Notes on agriculture in Cyprus and its productsBevan, William
History
Notes on agriculture in Cyprus and its products
Bevan, William
Agriculture -- Cyprus; Produce trade -- Cyprus
The two most common causes of failure are the persistent planting of
trees too close together and over-watering. Growers turn a deaf ear to
all advice aimed at changing these two bad habits. The native
agriculturist is convinced, beyond the reach of argument, that the
greater the number of trees on a given area the greater will be the
profit. In a land where water is so precious the deep-rooted opinion is
held that the more water a plant receives the better it will thrive, and
too frequent irrigation accounts to a large extent for the widespread
damage caused by gummosis. Until lately pruning was scarcely practised
at all. Thanks to a system of model orchards lately instituted by the
Agricultural Department, better methods are at last being introduced,
and fruit-growers are able to model their practice upon the work carried
out on the specimen trees, alongside their own, reserved by the
Department for such demonstrations.
Lemons are largely consumed by natives with their food. The produce is
of large size, thick-skinned and juicy. Until some twelve years or so
ago the fruit was largely sold on the trees for shipment to Russia and
Rumania, but those markets failed, owing to the prevalence in Cyprus of
scale disease and partly to loss through rotting in transport. The
export of oranges and lemons has of late years been confined almost
entirely to Egypt.
_Fig_ (_Ficus Carica_)
This tree thrives everywhere, and is particularly cultivated at Livadhia
and Lefkara (Larnaca district), in Paphos and at the Tylliria, where the
small, sweet, white variety, locally called "antelounika," is grown.
There are but few true Smyrna figs, but this variety is being multiplied
by cuttings and also by grafting. Other good kinds are the "sarilop" and
"bardajik," of which there are a few private specimens only, and the
"vardika" which is more or less common, particularly at Morphou. The
Lefkara figs somewhat resemble those of Tylliria and, like the latter,
mature naturally; they are considered very good and are divided into two
varieties, the "malantzana" and the "kourtziatika." The figs of Ktema in
Paphos are the common violet-coloured variety, but are larger, and are
mostly ripened artificially.
Cyprus figs are only of moderate quality, though doubtless susceptible
of improvement. They resist drought and generally yield good crops every
year.
The native dried fig is much eaten, and is also used as an adulterant
of, if not a substitute for, coffee, and makes a good beverage, like the
well-known Austrian "feigen café." Dried figs are also made into a paste
and mixed with flour to make fig pies ("sykopitæ").
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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