40 



AGRICULTURAL EXPLORATIONS IN ALGERIA. 



Mitidja, Chelitf, Mina, Habra, and Macta are typical of many other 

 valleys and plains in Algeria. As before mentioned, they are similar 

 in many ways to the interior valleys of California. The soils are 

 mainly alluvial and are generally heavy. Around Kelizane and Per- 

 reo-aux, where the writers made most of their studies, the soil is 

 similar to the San Joaquin lilack adobe. In the Mitidja the heavier 

 soils are well supplied with potash and are fairly well provided with 

 nitrogen and phosphoric acid. In the Cheliti' Valley these elements 

 are less abundant. 



Sample No. 7658, in the table given below,, shows the results of a 

 mechanical analysis of the heaviest of the valley adobes. This sample 

 was collected from a tield which was very fertile twenty yearsr ago, 

 but which has since been ruined by the rise of salts, and is to-day 

 valueless. This soil, before it had become saline, had exhibited great 

 fertility during a long series of years. In former years it yielded 

 grain of a superior grade and good crops of cotton. Sample No. 7660 

 represents a type of this adobe soil of medium heaviness. Soil of this 

 kind is often planted to vines, fruits, and olives. The sample was 

 collected near Perregaux, at La Ferme Blanche, headquarters of one 

 of the largest vineyards in Algeria. A still lighter type, one closely 

 approaching a sandy loam, is represented by sample No. 7»)61. This 

 type is usually found in the higher portions of the valleys, and is 

 planted to vines and alfalfa. 



MOUNTAIN ZONE. 



The soils of the mountain zone of the coast region can be divided 

 into (1) valley soils and (2) soils of the hills and mountain slopes. The 

 hills and mountains are covered with either residual or coUuvial soils. 

 As a rule, these soils are more or less gravelly or stony, and are light 

 and well drained. The lower slopes frequently have heavier adobe 

 soils, similar in character to the adobes of the lower slopes of the 

 Sierra Nevada and the coast range in California. 



The soils of valleys in the mountain zone are generally alluvial, 

 being composed of the waste from adjoining hills and mountains. The 

 smaller valleys have light, usually well-drained, soils containing some 



gra\el. 



Tahle 7. — Mechanical analyses of coaM regiun soils. 



No. 



7068 

 7060 



7661 

 7603 



768S 



Locality. 



Rellzane 



La Ferme Blanche, near Per- 

 regaux 



Debrousseville 



2 miles south of Misserghin. 

 1.5 miles east of Batnu 



.3 





0-24 



0-24 

 0-12 

 0-lS 



o 



0.01 



.22 

 1.34 

 1.41 



s 



0.16 

 .12 

 .32 



^ I 

 O 



o 



0.08 



.OK 



1.08 



.58 



.28 



OS rt 



oj a 



0.12 



.10 

 3. 00 

 1.94 



.34 



■o a 



C 



0.66 



2. 00 



2!S. 00 



6.00 



1.74 



sa 



>»f-i 



fc.O 



2.00 



20.14 



30. 02 



0. 36 



6.04 



°a 

 °a 



40. 22 



M.OO 

 20. 40 

 3.5. 70 

 45. .5B 



o a 



.56. 92 



2'2. 94 

 16. OS 

 48.64 

 45.48 



