Notes on Agriculture in Cyprus and Its Products Part 1

Notes on Agriculture in Cyprus and Its Products.

by William Bevan.

NOTES ON AGRICULTURE IN CYPRUS AND ITS PRODUCTS[1]

BY W. BEVAN

_Director of Agriculture, Cyprus_

The intention of these notes is to make available to those interested in the agriculture of Cyprus some of the information scattered in various reports, leaflets and correspondence not readily accessible to the general public.

It has long been a matter of regret to the writer that the valuable stores of information collected with so much care and ability by the late Mr. Panayiotis Gennadius, formerly Director of Agriculture in Cyprus, through having been published in Greek only, have remained beyond the reach of many who might otherwise have derived benefit from a study of his works. His writings on the general agriculture of the "Near East" are voluminous and comprehensive, and show an intimate knowledge of the subject as well as of the practices and customs of agriculturists in these regions. The results of his labours are mainly embodied in his _h.e.l.leniki Georgia_ and his _Phytologikon Lexicon_, both of which are works of recognised authority. During his eight years (1896-1903) spent in Cyprus Mr. Gennadius devoted himself specially to a study of the agricultural conditions and needs of the Island, and the notes and reports made by him have been, to a large extent, taken as the basis of the present Notes.

During the sixteen years since he left the Island many changes have taken place, and the more receptive and enlightened att.i.tude of the rising generation of farmers has helped to bring about various improvements, and a greater readiness has been shown to adopt modern methods. In compiling the present Notes I have drawn freely from the articles which have appeared for many years in the _Cyprus Agricultural Journal_ (formerly _Cyprus Journal_), the official publication of the Agricultural Department, and which I have edited; I have also taken advantage of the very admirable and reliable information contained in the _Handbook of Cyprus_, edited by Messrs. Lukach and Jardine.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SKETCH MAP Of CYPRUS SHOWING DISTRIBUTION OF CROPS & FORESTS]

I am greatly indebted to the willing a.s.sistance of Mr. Procopios Symeonides, Inspector of Agriculture, whose thorough acquaintance with local conditions and usages has enabled him to contribute much useful and informative material. I have also to offer my acknowledgments to Messrs. M. G. Dervis.h.i.+an, C. Pelaghias, Z. Solomides, G. Frangos, A.

Klokaris, A. Panaretos and others who have kindly supplied me with data of various kinds.

It will scarcely be necessary to add that little more than a summary of the agricultural practice and resources of the Island has here been attempted, and in no sense does it pretend to be anything more. The aim has been to give the reader a general idea of what Cypriot agriculture is and, to some extent, what it is capable of doing.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: Reprinted from the BULLETIN OF THE IMPERIAL INSt.i.tUTE, 1919.]

I. GENERAL

_Geographical Features_

The Island of Cyprus is situated in the innermost basin of the Mediterranean Sea; about 40 miles distant from the Asia Minor coast on the north, and about 60 miles from Syria on the east, and 238 miles from Port Said to the south. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean, ranking next to Sicily and Sardinia. The larger part of the Island is in the form of an irregular parallelogram, 100 miles long and from 30 to 60 miles broad; while on the north the eastern extremity runs out beyond this into a peninsula 40 miles long by 5 to 6 miles broad. The total area is 3,584 sq. miles. The main topographical features are the northern and southern mountain ranges running east and west and enclosing the great plain of the Messaoria. The mountains of the northern range are of an alt.i.tude ranging from 2,000 ft. to over 3,000 ft., the highest point being Buffavento, 3,135 ft.; those of the southern range are more lofty and culminate in Mt. Olympus, 6,406 ft.

above sea-level. The rivers are nearly all mountain torrents, and are dry from about July to November or December.

The area of cultivated land is approximately 1,200,000 acres, and that of the uncultivated land 1,093,760 acres, of which about 450,000 are forest land and 320,000 are susceptible of cultivation. The Messaoria plain is the great corn-growing area.

_Climate and Rainfall_

There are considerable extremes of temperature in the plains. In summer it is very hot and dry with temperature ranging during June to September from 80 to 110 Fahr., while in winter slight frosts not infrequently occur. The climate is more equable, but also more humid, along the coasts. In the plains there is, during the greater part of the year, a marked variation between the day and night temperatures.

Official records show that for a period of thirty-two years up to 1915 the average rainfall for hill and plain for the whole Island approximated to 20 inches. Up to 1902 records were kept only in the six district towns, but since then there have been some fifty recording stations. The mean rainfall during the winter months for the twelve years ended 1914 was 18.55 inches. That for the whole year during the latter period was 21.18 inches.

The incidence of rainfall, apart from its volume, is of importance. It is on the rainfall of the six winter months, October to March, that the prosperity of the Island depends, and any shortage during this period cannot be balanced by heavier summer rains, which are more liable to cause harm than good, by damaging the corn lying on the thres.h.i.+ng-floors and by causing sudden floods.

Much importance attaches to the rains in March, without which the grain crop, however ample the earlier rains may have been, will not be satisfactory, as described in a maxim which I have attempted to render in English.

If twice in March it chance to rain, In April once, a shower in May, In weight in gold of man and wain, The farmer's crops are sure to pay.

If roads are dry at Christmas time, But Epiphany finds both mud and slime, And at Carnival they still hold many a pool, The farmer finds his barns quite full.

_Administration_

The Island is administered by a High Commissioner. There is an Executive Council and a Legislative Council consisting of six official members and twelve elected members, of whom three are elected by the Moslem and nine by the non-Moslem inhabitants. The Island is divided into six districts, in each of which the Executive Government is represented by a Commissioner.

_Weights, Measures and Currency_

Nearly everything except corn, wine, oil, carobs, cotton and wool is sold by the oke.

An oke, dry measure, equals 400 drams, or 2-4/5 lb.

The liquid oke is reckoned as equivalent to a quart.

Grain is measured by the kile, regarded as equal to a bushel.

Wool, cotton and oil are sold by the litre of 2-4/5 okes, but commonly reckoned as 2-1/2 okes.

Carobs are sold by the Aleppo cantar of 180 okes. This cantar is further divided into 100 litres of 1 oke and 320 drams each.

Wine is sold by the kartos = 4 okes, the kouza = 8 okes, and the gomari = 128 okes.

1 kile of wheat weighs 20 to 22 okes.

1 kile of barley weighs 14 to 18 okes.

1 kile of oats weighs 13 to 14 okes.

1 kile of vetches weighs 23 to 24 okes.

1 sack of straw weighs about 40 okes.

1 camel-load of straw weighs about 200 okes, consisting of 2 sacks, each weighing about 100 okes.

_Measures of Length_

Metron or metre.

Yarda or yard.

Pic = 2 ft. or two-thirds of a yard.

Inch = English measure.