FORESTATION AND BETTERMENTS 43 



the seed spot, comprising the soil which has been worked, dries 

 out; this is due to the soft center earth shrinking and losing 

 contact with the walls of the spot. To prevent this, the earth, 

 when replaced in the hole, must be firmly stamped. After 

 sowing aleppo pine at Zaghouan the excess seedlings are de- 

 stroyed, for the extra stock, it is thought, would merely use up 

 the little available moisture. All nursery stock is grown locally, 

 since shipped stock when tried has invariably given poor results. 



Nursery Methods. — Both the nurseries at Hammam-Lif 

 and at Zaghouan are watered during the hot dry summers. 

 Irrigation is carried out every 10 to 15 days, and is then mod- 

 erate. At the Zaghouan nursery the pots used are 115 milli- 

 metres (4.5 inches) deep, 128 millimetres (5 inches) wide at the 

 top, and 58 millimetres (2 inches) at the bottom. The pot is 

 drained by a 6-milHmetre (|-inch) hole. After the ball plant is 

 removed the pots are collected and used over again. No arti- 

 ficial shade frames are built; instead, Indian corn is sown be- 

 tween the seedling beds, to protect the plants during dry weather. 

 This corn grows to be 1.5 metres (7 yards) high and serves as 

 a natural protection. Before sowing the oak acorns in the 

 field they are first germinated in wet sand, then placed in the 

 bamboo tubes at the nursery, and immediately planted. In 

 the past, a cement-walled seed bed was used to protect seed 

 sown from loss by rodents. Before sowing the aleppo pine the 

 seed is soaked in water for at least an hour; otherwise the usual 

 nursery methods are followed. 



Failures. — The forestation on arid, difficult land can be 

 accomplished only by persistent effort. Repeated failures and 

 severe loss are to be expected. The percentage of success 

 seems to be dependent entirely on whether the season following 

 the planting is favorable as regards rainfall, for with an un- 

 favorable season even well-executed plantations may show a 

 loss of from 80 to 95 per cent. 



Improvements. — As in Algeria (see page 89) the forest 

 houses are constructed of stone, and are ordinarily faced with 

 cement. But in Tunisia there are no uniform plans, although 

 the arrangement of the stables and floor space is similar. A 



