August
1926
The capital of Morocco is Rabat, where an agricultural research station and the Department of Agriculture are located. The head of the station, Dr. Miège, was well-known to me from the literature. [1] He is the author of original papers on cultivated plants. I acquainted myself in detail with the Moroccan material amassed at the station and with the collections representing mainly samples of local hard wheats and local barley.
Rabat is situated on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean and is distinguished by a mild coastal climate. Crops are not irrigated there. In essence the area belongs to the typical Mediterranean region. The large-spiked and large-grained forms are similar to the typical, coastal Algerian assortment. Thanks to the previous work of the American plant introducer Scoffield, [2] who thoroughly researched the bread grasses of Algeria and the papers by Ducellier, Trabut and Miège, as well Boeuf in Tunisia, the composition of the local crops is very well known. In general, this is a realm of Mediterranean hard wheat with a rare admixture of other species, including hexastichous barley. At the station, research on various crops is conducted. This is a kind of a centre of introduction, which is constantly widening its scope. A small but modest staff of French research workers carry out an enormous investigative and agronomical work of first-class importance for agriculture.
Notes:
- Emile Miège, author of at least one work on types of buckwheat (Fagopyrum spp). [↩]
- C.S. Scofield. [↩]
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