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

pastured all the year round. and there is no
need of stables. L have seen no haystacks
since I came into the country. although /
observed some alfalfa fields near Tlemcen.
How They Save Straw.
The chief stock food. long food as our
Virginia far .ers would call it, is straw.
This is most carefully saved. AS soon as
the thrasing is done it is stacked some
times in bales. and sometimes loose. The
stacks are then covered with thatch as
carefully put on the roof of house, and
In some localities. where the soil forms a
natural cement. the whole outside OF the
stack Is plastered. 1 have seen hundreds
of stacks. larger than any haystack In our
country, so covered. This is done mostly
in western Algeria, the thatch being more
common in the east.
great deal of straw Is carried on the
railroad. 1t is brought to the stations in
bales. and II piled up while awaiting the
cars it is always covered with tarpaulins
of canvas or oiled cloth. The straw Is car
ried over the railroad on open trucks, but
always covered, and while loading the straw
piles are thus protected at night The most
of the cattle. horses and donkeys of the
cities eat straw instead of hay.
How the Arabs Raise Grain.
A large part of the Tell Is devoted to
grain. Algeria produces over 300, 900, 900
bushels of cereals every year. and it ex-
the crop is something like $50, 900 900 There
are about 100000 acres annually planted
to wheat and something like 5000 600 acres
devoted to barley. In addition some oats
and corn are raised. The corn, however.
does not grow nearly so well as in our
country.
Wheat is by far the most important grain
crop and large part of that grown Is of
the maCaroni variety. The wheat farming
Is done by both the French and the ma
tives and in the latter case in a most SLOW
emily way. There are but few modern agri-
cultural implements. and IL is only the large
foreign farmers who pillow more than two
or three inches deep. They have plows of
French make with wheels in front The
shears cut well into the soil, but it re-
quires team of six or eight or more ami
mails for each pillow. Such team is usually
composed of oxen. but sometimes 1t is a
combination of oxen, horses and mules and
not infrequently a little donkey aids in
the work.
Fo1ked Sticks for Plows.
The plows used by the natives are little
more than forked sticks with a sort of
shoe of iron shaped like a trowel, as a
pillow point. This shoe Is about ten inches
long and quarter of an inch thick and
1t serves to turn the earth to a depth of
two or three inches. 1t Is not as good as
single shovel pillow by any means. Such
pillow has but one handle, and the native
does not press down upon it, but merely
steadies 1t with one hand as he walks be-
hind in the furrow. The tongue of the
pillow is fastened to a stick which rests
under the bellies Of the two horses form
ing the native pillow team. This stick is
fastened by breast straps to the horses,
without traces of any kind
One Of these plows cannot cost more than
dollar. while the foreign plows 1 have
described sell for eight or ten dollars and q
sulky pillow brings $50 more.
The natives are unable to do deep plow-
ing with their tools, and as result much
OF the grain is planted in and out among
the bushes and underground. Along many
of the foothills Of the Atlas the fields con-
tain more bushes than wheat and in places
the wheat grows among thiStles each of
i which has head as Dig around as a tin
cup.
The present average wheat yield per acre
is not much more than one-half as great
as that OF the United States and less than
one-third that of France 1t Is only about
eight bushels per acre.
Reaping and Threshing.
These Algerians do most OF their reaping
by hand, and that with the sickle. 1t would
be Impossible to run a mower and reaper
through fields covered with brush, and 1t is
only on the large farms that threshing
! machines are employed. Most of the grain
is trodden out by oxen or other animals
/ see threshing floors everywhere near the
straw stacks; they are circles of we'll
pounded earth upon which the animals are
driven around over the straw until the
grain is ground out After that the straw
is raked off and the wheat, barley or oats
is thrown into the air against the wind to
| remove the chan. The straw Is then stack
ed and the grain put in large bags for ship
ment. IL it is to be carried to market upon
camels. the bags used will contain six or
eight bushels. as two such bags of grain
make load for one camel. If 1t is to go
upon donkeys or mules, each will contain
half as much There are no elevators In
the Farming districts nor at the stations.
and all grain goes to the markets in bags
II is frequently hauled on great wagons
with five, six or seven mules IN each
wagon and a snarling dog on top TO guard
the load. The driver. who is usually an
ARAB or kabyls, walks. "A donkey will