The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-03-31

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- grannry and winter fruit gar
den OF the republic. and Is fast be-
coming tic wine cellar as well. Tie X
government has II colonization a part
1nent, (which Is now laying out new
towns and farm sites Some sot Ine
lands arc given away and others SOLD
at auction on long time. There are
agricultural banks for the benefit OF
the farmers, and special Inducements
for settlers In low rates OF steamships |
and railroad transportation lmWl- I
grants are brought here from Mar
drcd miles, at a 50 steeragc rate, and
the fares for third and fourth class arc
not much higher.
European Farmers in Africa!
There are already six hundred thou.
sand Europeans settled in Algeria.
More than half OF these arc French;
but there are also many Spaninrds,
italians and people from Malta. Sicily,
and other islands OF the Mediterranean
Sea. Already about o,lc-cighth OF tho
whole population is OF European ori-
GIN and the best lands OF the couh-
try are being rapidly bought ofSthe
Mohammednns by these invading
Chri1tiars. The European population
has doubled within the past thirty
years
The cities are growing. There are
French towns all over the country,
and the Christian element is every
where in control PerregauS. where5l
am writing, for instance. contains five
thousand European inhabitants, and It
has all the surroundings Of a rural
city OF Franco. Its streets are wide
and well shaded. and 1t has large
public garden in which the band plays
several times n week. It's stores are
like those OF France. and 1t has no
end of cafes and restaurants There
are scores OF other cities just like It
throughout the Tell, and many. shchi
az Blldah, Tlemcen, Orleansville ann
others. which are more populous and
more prosperous.
The Tell.
Have you ever heard OF the Tell?
1t has been noted for many genera
lions as one OF the granarics of the
world. 1t fed Carthage from the time
when It was founded by Queen Dido.
along about eight or nine hundred
years before Christ. 1t was the bread
basket of Rome in the days of her
glory. and the Arabs and Moors grew
fat upon it for centuries before the
French came. 1 t comprises the rich
valleys between the mountains rum
ming along the coast and the high
pateaus OF the Atlas which fall away
into tho Sahara, and also of a rich
coastal strip here and there. 1t runs
clear across Algeria and Tuni 81 a, and
I 4
hundred milcs long from west to east
and from thirty to one hundred miles
wide. It contains altogether an area
almost as large as New England and
fully rs large as the State OF Illinois
It has somewhere between thirty-hve
lands. but this Is in patches, some
large and some small. ] have gone
through regions, such as Oran. where
the soil is as rich as the Atississipp
Valley. and through others where tht
vineyards grow out OF a fat, red loan
81 Nike that of the best coffee plantation.
Of Sac Paulo. Brazil.
Much OF the Tell 3is like California
or Colorado. and not n little of 1t Is
irrigated. There Is an enormous dan
near this town OF Perregaux, whiet
holds back a lake. containing fourier
million cubic metres OF water. arg
another#not far away near st. Denis
du-Sig which contains six million
more. Wherever the water can y
stored 1t is conducted over the lands
and a great deal OF Irrigation is ais,
done by means Of wells, the moti,'
81 power being blindrolded donke,
mule or OK, and sometimes camel
"A Nation of Farmers.
These Algerians are a nation {
farmers. More than gne half Of tn
Europeans and reeyfourths OF til
natives are engageV In agricultur
and there are in addition an enormou
number Of native stock farmers. TT
Arabs own great deal OF land IN Il
plains and such OF tho mountains &
arc fertile are covered with lit
kabyle farms some of which are M
much bigger than the ordinary cit
back yard. The French are settle
pretty generally In the valleys
from the Arabs and Kabyles and ha'
also acquired the most Of tho sta
reservations for colonization.
Farming in Algeria.
wish you could take a trip wi
mo through some of these rich Ian
Of the Tell, and SEQ the queer wa,
OF farming in this part of Nor
Africa. We should have high mou
III tsns in sight all the way and tn
would be rocky and barren. The
would be no fences anywhere, a.
very few houses. Here and there
some distance from the white lin
stone road, we should SEQ the home
French settler, q plain buildi
covered with stucco standing allnc
alone in the fields There arc no o,
buildings and few barns: the cattle c
be pnstured all the year round, a
there is no need of stables. ha
seen no. haystacks since l came Ii
the country, although observed So
alfalfa fields near Tlamcen.
~. i Il W. TOW lIlty Gave 0tIdW.
The chief stock food long food,
our Virginia farmers woula call It.,
straw. This is most carefully saw
AS soon as tho threshlng Is done 1t
AS stacked, sometimes In bales, and son
times loose. The stacks are then Ct
cred with thatch rs carefully
on as tho roof of q house. and in so
localities, whore the soil forms
natural cement. tho whole outside
tho stack Is plastered. have 81
hundreds of stacks. larger than {
haystack In our country, 30 cover
This Is done mostly In Western \
geria, the thatch being more conn
In the cast.
A great deal of straw is carried
the railroad. It Is brought to thet5s
5s tons In bales, and II piled up WI
awaiting the cars 1t Is always cove
rs with tarpnulins of canvas or \, o.
cloth. Tho straw Is carried over
railroad on open trucks, but alw
c0yered, and While loading the st
niles are thus protected at night.
most of the cattle. horses and donl,
az sthe cities cat straw instead