"قبرص." [ظ‎‎٤‎٧] (١٨٤/٩٤)

88 CYPRUS.
Bee*.
Cyprus for
merly well-
Tvooded.
the plants did not ripen until late in the year, and at times the
bolls did not open at all, from want of sufficient heat in the
autumnal season. It is stated that now the cotton may be sown
early in May, and so there is full time for the plant to come to
maturity before the end of the summer.
Drs. Unger and Kotschy devote the whole of Chapter VIII, of
their joint work upon Cyprus to an account of the ravages of
locusts in the island; the German authors, Seiff and Von Ldher
also describe their depredations.
It appears that the young locusts are hatched about the end of
March, and a fortnight later they commence hopping and creeping
westward, destroying every leaf as they pass it; by the end of
April their wings are fully developed, and the work of devastation
commences, fields of corn are devoured to the very roots, and
fruitful gardens entirely laid waste. In August, the eggs are
deposited, and shortly afterwards the insects die. The spots where
the eggs are laid can easily be detected by a shiny viscous matter,
with which the locusts soften and cover the earth in which they are
placed. Every female lays two or three eggs, and each of these pro
duces on an average about 30 locusts, the egg being in fact an
agglomeration of small eggs bound close together in a small oblong
mass. A simple and very effective method of destroying locusts,
was hit upon by a large land owner, M. Mattel. He observed that
the insects could not ascend smooth surfaces, and that even when
fully winged they were compelled to seek the earth at short
intervals, and continue their progress by creeping and hopping;
so he caused several rows of ditches about 2^ feet deep to be dug at
right angles to the line of flight, and on the further side of these,
screens of linen, oilcloth, &c., were erected. The locusts on trying to
scale the screens generally fell back in masses into the ditches, where
they were either covered with earth, or shovelled out, thrown into
sacks, and buried in other spots. Those that surmounted the first
screen, were generally stopped by the second, and in no case cleared
the third. This plan was the means of destruction of enormous
quantities of locusts, and it was adopted all over the island ; both
Seiff and Von Ldher testify to its merits.
Bees are kept in great numbers in many parts of the island ;
I)r. Clarke mentions the large number of hives which he saw at a
village called Attien (probably Athienou) ; Von Ldher notices
that there were quantities on the slopes below Buffavento. It is
stated, however, that there has been but little encouragement to the
peasantry to keep bees, for the honey is generally demanded by the
governor, so that an apiary may be considered as merely an additional
tax.
WOODS AND FORESTS.
From ancient writers we learn that when Cyprus was first
colonized, the whole country was covered with forests, which were
in certain places cleared by the Phoenicians for the double purposes
of opening out ground for cultivation, and using the timber as fuel