to the value of 1,500,000 frs., representing, perhaps, about half the crop; the crop of walnuts, grown chiefly in the Damascus district, averages about 4,000 tons, with a value of about 1,000,000 frs.; while the almond crop, a considerable part of which comes from the Jewish colonies, is worth approximately the same amount. Some dates are also exported. The total value of the average yield of the 'fruit trees must reach 10,000,000 frs.
The preservation of the fruit is for the most part done by the actual growers. Olives, green and black, are preserved in salt water, especially at Damascus, where a species, large in size but of low oil-producing capacity, is grown. From three to four million okes are prepared annually.
Apricot preserving is another speciality of Damascus and the neighbourhood, where this fruit is largely cultivated. It is both dried whole and made into a paste, the kernels being also an article of export. In 1909, the annual production of dried apricots was put at 500-700 tons, and of the paste at 3,000-4,000 tons, and it has tended to increase. Some of the paste is exported to Rumania, and both the paste and the dried fruit go to Egypt and all parts of Turkey. Apricots and other fruits are also preserved with sugar at Damascus, and "Turkish Delight " is made there in considerable quantities. The annual value of these various products, including apricot kernels, is estimated at four to five million francs.
Dried figs are produced at Antioch and about Saida, but the industry is not large. They are not usually prepared like Smyrna figs, but are compressed into a solid mass.
Sultanas are produced chiefly in the vilayet of Aleppo, and about Damascus, Es-Salt (from which the word sultana is sometimes derived), Zahle in the Lebanon, and Hebron. The small grapes are moistened with olive oil, and then dried over hot ashes and afterwards in the sun. In 1914, the production of the vilayets of Damascus and Aleppo was about 11,000,
