The soil is very fertile, but its productiveness is entirely dependent on the rainfall, and in consequence the yield of the crops greatly affects the general condition of the people. The most primitive methods of cultivation are still in general use. The climate is sub-tropical, and upon the whole healthy. Eye diseases, however, are very prevalent. Malaria and other tropical diseases are also common. The chief exports besides barley are wheat, millet, and colocynth, while a coasting trade is carried on in "tibn" (chopped straw) and a coarse black pottery, which is the principal manufacture of Gaza, where there is a good market for it. The poor people of the district buy it, and exchange it for cereals and other articles. From at least 727 B.C. Gaza has been famous for its potteries, of which there are now forty-two within the city. The same method of producing this pottery is used to-day as depicted upon the Egyptian monuments. This manufacture was called "Gazaitæ."[45] The only other manufactures are a common kind of soap, and cloth, consisting principally of the coarse woollen coats ('abaï) worn by the men. There are also mills for the expression of sesame oil, and for grinding corn. Cotton goods, and most of the articles necessary for wear, or luxury, are imported. The chief imports from Great Britain are unbleached calicos, which are used by the fellahin for clothing. They are dyed blue locally. Aniline dyes are imported from Germany. The average yearly value of the yarn imported into Gaza and Mejdel from Manchester is £10,000. The imports are mostly brought from Beirût or Jaffa by small coasting craft, or overland by camels. The average orange crop of late years has been good. The fruit is excellent. It is better than that of Jaffa, both in taste and in size. Eight thousand boxes were exported, chiefly to Great Britain, in 1910 (valued at £8,000). These orange gardens are gradually increasing, their present number being about twenty. The soil is rich, and excellent for the purpose. Gaza has no harbour, or any convenient facility for shipping cargo. A pier was constructed in 1906, but it proved a complete failure, on account of its being inadequate to meet the need. It should have been built 120 yards longer. In 1909 the violence of the waves during that winter destroyed about one-third of it. There is a good deal of surf in the summer, and steamers are often delayed fourteen to twenty days before obtaining their cargo. No regular steamers touch this roadstead, and it is only in summer that these vessels (mostly British) visit it. There is no lighthouse. It is at this point that the ancient maritime suburb of Mayoumas stood, the concrete remains of which are still visible on the shore.