KELATIOIST OF RAINFALL TO YIELD OF OLIVES. 



33 



Table V. — Yearly rainfall and olive production at Sfax in the years 1895 to 

 190//, inclusive, the latter being indicated hy the exports of olive oil from the 

 port of Sfax during each following year. 



-tear. 



Total 

 rainfall. 



Olive crop of the year. 



Quantity. 



- 



Proportion, 

 of the 

 average 

 yield. 



1895 



Inches. 

 3.18 

 10.53 

 12.92 

 6.75 

 5.57 

 4.13 

 7.93 

 4.58 

 5.26 

 6.77 



Gallons. 



Per cent. 



1898 



627,980 

 708,625 

 983,360 

 523,258 

 612,711 

 213,120 

 1,022,980 

 591,985 

 668,385 



94.0 

 108.0 

 148.0 

 78.5 

 92.0 

 38.0 

 153.5 

 89.0 

 100.0 



1897 _ 



1898 _ 



1899 __ _ — - 



1900 , 



1901 



1902_ _.; _*_ 



1903 



1904 -- 



Average for 10 years 



6.44 



685,388 



100'. 



Normal for 16 years 



9.35 













a It should he noted that the statistics of exports do not discriminate between oil pro- 

 duced hy the crop of the preceding autumn and that of two years previous, some part of 

 which is sometimes held in reserve at Sfax if the market be dull. However, a com- 

 parison of the average prices of olive oil at Marseille with the volume of the annual 

 exports from Sfax furnishes no evidence that the price is the chief factor in determining 

 the quantity exported each year. It is also uncertain to what extent the coming into 

 hearing of the recently planted orchards may affect the figures, although presumably the 

 addition thus made to the total production has been a gradual one and not likely to cause 

 marked fluctuations. In the main, therefore, it is believed that the above figures are 

 fairly representative of the annual crop. To arrive at the total annual production of oil 

 by the Sfax orchards we must add to the figures in the column showing quantity pro- 

 duced, 531,700 gallons, representing the average amount that is consumed locally or 

 shipped overland to other parts of northern Africa. This is said to vary little from year 

 to year. 



Although the records do not cover a sufficiently long period to 

 establish a definite relation, it would appear that there is some con- 

 nection between the size of the crop and the amount of rainfall of the 



13 

 12 

 II 

 10 

 9 

 8 

 7 

 6 

 5 

 A 

 3 



























1,100,000 

 1,000,000 

 900,000 

 800,000 

 700,000 

 600,000 

 500,000 

 400,000 

 300,000 

 200,000 

 100,000 







/ 



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1895 '96 '97 '98 '99 1900 '01 '02 '03 '04 1905 



Fig. 10. — Chart showing the rainfall in inches (dotted line) and the production of olive 

 oil (solid line) at Sfax from 1895 to 1905, the oil production being expressed in num- 

 ber of gallons exported during each following year. 



preceding year or years, but not that of the spring preceding the 

 ripening of the crop. Thus, the comparatively heavy rainfall (3.6 



125 



