The First Question To The Cultivator Would Be, "What Reforms Do You Yourself Suggest?" He Replies, "Fix An Annual Rate

Per donum, and leave us free to send our wine wherever we choose, without the abominable vexations and delays caused

By the present arbitrary system; let the tax per donum include every charge for which we shall be liable: we shall then know at once the limit of our liability." I cannot see any practical difficulty in such an arrangement; a highway rate might be an extra when the roads should be completed. A small export duty at the various ports would become a material source of increase to the revenue when the wine trade became invigorated and extended by government encouragement, and although such a duty would indirectly affect the grower in the price which the merchant would pay for the new wine, it would be a collateral tax that would not be felt individually.

Unless the present oppressive system shall be abolished the wine trade of Cyprus will languish, and an industry that may be profitably extended to an important degree will share the fate of a commercial and agricultural depression which has resulted from the vague conditions of the British occupation, and from which no recovery can be expected until confidence in the future prospects of the island shall be established.

CHAPTER XI.

FROM LIMASOL TO THE MOUNTAINS.

The barley harvest was in active operation, and the fields around our camp were crowded with men, women, and children, all hard at work, but producing small results compared with an equal expenditure of European labour. Their sickles were large and good, but a great proportion of the crops were either broken off by hand or were dragged out by the roots, and the earth that adhered was carelessly dusted off by a blow against the reaper's boots. In this dry climate there was no necessity for piling the sheaves, but the small bundles were at once laden upon donkeys and also conveyed in the two-wheeled carts to the threshing- ground, upon which it would remain until valued for taxation by the government official. In the dry atmosphere of Cyprus, Syria, Egypt, &c., the straw breaks easily, and beneath the sharp flints of the ancient threshing-harrow in present use is quickly reduced to the coarse chaff known as "tibbin," which forms the staple article of food for horses and all cattle. Taking advantage of the numbers of people congregated in the fields, some itinerant gipsies with a monkey and performing bears were camped beneath the caroub-trees, about half a mile from our position. The bears were the Syrian variety. Throughout Cyprus the gipsies are known as tinners of pots and makers of wooden spoons, which seems to be the normal occupation of their tribe throughout the world; they have also a character for a peculiar attachment to fowls and any other small matters that belong to private individuals which may be met with during their wanderings.

The beans of the caroub-trees were already large, and promised a good crop in spite of the dry weather. The roots of these evergreens penetrate to a great depth, and obtain nourishment from beneath when the surface soil is perished by drought. I have never seen a caroub overthrown by the wind, although the extremely large head that is at all seasons covered with leaves must offer a great resistance. The fruit of this tree (Ceratonia siliqua) is already an important export from Cyprus, and if the cultivation is encouraged there can be no doubt of an enormous extension of the trade. The tree is indigenous to the island, but in its wild state is unproductive; it simply requires grafting to ensure a crop. The wild young trees are generally transplanted into the desired positions, and then grafted from the cultivated species, but there is no reason why they should not be grafted in situ. The olives, which are also indigenous, might be treated in a similar manner to render the crown-lands productive, which are now mere jungles of shrubs and trees in their natural state. I shall reserve further remarks upon this subject for a chapter specially devoted to "Woods and Forests."

The caroub at present commands an extensive market. The fruit is usually known commercially as the "locust-bean;" the taste is a compound of treacle and Spanish liquorice, and would generally be appreciated by children, monkeys, pigs, and cattle. The Cassia fistula of Ceylon resembles it somewhat in flavour, but the Ceratonia siliqua is free from the medicinal properties of the former tree. Since the government monopoly was abolished in 1827 the trade has received an impetus, and this extension due to freedom is an example to our present government in their relations to the oppressive system connected with the wine trade.

According to the consular reports the crop of 1872 was about 10,000 tons, which sold free on board at 4 pounds 10 shillings per ton. At that time the chief purchaser was Russia, and the locust-beans were exported to various positions upon the Black Sea. In 1875 England became a large consumer, and I believe the well-known "Thorley's Patent Food for Cattle" contains a considerable amount of this nutritive substance. The influence upon the market of a demand from England raised the exports in 1875 to 18,000 tons. A fluctuation took place in 1876, and although the crop was deficient, the prices fell to 2 pounds 13 shillings 6 pence per ton free on board. This reaction was probably due to the large stocks on hand in England, purchased at a high rate, from 4 pounds 10 shillings to 5 pounds per ton, which had driven Russian competition out of the market; therefore the 1876 gathering found but few purchasers. In 1877 the yield was 13,500 tons, and the price rose from 2 pounds 13 shillings 6 pence to 3 pounds 5 shillings and at length to 4 pounds per ton, free on board.

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