54 AGRICULTURAL EXPLORATIONS IN ALGERIA. 



;il)()iit the same way. Plowing is done with oxen, hitehed to a rude, 

 homemade plow of veiy ancient pattern, which turns up the soil to a 

 depth of about 5 inches. The yoke is so adjusted that the steepest 

 slopes and even the soil about the roots of a tree can l)e plowed. A 

 man follows the plow, breaking up the clods with a pick. Sowing is 

 done by hand. The fields are kept very clean, the weeds that_ are 

 removed being used as forage. Harvesting is done with the sickle or 

 even by hand. Grain is thrashed by treading out beneath the hoofs 

 of oxen on a floor of hardened clay. It is winnowed by tossing into 

 the air, the wind carrying away the chafl". 



The valley lands are irrigated from the numerous streams that run 

 bank full in the spring. The tiny garden, which every fairly well- 

 to-do Kabyle possesses, is watered and manured with great care, and 

 difterent vegetables follow^ one another in constant succession through- 

 out the year. A plot of ground 40 by 80 feet is thus made to produce 

 all the vegetables needed by a large family. 



Ovving to the small area of land in the mountains that can l)e spared 

 for forage crops, the Kal)yles purchase in the lowlands most of the 

 animals they use in their farm work, fattening and reselling them 

 when the spring plowing is over. Donkeys are generally used for 

 carrying loads, and mules for riding. The Kabyle, unlike the Arab, 

 takes the greatest care of his animals, stabling them at night in 

 his own house and doing his best at all seasons to provide them with 

 sufficient food. 



AMONG THE SAHARANS. 



The population of the oases in the eastern part of the Algerian 

 Sahara, the only part of the desert that is of much agricultural inter- 

 est, is of mixed origin. It combines strains of Berber, Sudanese, 

 and Arab blood. In winter great numbers of nomadic Arabs descend 

 into the Sahara with their flocks and herds, which range during the 

 summer over the plains of the high plateau region. But there is also 

 a resident population, which su])sists entirely upon the products of 

 the date palm and the various cultures that are grown in its shade. 

 These, the true Saharans, are very skillful gardeners, understanding 

 thoroughly tha highly specialized culture of the date palm. They are 

 adepts in the management of soils and irrigating waters that contain 

 excessive amounts of salt. Despite these disadvantages, which are 

 combined with the most unfavorable climatic conditions, they succeed 

 in growing in the oases a variety of fruit trees, garden vegetables, 

 forage plants, and cereals. Not only in their own gardens, but in 

 the plantations of palms recently established by French capital, the 

 labor is performed entirely by natives. The climatic conditions, 

 together with the large quantity of more or less stagnant water that 

 is always present, make the oasis environment, at least in "summer, 



