Caroub.--This Tree Has Already Been Described, But Although Not Valuable
As Timber, Owing To The Short Length Of Its Trunk, It Should Receive The
Special Attention Of The Government, As Its Produce Should Be Extended
To The Utmost Limit Of The Capabilities Of The Island.
If the wild trees
were grafted wherever they are met with, whole forests would quickly be
produced with a
Minimum of labour, and vast tracts of rocky soil,
worthless for other cultivation, would be brought into value, at the
same time that the surface would be covered with the much desired
vegetation.
Tremithia.--The wood of this tree is of no value, but the berries are
used as a substitute for olive-oil; as it grows in large quantities as a
shrub, simply because it is not allowed the chance of arriving at
maturity, it is to be hoped that a few years of forest supervision will
add this shady and highly-ornamental tree to the list of those common to
the island. The arbutus, myrtle, and the mastic are trees of so small a
growth that they cannot be classed with "Woods and Forests."
One of the first acts of the British administration was a stringent
prohibition against the felling of any tree throughout Cyprus, or the
cutting of any wood for the burning of charcoal. This law for the
preservation of woods and forests extended to trees upon PRIVATE
PROPERTY OF INDIVIDUALS!--thus the owner of a garden could not cut down
one of his own caroub-trees if they were too thickly planted; or if he
required a piece of timber for making or repairing his water-wheel. An
act for the protection of crown forests was highly necessary, but no
laws are of value unless the machinery exists for enforcing them, and at
the present moment the stringent enactment against the destruction of
trees may be evaded like any of the Ten Commandments, because there is
absolutely no staff, nor special officers for the supervision of woods
and forests. This important subject requires a separate department, and
nothing can be more simple if administered by persons qualified by
education for the development of trees suitable to the island. The
poverty of the local government, owing to the miserable conditions of
our tenure, which send the cream to Turkey, and suckle the necessary
staff upon the thin skimmed-milk, does not permit the real improvement
of the forests. It is simply ridiculous to make laws without the active
weapons to enforce authority; we may as well rest satisfied with the
game laws in England and dismiss our keepers, as prohibit the cutting of
wood in Cyprus without supervising the forests by a staff of foresters.
If the words "Thou shalt not steal," even from a divine command, were
sufficient to prevent felony and petty larceny, it would be folly to
incur the expense of police; but we know that practically all laws must
be upheld by force, represented by the authorised guardians of the
state. At this moment in Cyprus the law proclaims, "Thou shalt not cut a
tree," while practically you may cut as many as you like in the mountain
forests, as there is no person authorised to interfere with your acts.
Some miserable offender may be pounced upon in his own garden, near one
of the principal towns, where the law SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN ENFORCED,
as interfering with the individual rights of private property; but in
the situations where the prohibition is of the first importance, there
is literally not an officer or man to prevent the usual depredations.
Why? The answer must be accepted. There is no money, and we cannot
afford an independent department of "Woods and Forests." If the country
is to continue in this slip-shod form it is a disgrace to England.
There is time to save the forests from absolute destruction, and in my
own opinion, before anything is done beyond the necessary roads and
irrigation loans, every possible attention should be concentrated upon
the protection and development of forest-trees.
The position at this moment is as follows. Throughout the entire
mountain range there are not 5 per cent. of pines free from mutilation.
The whole of Troodos, and the mountain districts from near Lithrodondo
to as far west as Poli-ton-Khrysokus, are naturally adapted for the
growth of pines and cypress, which love the soil of the plutonic rocks,
and drive their roots deep into the interstices, deriving nourishment
where nothing else would thrive. Upon the highest altitudes there is not
a dwarf shrub to cover the surface of the loose coffee-coloured rocks,
where in the winter the snow accumulates to a depth of twenty feet, yet
there we find the pines and cypress in their greatest vigour; but even
to these solitary heights the Cypriote has penetrated with his unsparing
axe, and has created a desolation that must be seen to be understood.
There is no sight so exasperating as this uncalled-for destruction; it
is beyond all belief, and when the amount of labour is considered that
must have been expended in this indiscriminate attack upon forest-trees
THAT ARE LEFT TO ROT UPON THE GROUND where they have fallen, the object
of the attack is at first sight inconceivable. The sight of a mountain
pine-forest in Cyprus would convey the impression that an enemy who had
conquered the country had determined to utterly destroy it, even to the
primaeval forests; he had therefore felled, and left to rot, the greater
portion of the trees; but finding the labour beyond his means, he had
contented himself with barking, ringing, and hacking at the base of the
remainder, to ensure their ultimate destruction.
The extreme heights of Troodos, shoulders and head, are about 6300 feet
above the sea, from which altitude the pines and cypress descend to
within 1500 feet of the level. There are rough native mule-paths
throughout the mountains, and the sure-footed animals will carry a man
with ease where walking would be most fatiguing, owing to the loose
rocks and smaller stones, which cover every inch of the surface.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 98 of 140
Words from 99492 to 100520
of 143016
