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186 ARMENIA AND THE NEAR EAST
not own so many cattle that they needed all the pasture, of
which, indeed, there was more than enough for all. But I
could not help thinking that in days to come, with increasing
prosperity and larger numbers of cattle, there would be
trouble ; and the nomads, who have roamed these mountains
from early times, would be none too ready to relinquish their
ancient rights.
The pass was at an altitude of 2,125 metres, encircled by
rich grassyheights. Leaving it behind, wc came to a Russian
village, where the Government was building a new dairy
which wc wanted to see. The intention was to establish
fifteen of these dairies in different parts of the country to
encourage farming and cattle breeding. Here a provisional
dairy was already in full swing. The chief product was
gruyére cheese, which was so good that there was no difficulty
in seiling as much as the dairy could make. There are great
prospects for the development of this industry, if full use is
made of the splendid pastures on these vast highlands ; and
in that case there would be room for a much larger population.
Hay is mown on some of the slopes, and the crop could be
greatly increased by sowing clover and timothy grass. Round
the village wc saw large areas under potatoes, which seemed
to do well there. Barley was being grown also ; but it seemed
to be too high for other kinds of corn.
Our time was limited, so wc drove on down the road to
Lake Sevan, also known as Lake Gokcha, and soon saw its
wide expanse of water below us. Treeless but green slopes
fell undulating down towards the lake. Wc drove through
several Russian villages, also through some inhabited by
Armenians. The contrast was striking : the Russian villages
usually had trim houses with whitewashed walls and tiled
roofs, whereas those belonging to Armenians had an unkempt
appearance, with low, flat-roofed, grey stone cottages.
The mayor of Delidjan told us that violent hailstorms were
so frequent in summer that the barley was often beaten down
and ruined ; and for this reason the Government were trying
to get the peasants to see that it would be better to conflne
the.mselves to cattle-farming and growing hay, and, of course,
potatoes. They were sending round ambulatory teachers to
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