76 AGRICULTURAL EXPLORATIONS IN ALGERIA. 



agriculture, beinj>- more drouj^bt resistaut and requiring less prepara- 

 tion of the soil. The average yield for the entire colony is about 25 

 bushels per acre, but European colonists sometimes ol)tain 40 or 50 

 bushels. Barley forms a large part of the food of the native popula- 

 tion and is also invaluable as forage, being almost the only grain that 

 is fed to animals. Of the annual product of nearly 30,000,000 bushels, 

 about one-eighth is exported. Much of this goes to northern France 

 and to England, in which countries it is used in brewing. Algerian 

 barleys are in high favor with European brewers, rather because of 

 their cheapness than their quality. Improved races, like Chevalier, 

 do not generallv succeed in Algeria, being too liable to shatter; yet in 

 some localities certain of the two-rowed European brewing barle3^s 

 have given good yields. Naked varieties having an easily shelled 

 grain are those generall}- grown bv the natives to serve as food. 

 They are very early and yield heavil}^ 



OdU. — Compared with wheat and barley, oats are an unimportant 

 crop in Algeria. The average annual acreage from 1884 to 1893 was 

 only 114,000; i. e., less than 4 per cent of the area that was in wheat 

 and less than 3 per cent of that in barle}'. Oats are grown almost 

 exclusively by P^uropean colonists for expoi't to Europe. Before the 

 French conquest this cereal was practically unknown in Algeria. It is 

 there considered by some authorities to be moi'e resistant to drought 

 and to salt in the soil than is either wheat or ))arley. It also requires 

 less preparation of the soil and gives larger 3Melds on newly cleai'ed 

 and poorly prepared land, being less likely to l)e choked by weeds. "It 

 can be sown up to the end of January — much later than wheat. The 

 harvest tak(vs place about the middle of May, and the aveiage 3'ield is 

 45 to 55 bushels per acre. Oats are said to l)e very susceptible in 

 Algeria to the attacks of ergot and of rust, and for this reason the 

 common winter oat is the onl^' varietv that can usuall,y be grown at a 

 proHt. 



SUMMER CEREALS. 



Sorghum. — Two varieties of sorghum are grown, chiefly by the 

 natives. These are white sorghum, the "l)echna'' of the Aral)s, which 

 is much used by the better class of Kabyles as a substitute for wheat 

 flour in making "couscous" and bread; and black sorghum, or ""dra," 

 from the seeds of which the thread of the poorer natives is made. 

 Black sorghum is also fed to animals; the leaves and stalks are a 

 valuable resource at a season when green forage is scarce in Algeria. 



If there is plenty of rain in April and May, and occasional showers 

 in June, a good crop of sorghum can be made without irrigation. 

 The heaviei- alluvial soils of the valley bottoms aiv considered best 

 adapted to this crop, which is most grown in the mountain zone of 

 the coast region. Sorghum is sown in April and ripens in August. 



