, there aro tucked away fertile valleys and small plains where oxcellent wheat is grown. Samaria and Judaea nowadays are tho least fertile part of the whole country. The region has little running water and it, has no physical conditions to assist it, no trunk roads and no convenient markets for the surrounding peoples. The Dead Sea shuts off Moab, and the Arabs in tho south .(lock to Glaasa rather than Hebron. Jerusalem is a spiritual creation rather than a' natural city.- Of the country west of the Jordan everyone knows something, but beyond the Jordan are said to lie tho greatest natural resources of Syria. Much of the country in the north is of small value, but upon the Hauran plateau, oast of the Sea of Galileo, tho best wheat in the Levant is grown. Hauran won ono of

the great granaries of the Roman Empire, and before the war the annual yield of grain was estimated at 320,000 most of which went to Haifa by railway. Tho Turks have attempted to do more in tho Hauran province than in the other districts, but the valuable region awaits a strong government to restore its former wealth of production. Further to tho south lies the Yarmuk Valley, where the limestone hills of Gilead begin. It Is a rich pasture, watered by numerous springs and streams. South again is the limestone tableland of Moab, for the most part good wheat land, and, where wheat is. not possible, good pasture land. This eastern belt is open to the attack of the marauders from Arabia, and the Turkish Government lias never been able to afford the inhabitants any protection worthy of the name. In spite of this, however, tho land has responded generously to tho farmer. Syria awaits the firm hand of strong administration and the oncourngement of modern industry. Sir Georgo Smith scouts the idea that Syria's decay is duo to a change of climate or to any causes that cannot bo removed. Tho Turk is the destroyer of her wealth and already the hopeful land can see her oppressor passing and Allenby's crusaders opening tho door to a brilliant future.