Some of the Syrian farmers are now using American threshers and reapers, and some are bringing in American ploughs. The first thresher imported was upon the advice of our consul general at Beirut. He is a Dakota man, who understands the farming conditions in the Northwest. He tells me that the possibilities of raising grain in this part of the world are remarkable, and that dry farming might be practised in many localities which now go to waste. He thinks that old Mesopotamia can be reclaimed by irrigation and a new Egypt created there. He says that as political conditions improve there will be many opportunities for commerce and industry, and that American capital should take advantage of the situation. Syria and Asia Minor are now raising a great deal of silk, which is sent to France and shipped from there to the United States. The American residents tell me that there is no reason why we should not buy this raw silk direct, thus saving the Frenchman’s profits and the double transportation charges. I 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. When the trees have grown to the height of a man’s head, they are cut back. Green leaves from the new sprouts furnish food for millions of silkworms. In coming from Damascus I saw women and children picking the leaves to feed to the worms, carrying them to sheds erected for the purpose. Raising the silkworms is largely in the hands of the women, who take care of the trees and sell the cocoons. From the Lebanon mountain regions every year men, specially appointed, go to France to get the silkworm eggs. For some reason those laid in the Syrian mountains do not produce well. [Illustration: The first steel bridge across the River Jordan was named in honour of General Allenby. Under the British régime motor launches ply along this most sacred stream in the world] [Illustration: Jerusalem now has a speed law, and its road signs are printed in the three official languages—English, Hebrew, and Arabic—and French besides] “He who plants an olive tree lays up riches for his children’s children.” This saying expresses a current belief throughout the Levant. Olives are the money crop of a great part of Palestine, Syria, and Asia Minor. Many of the trees are hundreds of years old, and some of them were planted before Columbus discovered America. I am told of an orchard near Tripoli, in Syria, which the deeds show was established about five hundred years ago, and the trees of which are still bearing. All the way from Jerusalem to the Sea of Galilee I saw olive trees that looked old enough to have been planted by Jacob. Some of gigantic size were hollow and had been filled with stones to aid in their support.