72 NOTES ON AGRICULTURE IN CYPRUS 



A few imported varieties, including one or two speci- 

 mens of Spanish and Greek olive trees, are to be found 

 here and there in private gardens. 



If the land were manured and ploughed the trees would, 

 especially on the chalky soils, yield abundant fruit and oil 

 of excellent quality. Unfortunately this is not done, and 

 it has been found very difficult to induce the peasants to 

 adopt any kind of cultivation. They plough the land only 

 when they intend to sow corn or other crops between the 

 trees, a procedure which tends to lessen the productive- 

 ness of the trees. The system of irrigation applied is also 

 very defective. Irrigation, while improving the quality 

 and quantity of edible olives, is not desirable in the case 

 of press olives. 



As to pruning, Cypriots would have none of it until 

 within the last five years. By dint of patient and constant 

 persuasion, some few of the larger owners were induced to 

 let their trees be pruned by a staif of pruners under the 

 direction of the Agricultural Department (see Plate VI). 

 Much ridicule and at times threats was hurled at both 

 the pruners and the tree owners, who were assured by 

 the villagers that for their folly they would undoubtedly 

 lose their trees. The results belied all these fears, and now 

 within the space of some four to five years the practice 

 of pruning has become fairly general, and a good number 

 of villagers have qualified themselves as expert pruners 

 and are kept regularly employed by private persons. 

 As a consequence of this a great amelioration is notice- 

 able in the olive trees in many parts and the yield and 

 quality of olives have been improved. 



The method of gathering olives by beating, however, 

 continues. The fruit so knocked to the ground becomes 

 dirty and bruised, and quickly ferments, when stored, 

 to the detriment of the oil. This mode of gathering by 

 beating damages the young twigs and branches, whose 

 bearing capacity the following year is thus impaired. 



Little care is taken in selecting the olives for oil. Not 

 only are they dirty and bruised, but unripe or diseased 

 fruit, as well as overripe fruit that has fallen from the tree, 

 is collected together indiscriminately. 



The usual practice is to spread out the olives as received, 



