Page:Tree Crops; A Permanent Agriculture (1929).pdf/80



Of only one regularly planted carob orchard have I had an absolutely measured record of which I am reasonably sure. The owner was an educated Frenchman, M. Chouillou, living a few miles up the river from Bougie on the northern coast of Algeria. His trees, which were twenty years old, were planted on well-drained alluvium. They were interplanted with grapes. There was still almost a full stand of grapes. Often only one vine was missing where the carob tree stood. From the sixteenth to the twentieth year in addition to a full crop of grapes this orchard produced on the average eight hundred and seventy-five pounds of carob beans per acre. The selling price was the same as that of corn, and taking fifty-six pounds to the bushel it figures up to 15.6 bushels per acre and compares favorably with 19.7 bushels of corn reported by the United States Department of Agriculture for the five years, 1921-25,