CROPS OF THE COLONY. 73 



The consumption of potatoes in the colon}^ l^eing- laroer than the 

 quantity produced, there is a considerable importation of this vegetable. 

 Yet the production of early potatoes, especially of the Holland or 

 Koval Kidney variety, for export to European markets, is an important 

 phase of Algerian truck growing. The largest tubers are shipped to 

 England, while the Paris markets prefer tho.se of medium size. The 

 best prices are obtained for potatoes marketed during Lent, especially 

 just before Easter, when from ^2 to $3.50 per 100 pounds is paid in 

 J\iris for Algerian potatoes. 



Potatoes grown for consumption in the colony are sown in seed ]hk\h 

 in January and February, and are set out about the end of April. 

 Yields of 9,000 to 1T,5(»»> pounds per acre are obtained. The prices 

 [laid in Algerian markets for spring potatoes range from 50 to 85 cents 

 per 1(H) pounds. 



CEREALS. 



The principal cereals of Algeria are wheat, barley, and oats, which 



are grown only as winter crops, and soighum and Indian corn, which 



occupy the land in sununer. Of these, wheat and barley are by far 



the most important. Algeria raises most of the grain needed for 



home consumption, importing only a relatively small (piantity of soft 



wheat, used in bread making. The colony exports large quantities of 



.wheat, barley, and oats. The area each year in cereal crops is esti- 



lated at T,ouo,ooO acres, which is about one-third of the entire culti- 



mted area; hence much more land is in cereals than in all other crops 



:;ombined. The mean annual production in the years 1890-1895 was 



)4:,331,000 bushels, ^nd the total value of the annual product of cereals 



'averages $45,000,000. 



While more or less grain is produced in every part of Algeria, the 

 lai'gest pro]X)rtion is raised in the valleys of the coast region, notabi}' 

 in that of the Cheliti'. Owing to the generall^^ poor preparation of the 

 land for cereals, the exhausted condition of much of the soil, and the 

 fact that neither manuring nor rotation is generally practiced, the 

 average yields are too low to make these crops as effective as the}^ 

 should be in contributing to the wealth of the colony. Much the 

 greater part of the grain is grown by natives and gives yields aver- 

 aging 30 per cent lower than those obtained by European colonists. 

 In districts where improved methods of cultivation, notably in respect 

 to deeper plowing, have been introduced by the colonists, yields much 

 higher than the average are obtained. The country around 8idi l)el 

 Abbes, in extreme western* Algeria, and Setif, on the edge of the high 

 plateau in the eastern part of the colony, is especially notable in this 

 respect. The acreage in cereals that is in the hands of the natives, 

 who depend for their crops entirely upon the rainfall and take no steps 

 to conserve soil moisture, naturally varies much more from year to 

 3^ear than that farmed by Europeans. 



