i6 



TUNISIA 



TABLE 3 



These figures give a concrete picture of the actual state of 

 prosperity of the country as evidenced by productive and un- 

 productive land. The area under rood system is especially 

 interesting. 



Forest Industries. Cork is the chief product of Tunisian 

 forests. The cork oak covers approximately from 99 to 100 

 thousand hectares (244,629 to 247,100 acres) of the 650,000 

 hectares (1,606,150 acres) which is the estimated sum total of 

 the country's commercial forest area. As " by-products " the 

 cork oak yields also firewood and tannin. 



A tree is first barked (for a detailed description of cork-oak 

 management, see p. 66) when it reaches 30 cm. (i 1.8 inches) 

 in circumference inside bark or 40 cm. (15.8 inches) to 50 cm. 

 (19.6 inches) outside; seedlings reach this size at 30 years and 

 sprouts in 15 to 18. The first peeling costs about 9 centimes 

 ($0.01737) per tree; the average tree in Tunisia produces 5.75 

 kilos (13 pounds) of cork per crop. The cost of collection 

 is estimated at 3.50 francs ($0.67) per quintal (220 pounds); 

 transport to depots i franc ($0.193); transport to shipping point 

 5 francs ($0.96) ; baling and preparation 5 francs ($0.96) ; mak- 

 ing a total cost of 14.50 francs ($2.80) as against the average 

 sale price of 30.50 francs ($5.88). From 1895 to 1901, inclusive, 

 327,000 quintaux (72,091,074 pounds) of cork were sold for 

 7,165,000 francs ($1,382,845), or an average of 21.91 francs 

 ($4.23) per quintal (220 pounds) for that period. But the 



