66 AGRICULTURAL EXPLORATIONS IN ALGERIA. 



Fertilizers, applied in alternate years when the trees are not bear- 

 ing, largely increase the yields. A good tree, if furnished about 500 

 pounds of farm manure every other year, will yield 550 to 650 pounds 

 of fruit eveiy two years. The average j'ield from a tree 20 years old 

 appears to be about 175 pounds, from 12 to 15 per cent of the weight 

 being oil. The best method of keeping the soil of an olive orchard in 

 lirst-class condition is to give it a good plowing as soon as the harvest 

 is over. During the summer two or three cultivations are given, in 

 order to keep the surface well nudched and thus reduce evaporation. 

 The harvest begins in October, green olives, for pickling, being the 

 first that are gathered. 



By fai" the greater part of the oil crop of the colony is obtained 

 from fruit grown ))y the natives, who themselves manufacture two- 

 thirds of the oil produced and also supply with fruit the oil mills that 

 are operated by Europeans. European colonists have not, so far, ^ 

 devoted as much attention to olive growing as the importance of the " 

 crop would warrant. In western Algeria, however, in districts 

 infected with ph3dloxera, olives are often planted in vine3'ards, so as 

 to take the place of the vines in case the latter should be destroyed. 



Olive growing is the principal industr}^ of Kab3dia. Very little 

 care is there given to the cultivation of orchards, this being generally 

 limited to a single plowing in spring. The furrows are run horizon- 

 tally along the hillside, so that as much rain water as possible can be 

 retained in the soil. The trees are pruned with a hatchet while the 

 fruit is being gathered. The whole family — men, women, and chil- 

 dren — take part in the harvest, which is a sort of festival, like the 

 vintage in European countries. Hired pickers are paid with a certain 

 proportion of the fruit they gather. A woman can earn, during the 

 two months of the picking season, olives enough to yield about 15 gal- 

 lons of oil, worth perhaps |6. 



Europeans who manufacture olive oil purchase the fresh fruit from 

 native growers, paying from -tO cents to $1 per 100 pounds. The 

 fruit is })rought to the mills in baskets made of reeds or of olive 

 twigs. In every Kabyle village there is a small oil mill, the miller 

 being paid for his work with the product of the second pressing. The 

 strong flavor of the oil made l)y the natives, which is very unpalatable 

 to Europeans, is due to the fact that the fruit is not pressed while 

 fresh, but is spread out for several months after gathering on a surface 

 of hardened cla}", where it is exposed to the sun and Aveather. The 

 Kabyles use oil almost wholly in place of butter and lard, frying food 

 in it and eating it on bread and '' couscous." 



Olives for pickling are grown in Algeria onl}^ in a small Avay, gen- 

 erally in the gardens of natives. 



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