The countries under Turkish rule are lands of real resource, and yet a superficial view of the greater part of the Turkish empire gives one the impression of extreme poverty. Throughout most of the country the hills have been denuded of timber, and trees are found only where they are cultivated. There are still some forest lands bordering on the southern shores of the Black Sea, especially towards the east. In Armenia, the region in which the Tigris and Euphrates rivers have their rise, even the roots of the scrub-oaks that grow upon the low mountains and high plateaux are dug up for fuel. The crops, in large part, are raised by the most primitive methods of irrigation, although in the western part of Asia Minor, as well as in other sections, considerable high land crops are produced. These are uncertain, owing to frequent failure of the rains. There are other large sections, like the plains to the north of the modern city of Diarbekr—the ancient city of Amida upon the banks of the Tigris—where for lack of surface water a large area of the richest arable land lies waste, except as flocks and herds roam over it during the rainy season in the spring. Yet there are few countries in the world that can boast of richer or more productive soil than can Turkey. There are desert regions in Arabia, but these are not as extensive as we have been wont to suppose. Turkey exports more foodstuffs than she imports, although her agricultural resources are but slightly developed. The method of farming is entirely antiquated, the same primitive plow being in constant use to-day that was employed by Abraham in the fields of Haran. In spite of this fact, wheat of excellent quality, barley, rice, millet, cotton, tobacco, the opium poppy, and almost all kinds of vegetables, as well as grapes, plums, cherries, olives, quinces, oranges, lemons, figs, and pomegranates are produced in great abundance. The mulberry-tree flourishes in many regions. Sheep, goats, and a stunted breed of cattle and the water-buffalo, donkeys and horses thrive in most parts of the country, while as beasts of burden the camel and mule are found in all sections of Asiatic Turkey. The country is also rich in minerals, but the mines are undeveloped. By the laws of the land, all minerals belong to the government, hence no private mining enterprises are permitted. Coal is found in many parts of the country, but being a mineral, by government classification, it cannot be mined except officially. Copper, silver, and lead abound, but the few mines worked by the government have not been paying enterprises except to the official in charge. In a word, Turkey is naturally a rich country, with boundless resources now largely undeveloped, with undreamed-of possibilities of increased production under modern methods of agriculture and mining. It is probably true that the empire includes some of the very richest land and ore deposits in the world.