Citrus Industry is Palestine’s Key Industry and Will Remain So for Considerable Time Dr. Kasteliansk

My visit to the United States is one of the rare cases of “going to America on behalf of Palestine” not for the purpose of extracting money there, but rather the reverse, Dr. Kasteliansky said to the J.T.A. to-day before sailing for New York on board the s.s. “Bremen”. Dr. Kasteliansky, who for sometime acted as Economic Adviser to the Zionist Organisation, and was until recently Chairman and Managing Director of Palestine Plantations, Ltd., the citrus fruit concern of the late Lord Melchett, in the formation of which he was largely instrumental, is proceeding to the United States in connection with the commercial development of the Palestine citrus industry. On his way from Palestine, Dr. Kasteliansky spent sometime in Spain, Palestine’s chief competitor in the orange industry, in order to study the methods of packing and marketing the Spanish fruit, and he intends to utilise his visit to the United States similarly for a careful inquiry into the conditions of marketing, transport, and machine packing of citrus fruit in Florida and California.

The Palestine citrus industry is making rapid strides, perhaps, a little too rapid, Dr. Kasteliansky said, and considering the great advantages that Spain enjoys in comparison with Palestine, such as cheap labour, low freights, short distances to the main European markets, and so on, it is really a miracle that the Palestine orange is coming more and more to the front. This popularity of the Palestine fruit is the best testimonial of its high quality. But new supply centres are constantly entering the world markets, the world output of oranges is growing enormously, and at no distant date the citrus industry in Palestine, which is the key industry of the country, and will remain so for some considerable time to come, will be exposed to severe competition, and only by intelligently employing scientific and up-to-date marketing methods will Palestine be able to stand its own in the future.

If only from this point of view alone, to say nothing of all the other considerations, it is deplorable that the general public so little appreciates the activities of the Agricultural Experimental Station of the Jewish Agency in Tel Aviv, Dr. Kasteliansky said, referring to the inauguration of the Citrus Research Laboratory of the Station in Rehoboth, the building for which has been erected as a result of the funds provided by Dr. Kasteliansky. The buildings for all the other departments of the Station are still awaiting generous benefactors. The part which this Institution is bound to play in the development of Palestine cannot be over-rated, Dr. Kasteliansky said. We have before us the gigantic task of achieving maximum results with a minimum of space. Only with the help of systematic research and slow gradual experimenting in all branches of agriculture will it be possible to carry out this task with some certainty of success. The Station is really our pathfinder, our only guide in the desert.