(i8 AG-aiCULTURAL EXPLORATIONS IN ALGERIA. 



Ill the niouiitiiiiis the harvest of %s for drying, although at its 

 height in S('[)tenil)er, covers a period of ahout three months, as the 

 fruit does not all ripen at once. As fast as the fruit matures it is 

 gathered and placed in shallow trays. These are spread out on the 

 ground when the sun is shining, hut are piled together in the evening 

 and placed under shelter when it rains. Tiie fruit is turned over from 

 time to time until it is dry. Figs that arc kept for home use or foi- 

 shipment to other parts of the colony are split down the middle and 

 pressed in a mortar into a compact mass. Those intended for export 

 are packed at the seaports into crates holding TU or 80 pounds, made 

 of leafstalks of the dwarf palm. 



CITRUS FRUITS. 



Only a comparatively small portion of the total area of Algeria is 

 suitable for citrus fruits. Even oranges can be grown successfully 

 only in the coast region, up to an elevation of 1,7U0 feet or there- 

 abouts, and in the northern oases of the eastern part of the Sahara, 

 nota])ly at Biskra. In the oases, however, they are not very satisfac- 

 tory in yield or quality. The best orange-growing district is that 

 around Blida, in the Mitidja Valley at the base of the Atlas Range. 

 Here has been developed an excellent type of early-ripening, sweet 

 orange, known as the '' Blida," the harvesting of which begins in 

 October. The Malta blood orange thrives both in the coast region 

 and in the oases. Brazil, Portugal, Jatia, and other races are also 

 grown in the colony. The natives grow oranges mostly from seeds, 

 so that the quality of the fruit they produce is generally very infe- 

 rior; yet some of the native varieties, notably in Ka))ylia and in the 

 mountain ravines near Blida, are said to possess considerable merit. 



The expense of starting an orange grove in Algeria is sometimes 

 lessened by growing truck crops in the young orchard for the tirst 

 six years. This practice, however, is not recommended by the best 

 authorities. A row of cypress trees is connnonly planted as a wind- 

 break around orange groves. The average profit from an acre of 

 oranges is said to be only about $45 annually. The ])itter orange 

 (bigarade) is very hardy in the colony and is much used as a stock upon 

 which to graft less resistant varieties. From its llowers perfumery 

 is manufactured. 



Mandarins, which are extensively planted in Algeria, generally pay 

 better than ordinary oranges. One authority estimates that an acre of 

 these fruits gives an average net profit of $()») to $90. The harvest of 

 mandarins at Blida begins in November. Lemons are less extensively 

 planted, although they are quite hardy and yield well in the littoral 



zone. 



For the irrigation of citrus fruits in the manner usually practiced in 

 Algeria — by means of shallow basins around the base of each tree — 



