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JOURNAL OF TILE ROYAL JlORTlCL'LTURAL SOCIL'l'^' 



INTENSIVE CULTIVATION IN IVIADEIEA. 

 By Miss Eleonoka Akmitage. 

 [Read January 25, 1910.] 



The folluwiug nccoaut of some simple fucis about ngi'icultiure and 

 econom.ic horticult-ure in Madeira is drawn from my own observations 

 during the months of January, February, and the first lialf of March, 

 1909. These notes I have named "Intensive Onh.ivalioii , " llioiigli 

 that is no doubt a term unknown to the industrious Madeira peasantry, 

 who foUow their daily occupation, week in, week out, of unremitting 

 labour in the ceaseless cycle of growth. They have the great wonder 

 of the continuity of life ever before their eyes ; and no rest do they 

 get, nor does their land get any, in this island with its mild, equable 

 climate, where irrigation supplies water at all times, even in summer 

 droughts, w^hen Nature tells the living things to rest and sestivate. 



Madeira is one of the Atlantic islands belonging to Portugal, lying 

 320 miles off the coast of Africa; Funchal, on the south, being situated 

 in lat. 32^ 37' N. and long. 17° W. It is only about thirty miles 

 long by twelve broad, but is a very steep-sided volcanic island, some 

 of the mountain-tops reaching 5000 to 6000 feet. The mountain 

 sides are seamed with many deep ravines, and all cultivation has to 

 be carried out on narrow terraces raised by hajrd labour ; these are 

 supported by rough walls from four to ten feet in height. The soil, 

 when cleared of loose stones, is a fertile volcanic earth, in some places 

 of a brilliant red colour. The mean annual rainfall of Madeira is 

 about thirty inches, most of which falls in the winter months ; snow 

 lies on and off for a couple of months on the highest mountain tops. 

 The mean winter temperature is 60^ F., with a daily variation of 

 about 10°. The winter minimum falls on but few days below 48°, 

 nor does the maximum often rise above 65°, so that vegetable life 

 goes on freely throughout the winter, aided in the drier times by 

 irrigation. 



Irrigation is one of the wonders of the island. One looks with 

 admiration at the miles and miles of " Levadas," or acjueducts, stone 

 and cement watercourses which girdle the land at varying heights : one 

 is more than seventy miles long; some are tunnelled through the 

 rock; all take their origin from the springs on the highest mountain 

 tops. The Levadas were made by vast toil of men, and are kept in 

 order by Government officials with ceaseless scrutiny and much labour 

 of repair. 



With these general conditions in view, we may now deal in detail 

 with the cultivation of the crops. 



