77 



English plough is not suitable for this rocky soil, 

 and the tillers of the land reject with a smile more 

 costly and highly finished implements. 



The harrow is also of a most original type, and 

 not unfrequently branches of trees are dragged over 

 the fields as a substitute. A large hoe is often em- 

 ployed, and in rocky soils the pickaxe is found use- 

 ful. The land is never permitted to lie fallow, and 

 the marvellous patient industry of the Maltese far- 

 mer overcomes all natural obstacles, and wins from 

 the soil a return of from 12 to 40 or even sixty- 

 fold. Wheat, the harvest of which suffices for 3 

 or 4 months' consumption is sown every alternate 

 year with barley and clover, in November, and is 

 reaped in June. Barley ripens a month earlier. Cot- 

 ton, melons, cumrnin, sesame, etc., follow. If any 

 signs of exhaustion of the soil appear, peas, beans, 

 maize, etc., are substituted for barley. Melons de- 

 generate in Malta. Dr. Gulia introduced the Can- 

 taloupe of Paris with but slight success, but has 

 succeeded in naturalizing the Cantaloupe of Valpa- 

 raiso in the Botanic Garden, the second year's seeds 

 being as good as those originally imported. The 

 crimson flowering Sulla or clover adds greatly to 

 the beauty of the landscape. It is the French hon- 

 ey-suckle or Hedysarium coronarium, grows to the 

 height of from three to five feet, and produces 

 about 190,000 loads per annum. The Economico- 

 Agrarian Society, which was re- organized by the late 



