18 DATE VARIETIES AND DATE CULTURE IN TUNIS. 



peninsula. This ridge is the western extension of the desert moun- 

 tain range known as the Jebel Tebaga, which forms the southern 

 border of the Shott-el-Fejej. The oases that are on the south side 

 of this ridge are naturally more sheltered from the north wind and 

 better situated for the ripening of dates than those on the north 

 side. 



The population of the Nefzaoua is stated to be 25,000, distributed 

 in 45 villages. The total number of date palms in the region is 

 estimated by one authority to be 280,000, by another over 1,000,000. 

 The first estimate is probably more nearly correct. It is a pecu- 

 liarity of the Nefzaoua, which places it in strong contrast with the 

 Jerid, that the oases are mostly situated upon the higher lands. 

 The reason is that nearly all the springs are found craterwise at the 

 summits of small volcano-like hillocks, and the gardens of date 

 palms have grown up around them. The water supply is abundant, 

 and owing to the situation of the springs with relation to the gar- 

 dens irrigation is generally easy. In the oasis of Menchia, however, 

 the gardens are generally some distance away from the springs, and 

 water is conducted to them by means of tunnels that have been bored 

 into the sides of the hills in which the springs rise. Some of these 

 tunnels are said to have been constructed in the times of ancient 

 Rome, this region also having been occupied by the Romans. In the 

 Nefzaoua, as in the Jerid, the water sheet is located in cretaceous 

 strata. 



Menchia is the most important of the oases on the north side of the 

 ridge. Its soil is sa^ndy and contains much gypsum, but not an 

 excessive amount of the more readily soluble salts. On the south 

 slope the oasis which pertains to the two villages of Tlemine and 

 Mansourah is the largest, and its gardens are the best kept of the 

 region. It is said to contain 29,000 palms, while the next largest 

 oasis, Kebili, contains 20,000. In these two oases the soils are gen- 

 erally excellent, although frequently a trifle salty. 



The culture of the date palm is generally given less care in the 

 Nefzaoua than in the Jerid. Many of the gardens have been allowed 

 to grow up in seedlings of poor quality and are almost choked with 

 weeds. The Deglet Noor variety has not heretofore been grown in 

 the Nefzaoua, although the conditions would appear to be perfectly 

 suitable for it. Recently the forestry service has taken some steps 

 toward establishing its culture in some of the oases. The growing 

 of other fruit trees and of crops of vegetables, cereals, and forage 

 plants among the palms receives much less attention than in the Jerid. 

 A great deal of trouble has resulted from the incursion of wind-blown 

 sand, and here, as in the Jerid, the forestry service has had to under- 

 take the protection of the oases by constructing palisades and by 

 prohibiting the pasturing of animals on the outskirts of the gardens. 



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