74 



CHAPTER XI. 



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AGRICULTURE AND PRODUCTIONS. 



Maltese Soil. Cotton, Land Tenure, and Agricultural 

 Implements. Corn, Sulla, and Potatoes. Carouba Trees, 

 Fruits and Vegetables. Figs, Oranges, Grapes, etc. 



IT is fortunate for the agriculturist that the 

 Maltese islands are composed of soft rocks which 

 readily disintegrate. Still farming in Malta and Gozo 

 is a battle and victory of labour. The 114 square 

 miles comprised within the insular area are partly 

 barren rock, and in many respects a geographical 

 riddle. Cultivation has asserted its sway over 54,716 

 acres, the remainder being sterile rock. Ow r ing to 

 the absence of trees and shrubs, the soil of Malta, 

 which is most erroneously said to have been im- 

 ported from Sicily, contains but little vegetable 

 matter. Plenty of rich alluvial earth which has 

 been washed down from higher levels by the semi- 

 tropical rains is found in the valleys. In other 

 places the surface rock has been removed, and 

 the fragments built up into walls to hinder the 

 washing away by the rains of the earth, which is 

 found below the surface rock in beds of not more 

 than a foot or eighteen inches in thickness. Many 



