Many Portions Of
Valuable Land Were Chilled And Rendered Fruitless By Too Much Water,
Which Remained In The Ground For Want Of The Most Simple Drains.
I shot
plenty of snipe in the fields of barley, although they were not supposed
to be under irrigation.
M. Mattei is well known as the largest landed
proprietor in Cyprus, and the representative of agricultural progress;
but his bailiff at Kuklia could hardly have expected a prize at an
exhibition, although every facility exists for creating a perfect
model-farm. The springs which supply the water-power were discovered in
three different positions about three miles distant. The usual chains of
wells (already described) were sunk, and at a convenient spot they
converged into a single line, until a lower level introduced the channel
to the surface. The water was then received into a stone aqueduct, and
led with great judgment in a half circle beneath the higher ground which
was occupied by the village, at a level which not only enabled it to
command the extensive flats beneath, but eventually passed beyond the
village, and turned an overshot wheel of more than twenty feet diameter.
This great work was at the sole expense of the proprietor. After a
considerable outlay and perfect success in the engineering, it is to be
regretted that greater care is not bestowed upon the land; although the
gardens contain a mass of fruit-trees, large groves of figs, and relieve
the eye by their cheerful aspect, only enough has been attained to
exhibit the great power that exists for producing a still greater
abundance under proper administration.
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