Book I. 



AGRICULTURE IN EUROPEAN TURKEY. 



121 



Sect. X. Present State of Agriculture in European Turkey. 



750. The Turkish empire includes a variety of climates and countries, of most of which 

 so little is correctly known, that we can give no satisfactory account of their agriculture. 

 Asiatic Turkey is nearly three times the extent of the European part ; but the latter is 

 better cultivated and more populous. " European Turkey," Thornton observes, " de- 

 pends upon no foreign country for its subsistence. The labour of its inhabitants produces, 

 in an abundance unequalled in the other countries of Europe, all the alimentary produc- 

 tions, animal and vegetable, whether for use or enjoyment. The corn countries, in spite 

 of the impolitic restrictions of the government, besides pouring plenty over the empire, 

 secretly export their superfluities to foreign countries. Their agriculture, therefore, 

 though neglected and discouraged, is still above their wants." (Present State of Turkey, 

 vol. i. p. 66.) 



751. The climate and seasons of European Turkey vary with the latitude and local 

 circumstances of the different provinces, from the Morea, in lat. 37° and surrounded by 

 the Mediterranean sea, to Moldavia, between Hungary and Russia, in lat. 48°. The 

 surface is generally mountainous, with plains and vales ; some rivers, as the Danube in 

 Wallachia, and numerous gulfs, bays, estuaries, and inlets of the Adriatic, the Archi- 

 pelago, the Mediterranean, and the Black Seas. The soil is in general fertile, alluvial in some 

 of the richest plains of Greece, as Thessaly ; and calcareous in many parts of Wallachia 

 and Moldavia. These provinces produce excellent wheat and rich pasture ; while those 

 of the south produce maize, wheat, and rice. The vine is cultivated in most provinces ; 

 and there are extensive forests, especially in die north. The live stock consists of the 

 horse, ox, camel, sheep, and swine. (Thornton.) 



752. Some traits of the agriculture of the Morea, the southernmost province of European 

 Turkey, have been given by Dr. Pouquevdle. The climate holds the exact medium 

 between the scorching heat of Egypt and the cold of more northern countries. The 

 winter is short, but stormy ; and the summer is hot, but tempered by breezes from the 

 mountains or the sea. The soil of the mountains is argillaceous ; in some places inclin- 

 ing to marl, and in others to peat or vegetable earth : the richest parts are Arcadia and 

 Argos. The plough consists of a share, a ^_ 100 

 beam, and a handle (Jig. 100.); the share is 

 shaped somewhat like the claw of an anchor, 

 and the edges armed with iron. In some cases 

 it has two wheels. It is drawn by one horse, by 

 two asses, or by oxen or buffaloes, according to 

 the nature of the soil. The corn grown is of 

 excellent quality, though no attention is paid to selecting the seed. The rice of Argolis 

 is held at Constantinople the next in excellence to that of Damietta. The vine is suc- 

 cessfully cultivated ; but at Corinth, " situated in a most unwholesome atmosphere," the 



iOt 





culture of that sort which produces the raisins of Corinth is 

 less attended to than formerly. The olive trees (OMea europse v a, 

 g. 101.) are the finest in the world ; the oil of Maina is the 

 best, and held in esteem at all the principal markets of Eu- 

 rope. The white mulberry is extensively cultivated for the 

 support of the silkworm. Elis yields the best silk. The 

 cotton is cultivated in fields, which are commonly divided by 



hedges of Nepal or Indian fig, which is eaten, but is here 

 more vapid than in Egypt. 



753. The figs of the Morea " are perhaps the most exquisite 

 that can be eaten." The tree is cultivated with particular 

 care, and the practice of caprification adopted. They collect 

 the little figs which have fallen from the trees while very 

 young, and which contain numbers of the eggs of the gnat 

 insect (Cynips). Of these they make chaplets, which are 

 suspended to the branches of the trees. The gnats are soon 

 hatched, and spread themselves over the whole tree. The 

 females, in order to provide a nidus for their eggs, pierce the 

 fruit with their sting, and then deposit them. From this puncture a gummy liquor 

 oozes; and after this the figs are not only not liable to fall, but grow larger and finer 

 than if they had not undergone this operation. It is doubted by some modern physiolo- 

 gists whether this process is of any real use, it being now neglected in most fig countries 

 where it was formerly performed. Some allege that it is merely useful as fecundating 

 the blossoms, which most people are aware are situated inside of the fruit ; others that it 

 promotes precocily, which the puncture of an insect will do in any fruit, and which any 

 one may have obseived in the gooseberry, apple, or pear. 



