Evening star., 1902-04-25
LIFE IN THE ORIENT.
Strange Way Of Raising Grapes
Travel and Agriculture in Syria.

VIM. e. Curtis In Chicago Record Herald.
DAMASCUS, Syria, March 15.-There is
an excellent railway between Beirut and
Damascus, narrow gauge operated on
the rack and pinion system. with cog
wheels at the heavy grades and 1t Winds
IN ana out OF the gorges. clinging to the
mountain sides, and crosses a pass I'm the
lebanon mountains at an elevation of 4,4SO
1eet Then 1t drops down into a beautiful
littie valley and again ascends, crossing the
Antf-Lebanon range at an altitude of 4. 100
ieet- That brings it into the Valley of Da-
mascus which is 2. .45O feet above the sea-
The distance is ninety-one miles and for q
greater part Of the time 1t follows the old
caravan road, which has been used since
the time of Abraham.
me railroad belongs to French company
and is being slowly extended beyond Damas-
Gus and into parallel valleys in order to
reach the most fertile sections of Syria The
track Is solid and well ballasted, the rails
are hfty-dve pounds to the foot, the ties of
iron. the bridges Of stone and the embank-
ments are revetted with walls Of masonry
in the most careful, costly and permanent
manner. The station houses, water tanks,
Side tracks. repair shops, engine houses and
other property of the road are on the same
scale 1t was built and is operated by Swiss
engineers, being similar in many respects
70 the SWISS railways. The rolling stock is
but is insufficient for the traffic. There are
many complaints about delay in transporta-
tion which are due to the lack Of cars and
upon our train the other day thirty-one
people holding first-class tickets could find
only three first-class compartments, with
SIX places each, which, according to the
OF the passengers. and not Of the company
The journey from Beirut to Damascus IL
almost a duplicate Of g. trip over the Mexf-
can National railway. and the resemblance
to certain portions Of southern Colorado
and northern New Mexico Is very striking
A resident Of Santa Fe or Aqua Calientes
would feel very much at home in this part
OF Syria, although he would wonder at the
trouble and expense the people have taken
to retain and cultivate the little fertile land
that the Creator has allotted them. The
mountain sides have been walled up in
terraces like gigantic stairways. to pre-
vent the soil from being washed of by the
rain; the terraces are planted with grapes
figs. olives and mulberry trees. which have
hundreds and perhaps thousands of years.
Olive trees live to a great age; fg trees
never die and some OF the grapevines to be
seen along the roadside are as thick as a
mans body.
The syrians cultivate grapes in a curious
way. In the fall Of the year, after the fruit
has been gathered, the vines are pruned
down to q trunk about the height Of man,
which is laid fiat upon the ground until
springtime. when 1t Is propped up, manured
and irrigated. New branches will shoot out,
No sap is wasted in nourishing useless
leaves and vines. Hence the vineyards have
a peculiar look at this time Of year. being
rows OF trunks Of different sizes, from six
inches to q foot in diameter and from Ave
to eight feet long, which lie upon the ground
in lines like sleeping army.
All along the railway line, wherever there
is vacant place, the farmers seem to be
setting out mulberry trees, which are plant
ed very closely together and cultivated like
house plants, SO that they viii grow rap
idly and bear luxurious leaves This is in
obedience to the rapid increase of the silk
industry. which. have been told, ID very
great at Damascus. The ground is very
carefully prepared. It IL plowed deep. har-