The Irish standard., 1911-04-15
throw the farther.

S1,000,000 worth of it is exported a
year. The shearing is done by hand,
and much Of the wool is sold un-
washed. Some is washed after shear
ing. the work being done by women
who receive less than shilling a day.
Sheepfolds Locked at Night.
There is great deal in the Bible
about the sheepfolds. These are COM
mon in Palestine. In the villages
there are often corrals and some
times caves in the hills. The village
folds are closed at night, and the
shepherds keep the keys. Those of
the mountains are usually open and
the sheep go in and out as they will.
One Of the most important duties of
the shepherd is to water the flocks.
He does this at streams or wells. At
the wells the women draw the water
for the sheep, as they did in the days
of the Scriptures. They use bags Of
goatshn untanned. The skins are
taken from the goats, and the legs
and other openings tied up so that the
skin is waterproof. There is but one
hole, at the throat, and it is in this
that the water is poured.
cameIs and Donkeys.
The Palestine of today is a land of
donkeys and camels. suppose the
latter are about the same as those
owned by Job. They are reared in
Beersheba, where the people live on
their milk. The camel is the freight
car of Palestine. l have seen many
caravans Of them in going over the
country.
On my way here we passed some
camels which the Bedouin drivers
were shearing. They were slipping
the wool from the kneeling beasts,
which cried and moaned and now and
then uttered shrieks as the shears
shipped off bits of their flesh Not
few shed actual tears. The wool of
these camels is woven into a coarse
cloth which is used for the coverings
of the Bedouin tents.
AS far as I can see these camels of
the Holy Land have no easy job. They
carry loads of 300 or 400 pounds each,
and on short trips their packs are
left on day and night. They begin
to work at years, and often last
until they are % years of age. The
best of them bring from $50 to 800
and the poorest from $25 to $50.
AS to the donkeys, they are much
cheaper. They form the draft ami
mails of the poor, and are used by the
farmers for carrying vegetables and
wood to market. 1 see them loaded
with olive roots on their way to Je-
rusalem, and now and then pass a
donkey caravan, every animal carry
ing bag of grain which has been
balanced upon his back and which the
driver holds there as he goes up steep
hills.
Producing Honey Once More.
Palestine is sometimes called 1.-The
land of milk and honey" This 1t was
in the past, and this 1t may be again.
A Swiss family, not far from Jeru.
salem, has recently gone into the
business. and is producing many thou
sands of pounds of honey year. The
bees are kept in hives made Of terra
Gotta jars. which are moved to the
different pastures several times
season. The average yield of honey
per hive is about 100 pounds.
AS to the Palestine flowers, I can
not describe them. There are said to
be more than 5000 varieties Cross
ing the upper plains of Sharon I rode
through great fields of daisies as yell
low as buttercups and as beautifully
shaped as our daisies at home. There
were greenish-white flowers carpeting
the roadside, and among them pop
pies, gladiolas and lilies. In the gar
dens here are geraniums as large as
rose bushes and on the sides of the
hills wild flowers of every descrip-
ton. There are yellow violets and
pink and blue blossoms whose names
I know not.
There is also a red flower called
''the blood drop of Christ" 1t is said
to have sprung up on the spot where
dropped the blood of our Savior as
He carried the Cross. I counted IS
different wild flowers in single days
travel over the mountains of Samaria.
At one place saw what looked like
piles of Bermuda onions pulled up,
lining the roadside. There were
bushels of them, and I suppose they
had been spilled out by a broken
down caravan.
"Those are lily bulbs which the
farmers have dug out Of the fields"