160 ON THE PRODUCTIVE RESOURCES OF CYPRUS. 



sidering tlie great capabilities which the island possesses for the culture 

 of this important plant. It was anticipated that last year's produce 

 would be as much as 10,000 bales ; but owing to the injury sustained by 

 the plants, which were withered by the north winds, the harvest has in 

 reality fallen short of 7,000 bales, or 1,820,000 lbs. This is perhaps 

 only a twentieth part of the quantity of cotton which the island is 

 capable of producing. Under Venetian rule, Cyprus, according to 

 Mariti, exported annually as much as 30,000 bales, or 6,600,000 lb. of 

 cotton. The greater part of that now exported goes to France, by Mar- 

 seilles. 



The best time for sowing cotton is in the month of May ; of late 

 years, however, the sowing has been deferred to the end of June, and 

 even to July, in order to avoid the ravages of the locusts ; much loss is 

 caused by deferring the sowing till so late. The ground in May is still 

 soft, and better fitted for the reception of the seed than in June or 

 July, when it has become hard and dry. The cotton, too, which is 

 sown early, arrives at maturity, and is fit for picking, before the October 

 rains, which are injurious to it. It likewise arrives at a more perfect 

 state of maturity than that planted later, the autumnal heat not being suf- 

 ficiently great to open the pods, and to impart to the cotton the white, 

 soft, and silky appearance which it acquires from exposure to a greater 

 degree of heat. 



Madder-roots are a very important and an increasing produce of 

 Cyprus. The plain of Morphon. the village of Aghia Irene, and Fama- 

 gusta, are the localities where it is produced in the largest quantities, 

 though it is also cultivated in one or two other places. Its culture 

 requires the greatest care, but the profit is very great. It is planted in 

 November, January, and February, and the roots are gathered in June 

 and in December. That picked in December is the best. The madder- 

 roots produced at Irei.e are the finest, and have the richest colour ; those 

 of Morphon are the next esteemed, and afterwards those of Famagusta. 

 At Morphon and Irene the roots are in the greatest perfection three years 

 after planting, and it is then that they should be picked. At Fama- 

 gusta they are best fit for picking eighteen months after planting ; but 

 in order to obtain more rapid profits they are picked at Morphon at 

 two years, and at Famagusta one year after planting. Although the 

 madder-roots produced at Famagusta are inferior to those produced at 

 Aghia-Irene and Morphon, yet the price of madder lands at Famagusta 

 is five times greater than at the latter places ; this is owing partly to 

 the more convenient position and the larger population of the district of 

 Famagusta, and also to the greater profit obtained by the earlier growth 

 of the root. 



The best silk is produced in the district of Baffo ; it is also raised 

 at Varoschia, near Famagusta, in the district of Carpas, at Cytlircea, 

 north-east of Nicosia, and at Maratassa, in the Troodos region. The silk 

 of Baffo is chiefly yellow ; that of Varoschia and Carpas, white. The 



