August
1926
Generally North Africa is a kind of unit of its own. A phytogeographical analysis clearly reveals specific Mediterranean crops, a dominance of original, local large-grained hard wheat and six-rowed barley. The cultivation of large-seeded leguminous plants and large-seeded flax is concentrated in the coastal zone.
The mountain areas of the Atlas and the Kabyle mountains reflect a two-fold influence. On the one hand, one sees a distant influence from southwestern Asia, on the other from Mediterranean cultivated plants, not subject to the influence of environmental conditions, but here, in the mountains, developed into corresponding basic groups, somewhat different from those in the coastal zone. The comparative uniformity of the cultivated plants and the extensive type of agriculture, typical of a considerable area, indicate that agriculture did not originate here. In respect of the cereals, their source is no doubt found in the Near East. Here, under conditions of both natural and artificial selection, corresponding forms have developed owing to favourable conditions such as autumn sowing, a mild winter and a comparatively favourable distribution of precipitation.
