Page 316 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)

XVIII.] TRAVELS IN OMAN. 279

wheat yields an increase from fifteen to
twenty fold : barley nearly the same : dhurrah
(Holcus Sorghum) from thirty to forty fold.

The singular appearance which these groves
present during the various stages of their ve­

getable produce, I have noticed elsewhere.
From the elevated position of the Jebel

Akhdar, many of the valleys formed by the
upper ranges differ from the plains below, both

in their soil and mode of cultivation. The
ground there is usually terraced, as in Pales­
tine and China, and produces a great variety

of trees and fruits not reared in other parts.
Agriculture has made but small progress in

Oman. It has been already noticed that the
prolific soil of the oases requires but small

assistance; for where men fear nothing from
the vicissitudes of the season, little manage­

ment in the process of husbandry is required.
But on the arable land in the open plains,
where the earth, though of indifferent quality,

is yet susceptible of considerable improve­
ment, the natives bestow neither labour nor

expense to remedy the defect. I must, how­
ever, except the country in the vicinity of

Minn& and Neswah, which, in place of barren