176 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I. 



kingdom. The country-seats and masharcas, as the call the farms of the principal inha- 

 tants of Algiers, are found in this plain ; and it is chiefly from it that the metropolis is 

 supplied with provisions. Flax, alhenna, roots, potherbs, rice, fruit, and grain of all 

 kinds are produced here to such perfection, that the Mettijiah may be justly reckoned 

 the garden of the whole kingdom. 



1096. In the inlnnd provinces are immense tracts of country wholly uninhabited and 

 uncultivated. There are also extensive tracts of brushwood, and some tiinber forests. 

 Tlie fertility of the soil decreases in approaching Sahara or the Desert, although in its 

 borders, and even in the desert itself there are some districts which are capable of culti- 

 vation, and which produce corn, figs, and dates. These regions are inhabited by no- 

 madical tribes, who, valuing themselves on their independence, endure with fortitude and 

 resignation the inconveniences attending their condition, and scarcely regret the want of 

 those advantages and comforts that pertain to a civilised state of society. 



1097. The seed-time here, as in Tunis, is during the months of October and November, 

 when wheat, barley, rice, Indian corn, millet, and various kinds of pulse, are sown. In 

 six months the crops are harvested, trodden out by oxen or horses, winnowed by throwing 

 with a shovel against the wind, and then lodged in subterraneous magazines. 



1098. The empire of Morocco is an extensive territory of mountains and plains, and 

 chiefly an agricultural covmtry. The mountains consist of limestone or clay, or a mix- 

 ture of both, and no vestiges appear of granite, on which they are supposed to rest. The 

 climate is temperate and salubrious, and not so hot as the situation would lead us to 

 suppose. The rains are regular in November, though the atmosphere is not loaded with 

 clouds : January is summer ; and in March barley harvest commences. The soil consists 

 either of pure sand often passing into quicksand, or of pure clay ; and is often so 

 abundantly mixed with iron ochre, that agricultural productions, such as wax, gum, 

 wool, &c., are distinguished by a reddish tint, which, in the wool, cannot be removed 

 by washing or bleaching. Cultivation, in this country, requires little labour, and, in 

 general, no manure ; all weeds and herbaceous plants, not irrigated, are, at a certain 

 season, burnt up by the sun, as in some parts of Spain (745.); the ground, being 

 then perfectly clean and dry, is rendered friable and easily pulverised by the rains ; and 

 one rude stirring suffices both for preparing the soil and covering the seed. The pro- 

 duce in wheat, rice, millet, maize, barley, and chick-peas (Cicer arietinum), is often sixty 

 fold ; thirty fold is held to be an indifferent harvest. 



1099. In general they make use of no manure except that which is left on the fields by 

 their flocks and herds. But the people who inhabit places near forests and woods 

 avail themselves of another method to render the soil productive. A month or two 

 before the rains commence, the farmer sets fire to the underwood, and by this confla- 

 gration clears as much land as he intends to cultivate. The soil, immediately after this 

 treatment, if carefully ploughed, acquires considerable fertility, but is liable soon to be- 

 come barren, unless annually assisted by proper manure. This system of burning down 

 the woods for the sake of obtaining arable land, though not generally permitted in states 

 differently regulated from this, is allowable in a country, the population of which bears 

 so small a proportion to the fertility of the soil, and in which the most beautiful tracts 

 are suffered to remain unproductive from want of hands to cultivate them, in this 

 manner the nomadic Arab proceeds in his conflagrations, till the whole neighbourhood 

 around him is exhausted ; he then packs up his tents and travels in search of another 

 fertile place where to fix his abode, till hunger again obliges him to continue his migra- 

 tion. Thus it is computed, that at one and the same time no more than a third part of 

 the whole country is in a state of cultivation. 



1100. The live stock of Morocco consists of numerous flocks and herds. Oxen 

 of a small breed are plentiful, and also camels ; the latter animal being used in 

 agriculture, for travelling, and for food. 'I'he horses are formed for fleetness and activity, 

 and taught to endure fatigue, heat, cold, hunger, and thirst. Mules are much used, and 

 the breed is encouraged. Poultry is abundant in Morocco ; pigeons are excellent ; par- 

 tridges are plentiful ; woodcocks are scarce, but snipes are numerous in the season ; the 

 ostrich is hunted both for sport and for profit, as its feathers are a considerable article of 

 traffic ; hares are good, but rabbits are confined to the northern part of the empire, from 

 Saracha to Tetuan. Fallow deer, the roebuck, the antelope, foxes, and other animals of 

 Europe, are not very abundant in Morocco ; lions and tigers are not uncommon in some 

 parts of the empire ; of all the species of ferocious animals found in this empire, the wild 

 boar is the most common : the sow has several litters in the year, and her young, which 

 are numerous, serve as food for the lion. 



1101. The nomadic agriculturists form themselves into encampments, called douhars 

 (jig' 144.), composed of numerous tents, which form a circle or crescent, and their 

 flocks and herds returning from pasture occupy the centre. Each douhar has a chief, 

 who is invested with authority for superintending and governing a number of these en- 

 campments ; and many of the lesser subdivisions are again reunited under the govern- 



