The National Agricultural Company Ltd

A few weeks ago, I found a document on eBay that represented shares in a company registered in Jaffa in 1922 named the National Agricultural Company Ltd. The share owner was François Gelat and the signer was Emile Nicolas Berouti. Since the document had the names of both a Gelat and a Berouti, with their signatures, I decided to buy it. More research and more coincidence led me to discover more information about this company that I’m going to share here.

Ten shares of “The National Agricultural Company”, owned by François Gelat and signed by Emile Berouti, 4 August 1925.

As noted in the above image, the company was registered on June 4th, 1922. Here is some information, published in the “Official Gazette of the Government of Palestine, 1922, p.16”, that delineated the ownership of shares in the company, among other information.

From: The Official Gazette of the Government of Palestine, 1922, p.16

Later that same year, the company acquired a large plot of land from a Jewish merchant. That news was championed as a victory for the national cause (presumably against the backdrop of accelerated Jewish land acquisition in Palestine) with an article written in the newspaper Falastin. The original Arabic version, published on September 29, 1922, and the English translation, are shown below.

First National Achievement For a National Company

We are pleased to share with our readers today news that will undoubtedly be met with great enthusiasm. It is that the "National Agricultural Company Ltd." in Jaffa, bought this week a large orchard, the area of ​​which amounts to 236 dunams, on the bank of the river Al-A’ouj, near the Al-Froukhiat Bridge, on the way to Nablus, from its Jewish owner, Yitzhak Barak, for 8,000 pounds.

Before finalizing the purchase, the company sent a team of experts to evaluate the estate. The team, consisting of Messrs. Michel and Gebran (Gabriel) Berouti, Muhammad Abd Al-Rahim, Nasri Talamas, and others, estimated its value at 15,000 pounds, because it contains orange trees on an area of ​​124 dunams, eucalyptus trees on an area of ​​12 dunams, and a remaining 100 dunams of fallow land.

And around this orchard, which the company says it will make a central point for its operations, there is land that can be purchased if it finds help from its members to create important projects in agriculture and livestock breeding."

The orange groves on this property are expected to yield more than a thousand pounds this year, with the potential to increase to three thousand pounds in the coming years after proper cultivation and care, given that they have been neglected since May of last year. The eucalyptus fields are estimated to produce around a 600 pounds, bringing the true value of the property to approximately 6,400 pounds.

We call on every patriot to support this national company, as the success of such national enterprises is crucial for the advancement of our country's economic conditions.

From: Falastin, 29 September, 1922, p.3.