ARGAN TEEE. 397 



three hundred. This individual measures 26 ft. round the 

 trunk ; at the height of three feet it branches off; the branches 

 (one of which measures 11 ft. in circumference near the trunk) 

 rest upon the gi-ound, extending about 15 ft. fi-om the trunk, 

 and again ascend. The highest branch of this tree is not more 

 than 16 ft. to 18 ft. from the ground, while the outer branches 

 spread so as to give a circumference of 220 ft. : this is the largest 

 I am aware of. 



' " The mode of propagation, in this vicinity, is mostly by 

 seed. When sowing this, a little manure is placed with it, and 

 it is well watered until it shoots ; from which period it requires 

 nothing further. In from three to five years after sowing it 

 bears fruit, which ripens between May and August (according 

 to the situation of the tree). The roots extend a great distance 

 underground, and shoots make their appearance at intervals, 

 which are allowed to remain, thus doing away with the necessity 

 of transplanting or sowing. "When the fruit ripens, herds of 

 goats, sheep, and cows are driven thither ; a man beats the tree 

 with a long pole, and the fruits fall and are devoured vora- 

 ciously by the cattle. In the evening they are led home, and, 

 when comfortably settled in their yards, they commence chew- 

 ing the cud and throw out the nuts, which are collected each 

 morning as soon as the animals have departed upon their daily 

 excursion. I have heard it remarked that the nut passes 

 through the stomach ; but this is only a casualty, and not a 

 general rule. Large quantities of the fruit are likewise collected 

 by women and children : they are well dried, and the hull is 

 taken off, and stored for the camels and mules travelling in the 

 winter, being considered very nutritious. 



' " The process of extracting the oil is very simple. The nuts 

 are cracked by the women and children (and not a few fingers 

 suffer at the same time, owing to the want of proper tools, for' 

 the nuts are very hard, and a stone is the only implement used); 

 the kernels are then parched in a common earthen vessel, 

 ground in handmills of this country, and put into a pan ; a little 

 cold water is sprinkled upon them, and they are well worked up 

 by the hand (much the same as kneading dough) until the oil 

 separates, when the refuse is well pressed in the hand, which 

 completes the process. The oil is left to stand, and the sedi- 

 ment removed. The cake (in which a great deal of oil remains, 



