Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-03-12

should not buy this raw silk direct and
thus save the Frenchmans profits and the
double transportation charges. 1 saw
mulberry orchards everywhere during my
travels in Syria The plains about Beirut
are covered with them. and they are to
be found on both sides OF the Lebanon
mountains. The trees grow TO the height
of a mans head, and are then cut back
Their branches are cut off every year.
and the green leaves from the new sprouts
form the food for millions of silk worms.
In coming from Damascus l saw women
and children picking tile leaves TO
feed the worms. carrying them to sheds
erected for the purpose. Rearing the
silk worms is largely in the hands OF the
women They take care OF the. tree
and sell the cocoons this forming the
chief source of their pin money.
He who plants an olive tree lays nm
riches for his children's children This
saying is a current belief throughout
the Levant. The olive crop is the
money crop of great part of Palestine.
Syria and Asia Minor. Many of the
trees are hundreds Of years old. and
lumbus discovered America. Mr.. Ravn-
dal tells of an ORCHARD near Tripoli, in
Syria. which the papers show was es-
tabliShed about five hundred years ago.
and he says the trees are still bearing
All the way from Jerusalem 10 the sea
of Gallee j saw olive trees which
looked old enough to have been planted
by Jacob, and some of gigantic size
which were hollow and had been filed
with stones to aid in their support.
Many of the German colonies OF the
Holy Land have set out new orchards.
and the Americans who live at Heifa
by careful cultivation have brought
their trees into bearing fruit every
year. / am told that the crop is very
profitable, and that under the new gov
eminent and reduced taxation many
more trees will be planted. The fruit
is raised for the OIL of which ton OF
olives yields about seventy gallons.
worth S136. Asiatic Turkey already
leads the world in its production of
olive oil. having about two or three hun
dred thousand more barrels per annum
than either Spain or Italy.
Another crop of the region about
Smyrna is the fig. which grows bet
ter here than in almost any other
part of the world In some years over
three hundred thousand camel-loads are
raised. and they are shipped all
over the world The trees begin to
bear in their sixth year. and are al
their best ten years after planting. The
figs ripen about the first of August. and
when fully matured fall to the ground.
They are dried in the sun. and then
packed in bags for the market.
great many of these figs go 10
America, and YOU will find them in all
crop is carefully packed, there being
several American firms here who do
nothing else. The figs are first sorted
according to the thickness OF the skin
and size of the fruit. The poorest are
thrown away or used for distiiiing rur-
poses and the best are put up for ex-
port in boxes and jars. The price here
is from - to y cents pound, the very
finest OF the figs bringing the latter.
\ great deal OF the packing is done
in the city OF smyrna, the fruit being
brought i'm from all parts OF the coun-
try. Some OF il comes on the railways.
on cars especially built for the traffic.
and some is carried on canlels. II is
important that the fruit be not bruised,
and that carried in the cars is laid
upon shelves which are placed one
above the other so that there is no
danger of the figs being ma shed.
FRANK q. CARPENTER.