Report to the ... Zionist Congress and to the Council of the Jewish Agency in ... · 1935-08-01 · 8.1935 · p. Seite 346

Service and the settlers themselves helped to create harmony between theory based on research and practice. While the farmer was doing his work in the field, the scientist of the Experimental Station collected material, and, on the basis of both conclusions as to the best methods of work were arrived at. The importance of co-ordinating theory and practice was particularly obvious when the settlements were threatened either by droughts or by diseases and harmful insects; and only as a result of the tenacity shown by both the experts and the farmers could the settlements overcome the obstacles with which they had to contend. If the agricultural settlements established under the auspices of the Zionist Organisation are now developing normally and reaching a state of independence, it is largely due to the assistance they obtained from the Experimental Station. 2. Development of the Various Branches of Farming. (i) Cowsheds : General Remarks. The supply of milk for the urban population at the beginning of the period of Jewish settlement came mainly from the German colonies situated near the towns, and from the Arab villages. The local breed of cow, which the farmers in Galilee kept, yielded 500-700 litres milk per annum, and would have sufficed only for domestic needs and for the calves, leaving no surplus for marketing. On the other hand, the German colonies kept a pure German breed, but in the J.N.F. farm in Ben Shemen experiments were made in the cross-breeding of Syrian cows with Frisian cows, and these experiments produced very satisfactory results. The cows kept in our settlements from the early years until 1926 were Syrian, and both the methods of breeding and crossbreeding were similar to those used in Ben Shemen. In the Jerusalem zone of settlement only, and though their cost was very high (from £P. 100 to £P. 120 per cow), their increased yield of milk fully justified it. Experiments were made by private individuals and various companies, as well as by the Colonisation Department, to introduce European cows, particularly the Dutch breed, into other zones of settlement. These experiments,, however, failed. In some of the Emek settlements, mainly in Beth Alfa, experiments were made in cross-breeding the local Arab cow with the Dutch bull, and the results, so far, are satisfactory. In 1926 the import of cows in large numbers from Syria ceased, because the local market was already offering calves and cows bred locally, mainly in Nahalal and Kfar Ezekiel. Recently, with the increase in immigration, and with the resumption of new settlement enterprises in various zones, a great shortage was felt in milch cows, and the import of cows from Syria, Switzerland, Germany and Holland has been resumed. 346