Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-03-30

pure water Indeed. 1t is so low that the
vineyardists tell me 1t hardly pays to
make 1t.
1 have never seen such grapes anywhere.
/ measured some that were served for des-
sert at the hotel here last night. They
were three and a half inches In circumfer-
ence, or more than an inch in diameter.
They tasted as sweet as maple syrup and
their flavor was delicious. The best Of the
grapes now In the markets sell for about a
cent pound.
I have seen excellent vineyards every
where 1 have gone. Algeria has almost a
half million acres devoted to them, and
they extend from one end of 1t to the other.
The wine annually made runs between one
hundred and two hundred million gallons,
and It sells for from twenty-five to thirty
million dollars, the most OF 1t going to
France. The French are careful to the
Introduction of fruit diseases into the colo
MES, and they have stringent laws against
the Importation of trees. plants and vines,
as we'll as of flowers and fresh fruits. In
deed the only vegetables now admitted are
potatoes, well cleaned.
Algeria produces all sorts of fresh garden
stun. We have green peas and beans. as
well as asparagus, celery and lettuce. Rad
ishes raised in great quantities. egg
plants and tomatoes thrive md onions and
potatoes yield two crops a year. Vegeta-
bles by the shipload go to France through
out the year, and Paris. Lyons, Marseille
and other French cities rely upon this coun-
try for their winter supplies of fresh fruit
and garden stuff.
Algerian Fruits.
The Yell Is now producing almost every
thing that can be grown in the United
States 1t has apples. peaches and pears.
as we'll as figs and olives, oranges and lem
ons. The olive thrives well up into the
Atlas mountains and many Of the trees are
centuries old. They live so long that the
people have a saying that he who plants
n N c wing l.
dren's children. The olive crop is now
worth about S5OOO.OOO a year. and 1000 tons
Of olive oil are annually exported. There
are. altogether. about 100000 olive trees.
of which 100000 are grated. The natives
consume large quantities of olive oil. Even
the Kabyles make 1t in a rude way and
store 1t in their huts for the winter. 1t is
used for cooking. and has largely the same
place that butter has with us.
There Is an enormous number of figs pro-
duced in Algeria, and something like 30, OO0.-
900 pounds are annually exported The
fruit Is fine although not equal to that
raised in Smyrna. Some of the varieties are
white and others blue The fig orchards
are to be seen everywhere. They as
common as apples in America and quite as
freely eaten. The natives dry them and
store them away for winter use.
Among the Stock Raisers.
Algeria does a great deal of stock farm
! ing. Not only in the Tell. but in the
ranges of the Atlas mountains and on the
high plateaus upheld by them. are large
focks of sheep and goats. and they are
also to be found all along the edges of the
Desert of Sahara. There are more than
million of cattle in the Tell and in the
whole country more than a quarter of a
| million donkeys and almost that number of
rtA ~,
100000. and the mules quite as many OF
this stock more than nine tenths belong to
the natives.
The sheep here are fine, large, long
wooded animals. They weigh, 1 venture,
more than either our Southdowns or Shrop-
shires. and they seem free from disease.
They are white and brown in color. many
of the white sheep having brown faces.
Their ears are long and silky and hang
down somewhat like those of a spaniel The
ewes are worth from 81 to So each while
the rams will bring double as much.
Four Million Black Goats.
Algeria has about 100000 goats. and II
furnishes many goatskins for our Amer
lean shoes. The goats are black and
brown In color. They are of good size but
In their milking qualities they do not COM
pare with those l saw In Morocco In Tan.
gier the goats furnish most of the milk NJ
the city. and they are made to carry II In
their bags from door to door, the milkman
drawing his wares direct from the goat.