FORESTRY. 91 



which are covered with coarse grasses and herbs, possess no forest in 

 the strict sense of the word. Oul}^ here and there, in depressions, 

 straggling- shrubs and small trees of betoom {Plstacia atlantica) and of 

 juniper are found. Yet considerable areas of this character are offi- 

 cially designated as ""forest." In the desert region, except on the 

 highest mountains, nothing resembling a forest occurs, the native 

 vegetation being limited to scattered shrubs and coarse grasses, with 

 an ephemeral growth of small herbs that spring up after the infre- 

 (juent showers. The true natural forest is contined almost wholh^ to 

 the mountains, especially those of the coast region and of the eastern 

 pai't of the high plateau. 



The forests of the colony are of various types, which owe their char- 

 acteristics not only to natural conditions of climate and of soil, but 

 also to the direct or indirect agency of man. In many localities only 

 scattered old trees remain, the intervening spaces being occupied by 

 brush or by a caj'pet of grass. Sometimes there is almost no vegeta- 

 tion except an occasional tree, and in such land active erosion takes 

 place. This condition has probably been brought about for the most 

 part by reckless exploitation or by fires which are often kindled by 

 the natives in order to provide their flocks with the more abundant 

 pasturage that springs up afterwards. The admission of flocks into 

 I ho public forest reserves is frequently a cause of the rapid disappear- 

 ance of the young trees, especially when goats are pastured among 

 them. On the other hand, particularly at high elevations in the moun- 

 tains, there are dense forests where the trees reproduce themselves 

 freely; but this type is the exception rathei" than the rule. 



The forests also differ in the diversity of species composing them. 

 Sometimes large areas, especially at the higher elevations, are occu- 

 pied almost solely by a single species. Sometimes while one kind 

 of tree predominates, others are present in smaller numbers. Less 

 often several species are mingled together in nearly equal proportion, 

 forests of this type being most frequent in the littoral zone. 



The composition of Algerian forests as to species depends upon 

 climatic and soil conditions, and upon the altitude. Well-defined 

 zones, each characterized by some one predominant species, succeed 

 each other at different elevations in the mountains. From sea level 

 up to about 2,500 feet, cork oak, olive, and Aleppo pine are the prin- 

 cipal elements, the last being the most widely distributed tree in the 

 colony. Here the forest is most apt to be mixed with a shrubby 

 growth, made up of various species characteristic of the so-called 

 "maquis" of the Mediterranean region. 



From 2,500 to 4,000 feet, Quereus hallota, a kind of live oak, often 

 predominates. The sweet acorns of this tree are much relished by 

 the Kab3ies, who make a practice of selecting and preserving such 

 individual trees as bear the best nuts. 



