Agriculture in Tripoli. 



223 



way influencing the harvests. The equality of distribution is, 

 unfortunately, so precarious that during a period of ten years 

 four good harvests can alone be calculated upon, the rest 

 being total or partial failures owing to the absence of the 

 necessary rains in January to March. 



Barley is the chief crop, and is the one on which the pros- 

 perity of the country for the time being wholly depends. 

 When good rains at opportune times produce a surplus crop, 

 say four years out of ten, barley to the value of ;!^"50,ooo to 

 ;^6o,ooo is exported, almost all to England, where it is used 

 for malting purposes. In years of drought and scarcity, 

 unfortunately too frequent, large quantities have to be 

 imported to provide breadstuffs for the agricultural popula- 

 tion and seed for sowing, and the Consul states that during 

 the last twelve years barley to the value of ^249,680 was 

 imported, while exports only reached the value of 2 11,000, 

 thus showing the inability of the country to grow enough for 

 its yearly wants, taking one year with another. 



The production of wheat has greatly diminished of late 

 years, and the area now sow^n is barely one-tenth of that of 

 barley, owing to the restricted area of soil adapted for its 

 cultivation, to the comparative small margin between local 

 values of wheat and barley, and to the large importations 

 from Marseilles and Genoa of semolina and flour, which 

 supply almost the entire wants of the urban population, who 

 alone are consumers of wheaten flour. The average value of 

 such imports during the past ten years has been ^31,000 

 yearly. 



The exports of cattle, all of which go to Malta, are 

 increasing, having averaged in value during the past eight 

 years, ;^28,300. During 1896 and 1897 the values were 

 ;£"40,ooo, and ^36,000 respectively. Sheep are not exported 

 except in times of great drought and consequent want of 

 pasturage. Some years ago two successive rainless years 

 nearly extinguished the flocks. 



\Foreig7i OJfice Report. Annual Series. No. 212^. Price i^d.'] 



