Agriculture.
The cultivation of the country appears to be in a very primitive condition, and owing to the lightness and fertility of the soil but slight labour is required in producing the necessary crops. The cultivable surface of the island is estimated at 2,500,000 acres, of which not more than 130,000 acres are under tillage. The annual average yield of corn is said not to exceed 120,000 quarters, and we are told that the disposal of the whole has been a monopoly between the Turkish mulasallin and the Greek archbishop, who either export or retail it at an arbitrary price. The vegetation resembles that of the other islands of the Mediterranean. There is no meadow land, but a great deal of waste, which is either quite bare, or only covered with heather and aromatic plants.