The Chief Industry Of Modern Times Which Adds To The Importance Of
Kythrea, Is The Production Of Silk, From The
Great abundance of
mulberry-trees which supply the necessary food for the silkworms; but it
has suffered to a considerable
Degree, in common with most silk-growing
districts in Cyprus, by the want of foresight of the producers; these
people have within the last few years sold the seed in such extravagant
quantities to the traders of Beyrout as to leave the island with a short
supply. The result of this sacrifice for the sake of ready money is a
serious reduction in the general produce, and in many portions of the
island the mulberry-trees are flourishing without a silkworm to feed
upon them. The thirty-two flour-mills of Kythrea are worked by a fall of
400 feet between the head-water of the spring to the base of the lowest
mill at the foot of the mountains. It appeared to me that much water is
wasted by an absence of scientific control. A series of reservoirs would
store the excess during the hours when the mills are idle (similar to
the mill-ponds in England), but as there is no municipal law upon this
important subject, the all-important stream is much neglected. There is
a general demand for grinding-power throughout Cyprus; the corn is
brought from great distances to the mills of Kythrea at a considerable
expense of transport; I have met droves of mules laden with wheat and
barley on their way from Larnaca, to which distant spot they would again
return when their loads should have been reduced to flour.
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