SOIL, etc.—The geological characters of the soil in Palestine have never been satisfactorily stated ; but the different epithets of description which travellers employ, enable us to know that it differs considerably, both in its appearance and character, in different parts of the land ; but wherever soil of any kind exists, even to a very slight depth, it is found to be highly fertile. As parts of Palestine are hilly, and as hills have seldom much depth of soil, the mode of cultivating them in terraces was anciently, and is now, much employed. • A series of low stone walls, one above another, across the face of the hill, arrest the soil brought down by the rains, and afford a series of levels for the operations of the husbandmen. This mode of cultivation is usual in Lebanon, and is not unfre quent in Palestine, where the remains of terraces across the hills, in various parts of the country, attest the extent to which it was anciently carried. This terrace cultivation has necessarily increased or declined with the population. If the people were so few that the valleys afforded sufficient food for them, the more difficult culture of the hills was neglected ; but when the population was too large for the valleys to satisfy with bread, then the hills were laid under cultivation.
In such a climate as that of Palestine, water is the great fertilizing agent. The rains of autumn and winter, and the dews of spring, suffice for the ordinary objects of agriculture ; but the ancient inhabitants were able, in some parts, to avert even the aridity which the summer droughts occasioned, and to keep up a garden-like verdure, by means of aqueducts communicating with the brooks and rivers (Ps. i. 3 ; lxv. to ; Prov. xxi. t ; Is. xxx.
25 ; xxxii. 2. 20 ; Hos. xii. 1). Hence springs, fountains, and rivulets were as much esteemed by husbandmen as by shepherds (Josh. xv. in9; Judg. i. 15). The soil was also cleared of stones, and carefully cultivated ; and its fertility was in creased by the ashes to which the dry stubble and herbage were occasionally reduced by being burned over the surface of the ground (Prov. xxiv. 31; ls. VII. 23 ; xxxii. 13). Dung, and, in the neighbour hood of Jerusalem, the blood of animals, were also used to enrich the soil (2 Kings ix. 37 ; Ps. lxxxiii. to ; Is. xxv. to ; Jer. ix. 22 ; Luke xiv. 34, 35).
That the soil might not be exhausted, it was oidered that every seventh year should be a sabbath of rest to the land : there was then to be no sowing no reaping, no pruning of vines or olives, no vintage or gathering of fruits ; and whatever grew of itself was to be left to the poor, the stranger, and the beasts of the field (Lev. xxv. 1-7 ; Dent. xv. to). But such an observance required more faith than the Israelites were prepared to exercise. It was for a long time utterly neglected (Lev. xxvi. 34, 35 ; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 21), but after the Captivity it was more observed. By this remarkable institution the Hebrews were also trained to habits of economy and foresight, and invited to exercise a large degree of trust in the bountiful providence of their Divine King.