Sept. 2, 1908.] Agricultural Gazette of N.S, W. 763 



At (lark we had reached the Ijottoni of the valley, and at S o'clock 

 •entered the Turkish town of Lefka, where all the oranges on this side of the 

 island are grown, and here we stopped at the Police Station, as there was no 

 hotel or rest-house in the town. Next morning, under the guidance of a 

 zaptich (Turkish policeman) we w{mt through a number of the orchaixls, 

 which in most cases were regulai' thickets, as young trees had been plantefl, 

 or seedlings had grown up all through the place among the older trees. The 

 oranges had been nearly all gathered, but still there were some on the trees, 

 and a great number on the ground. Those upon the grounrl had been all 

 cleaned of their contents by the rats, and were simply skins. I could find no 

 •signs of fruit-flies, nor could I find out from the owners if they ever suffered 

 from the pest ; but Red Scale was very common, anfl did a good deal of 

 -damage all through the orchards, and is just as plentiful in all the gardens 

 ■about Nicosia. 



From here we rode to the railway terminus at Morphou, and returned to 

 Nicosia that afternoon, after a very interesting trip across the island. The 

 Forestry Department in Cyprus is a very important institution, and there is 

 a great deal of the island that is treeless, while the high mountains are covered 

 with fine forests of pines. Mr. A. K. Bovill, who has charge of this work, has 

 planted a great number of different species of Australian trees, chiefly E'^ca- 

 lyptus and Acacia, and at Athalassa has a large area of barren marl and chalk 

 hills covered with thickets of young wattles, which are growing well in very 

 j)oor dry soil. He is extending this every year, and hopes before long to sup- 

 ply the towjis with firewood, of which at present, round all the towns, they 

 liave none, importing charcoal and using a small prickly shrub {Poterin.iii 

 ■Spiuosnm) that covers the low hills, to do all their cooking and baking. 



In the island there are about a quarter of a million goats, and as there is 

 not a fence on the island, these are shepherded through the forests and (jpeii 

 lands, and supply food, milk, cheese, butter, skins for boots, and hair for 

 ropes, bags, etc. ; as soon as the foresters enclose areas for planting, the 

 villagers cry out they are being robbed of their free range; and the department 

 savs that the goat, from the amount of trees it destroys, is their greatest enemy, 

 but it is a vested interest that has to be considei-ed in all forest work. 



There are about the same number of sheep in the country, usually shepherded 

 with the goats. They belong to the fat-tailed variety, the tip of their tail 

 being twisted like a corkscrew^, and the greater number of them are black or 

 piebald. Their wool is almost hair, and the best worth only about fid. a It. 

 The Department of Agriculture is trying to improve the flocks, but find it 

 very slow work. 



The following morning I left Nicosia at 6-30 a.m. for Famagusta, and reached 

 there at 10 a.m., when I called upon the District Commissioner (Mr. Travers), 

 who very kindly placed one of his staff and a coach at my disposal to inspect 

 the orange orchards of this district, about 3 miles outside the town. 



The soil of this orchard district is very fine sandy loam, all under irrigation, 

 with water that is drawn up from wells about 20 to 30 feet in depth with the 

 old wheel and eartlienware jars, worked l)y a mule. The trees are planted 



