80 AGRICULTURAL EXPLORATIONS IN ALGERIA. 



occasional harrowing is necessary to keep down the weeds. In case 

 the fields are infested with dodder, the worst enemy of alfalfa in 

 Algeria, these methods are not efficacious and other means must he 

 taken to get rid of the pest. When the drill is used, about 18 pounds 

 of seed to the acre are sown, but if broadcasted, about 22 pounds. 

 Occasionally alfalfa is put in — preferabh^ in January or February — 

 with oats or barley, the latter ser\'ing as a cover crop for the young 

 alfalfa; but this practice is condemned b}- the best authorities. Well- 

 kept alfalfa meadows last twelve years or longer in Algeria. 



Alfalfa is generally cut with a scythe. A nati\'e laborer can cut a 

 little more than an acre a day, and receives about 45 cents an acre for 

 the work. When a mowing machine is used the cost of cutting an 

 acre is about 25 cents. In the oases of the Sahara a sort of sickle, 

 with a nearly straight blade having a serrated edge, is used in cutting- 

 alfalfa. 



The alfalfa crop is irrigated in Algeria both by flooding and by 

 the furrow method. The latter requires less water, but gives the best 

 results onl}' in rather light soils. Flooding is the preferable method 

 if the irrigating water is decidedly saline. From 8 to 4 acre-feet are 

 put on at each irrigation. 



Under irrigation, with a watering given every week or so through- 

 out the summer, seven or eight cuttings can be taken, A'ielding a total 

 of 7 or 8 tons of hay per acre. In soils of the littoral zone that retain 

 a fair amount of natural moisture throughout the sunnner, alfalfa can 

 sometimes be grown without irrigation. Three cuttings, aggregating 

 3 or 4 tons of hay, besides a considerable amount of pasturage, can be 

 ol)tained under such conditions. 



Most of the alfalfa in the coast region of Algeria is derived from 

 the "Lucerne de Provence," a race that is grown in southeastern 

 France. This showed itself from its first introduction to be perfectly 

 adapted to conditions in that part of the colony. On the other hand, 

 seed of alfalfa brought from Poitou, in western France, consid<}rably 

 north of Provence, does not succeed nearl}' so well in Algeria. A 

 native drought-resistant strain is grown without iri'igation in the 

 neighborhood of Setif, in the eastern part of the high plateau region. 

 This variety may prove valuable in parts of the Western States where 

 water for irrigating is not availalde. Turkestan alfalfa is being tested 

 in Algeria and gives indication of being well adapted to the drier 

 parts of the colony, particularly where the soils are somewhat saline. 

 A fair stand has been obtained near Alg^iers without irrigation. The 

 alfalfa that is grown in the oases of the Sahara appears to l)e decidedly 

 resistant to the presence in the soil and irrigating water of large amounts 

 of salt. (PI. IV, fig. 2.) At Kouil)a, near Algiers, the writers saw- 

 trial patches of alfalfa grown from seed obtained from the United 

 States, from Tougourt in the Algerian Sahara, and from -Turkestan 



