Rice is grown in the marshy plains of Elis, Boeotia, Marathon and Missolonghi; beet in Thessaly. The cultivation of vegetables is increasing; beans, peas and lentils are the most common. Potatoes are grown in the upland districts, but are not a general article of diet. Of late years market-gardening has been taken up as a new industry in the neighbourhood of Athens. There is a great variety of fruits. Olive plantations are found everywhere; in 1860 they occupied about 90,000 acres; in 1887, 433,701 acres. The trees are sometimes of immense age and form a picturesque feature in the landscape. In latter years the groves in many parts of the western Morea and Zante have been cut down to make room for currant plantations; the destruction has been deplorable in its consequences, for, as the tree requires twenty years to come into full bearing, replanting is seldom resorted to. Preserved olives, eaten with bread, are a common article of food. Excellent olive oil is produced in Attica and elsewhere. The value of the oil and fruit exported varies from five to ten million francs. Figs are also abundant, especially in Messenia and in the Cyclades. Mulberry trees are planted for the purposes of sericulture; they have been cut down in great numbers in the currant-growing districts. Other fruit trees are the orange, citron, lemon, pomegranate and almond. Peaches, apricots, pears, cherries, &c., abound, but are seldom scientifically cultivated; the fruit is generally gathered while unripe. Cotton in 1906 occupied about 12,500 acres, chiefly in the neighbourhood of Livadia. Tobacco plantations in 1893 covered 16,320 acres, yielding about 3,500,000 kilograms; the yield in 1906 was 9,000,000 kilograms. About 40% of the produce is exported, principally to Egypt and Turkey. More important are the vineyards, which occupied in 1887 an area of 306,421 acres. The best wine is made at Patras, on the royal estate at Decelea, and on other estates in Attica; a peculiar flavour is imparted to the wine of the country by the addition of resin. The wine of Santorin, the modern representative of the famous “malmsey,” is mainly exported to Russia. The foreign demand for Greek wines is rapidly increasing; 3,770,257 gallons were exported in 1890, 4,974,196 gallons in 1894, There is also a growing demand for Greek cognac. The export of wine in 1905 was 20,850,941 okes, value 5,848,544 fr.; of cognac, 363,720 okes, value 1,091,160 fr.

The currant, by far the most important of Greek exports, is cultivated in a limited area extending along the southern shore of the Gulf of Corinth and the seaboard of the Western Peloponnesus, in Zante, Cephalonia and Leucas, and in certain districts of Currants. Acarnania and Aetolia; attempts to cultivate it elsewhere have generally proved unsuccessful. The history of the currant industry has been a record of extraordinary vicissitudes. Previously to 1877 the currant was exported solely for eating purposes, the amounts for the years 1872 to 1877 being 70,766 tons, 71,222 tons, 76,210 tons, 72,916 tons, 86,947 tons, and 82,181 tons respectively. In 1877, however, the French vineyards began to suffer seriously from the phylloxera, and French wine producers were obliged to have recourse to dried currants, which make an excellent wine for blending purposes. The importation of currants into France at once rose from 881 tons in 1877 to 20,999 tons in 1880, and to 70,401 tons in 1889, or about 20,000 tons more than were imported into England in that year. Meanwhile the total amount of currants produced in Greece had nearly doubled in these thirteen years. The country was seized with a mania for currant planting; every other industry was neglected, and olive, orange and lemon groves were cut down to make room for the more lucrative growth. The currant growers, in order to increase their production as rapidly as possible, had recourse to loans at a high rate of interest, and the great profits which they made were devoted to further planting, while the loans remained unpaid. A crisis followed rapidly. By 1891 the French vineyards had to a great extent recovered from the disease, and wine producers in France began to clamour against the competition of foreign wines and wine-producing raisins and currants. The import duty on these was thereupon raised from 6 francs to 15 francs per 100 kilos, and was further increased in 1894 to 25 francs. The currant trade with France was thus extinguished; of a crop averaging 160,000 tons, only some 110,000 now found a market. Although a fresh opening for exportation was found in Russia, the value of the fruit dropped from £15 to £5 per ton, a price scarcely covering the cost of cultivation. In July 1895 the government introduced a measure, since known as the Retention (παρακράτησις) Law, by which it was enacted that every shipper should deliver into depots provided by the government a weight of currants equivalent to 15% of the amount which he intended to export. A later law fixed the quantity to be retained by the state at 10%, which might be increased to 20%, should a representative committee, meeting every summer at Athens, so advise the government. The currants thus taken over by the government cannot be exported unless they are reduced to pulp, syrup or otherwise rendered unsuitable for eating purposes; they may be sold locally for wine-making or distilling, due precautions being taken that they are not used in any other way. The price of exported currants is thus maintained at an artificial figure. The Retention Law, which after 1895 was voted annually, was passed for a period of ten years in 1899. This pernicious measure, which is in defiance of all economic laws, perpetuates a superfluous production, retards the development of other branches of agriculture and burdens the government with vast accumulations of an unmarketable commodity. It might excusably be adopted as a temporary expedient to meet a pressing crisis, but as a permanent system it can only prove detrimental to the country and the currant growers themselves.

In 1899 a “Bank of Viticulture” was established at Patras for the purpose of assisting the growers, to whom it was bound to make advances at a low rate of interest; it undertook the storage and the sale of the retained fruit, from which its capital was derived. The bank soon found itself burdened with an enormous unsaleable stock, while its loans for the most part remained unpaid; meantime over-production, the cause of the trouble, continued to increase, and prices further diminished. In 1903 a syndicate of English and other foreign capitalists made proposals for a monopoly of the export, guaranteeing fixed prices to the growers. The scheme, which conflicted with Anglo-Greek commercial conventions, was rejected by the Theotokis ministry; serious disturbances followed in the currant-growing districts, and M. Theotokis resigned. His successor, M. Rallis, in order to appease the cultivators, arranged that the Currant Bank should offer them fixed minimum prices for the various growths, and guaranteed it a loan of 6,000,000 dr. The resources of the bank, however, gave out before the end of the season, and prices pursued their downward course. Another experiment was then tried; the export duty (15%) was made payable in kind, the retention quota being thus practically raised from 20 to 35%. The only result of this measure was a diminution of the export; in the spring of 1905 prices fell very low and the growers began to despair. A syndicate of banks and capitalists then came forward, which introduced the system now in operation. A privileged company was formed which obtained a charter from the government for twenty years, during which period the retention and export duties are maintained at the fixed rates of 20 and 15% respectively. The company aims at keeping up the prices of the marketable qualities by employing profitably for industrial purposes the unexported surplus and retained inferior qualities; it pays to the state 4,000,000 dr. annually under the head of export duty; offers all growers at the beginning of each agricultural year a fixed price of 115 dr. per 1000 Venetian ℔ irrespective of quality, and pays a price varying from 115 dr. to 145 dr. according to quality at the end of the year for the unexported surplus. In return for these advantages to the growers the company is entitled to receive 7 dr. on every 1000 ℔ of currants produced and to dispose of the whole retained amount. A special company has been formed for the conversion of the superfluous product into spirit, wine, &c. The system may perhaps prove commercially remunerative, but it penalizes the producers of the better growths in order to provide a livelihood for the growers of inferior and unmarketable kinds and protracts an abnormal situation. The following table gives the annual currant crop from 1877 to 1905:—

Year.Total crop
(tons).		Exported to
Gt. Britain.		Exported to
France.
187782,181..881
1878100,004..9,086
187992,311..19,087
188092,337..20,999
1881121,994..30,315
1882109,40351,93326,282
1883114,98052,09924,815
1884129,26859,62939,198
1885113,28755,76537,730
1886127,57048,89245,000
1887127,16055,54937,438
1888158,72863,71440,735
1889142,30852,25169,555
1890146,74967,50237,816
1891161,54570,76239,712
1892116,94460,41821,721
1893119,88673,0006,800
1894135,50064,50015,000
1895167,69560,50026,500
1896153,51465,0006,500
1897115,73063,0002,000
1898153,51469,5006,000
1899144,07165,6003,800
190047,23636,000300
1901139,82058,0001,216
1902152,58058,4004,782
1903179,49954,8004,470
1904146,50058,850820
1905162,95761,7001,042

The “peronospora,” a species of white blight, first caused considerable damage in the Greek vineyards in 1892, recurring in 1897 and 1900.

More than half the cultivable area of Greece is devoted to pasturage. Cattle-rearing, as a rule, is a distinct occupation from agricultural farming; the herds are sent to pasture on the mountains in the summer, and return to the plains at the Stock-farming. beginning of winter. The larger cattle are comparatively rare, being kept almost exclusively for agricultural labour; the smaller are very abundant. Beef is scarcely eaten in Greece, the milk of cows is rarely drunk and butter is almost unknown. Cheese, a staple article of diet, is made from the milk of sheep and goats. The number of larger cattle has declined in recent years; that of the smaller has increased. The native breed of oxen is small; buffaloes are seldom seen except in north-western Thessaly; a few camels are used in the neighbourhood of Parnassus. The Thessalian breed of horses, small but sturdy and enduring, can hardly be taken to represent the celebrated chargers of antiquity. Mules are much employed in the mountainous districts; the best type of these animals is found in the islands. The flocks of long-horned sheep and goats add a picturesque feature to Greek rural scenery. The goats are more numerous in proportion to the population than in any other European country (137 per 100 inhabitants). The shepherds’ dogs rival those of Bulgaria in ferocity. According to an unofficial estimate published in 1905 the numbers of the various domestic animals in 1899 were as follows: Oxen and buffaloes, 408,744; horses, 157,068; mules, 88,869; donkeys, 141,174; camels, 51; sheep, 4,568,151; goats, 3,339,439; pigs, 79,716. During the four years 1899-1902 the annual average value of imported cattle was 4,218,015 dr., of exported cattle 209,321 dr.

The forest area (about 2,500,000 acres or one-fifth of the surface of the mainland) is for the most part state property. The value of the forests has been estimated at 200,000,000 fr.; the most productive are in the district extending from the Forests. Pindus range to the Gulf of Corinth. The principal trees are the oak (about 30 varieties), the various coniferae, the chestnut, maple, elm, beech, alder, cornel and arbutus. In Greece, as in other lands formerly subject to Turkish rule, the forests are not only neglected, but often deliberately destroyed; this great source of national wealth is thus continually diminishing. Every year immense forest fires may be seen raging in the mountains, and many of the most picturesque districts in the country are converted into desolate wildernesses. These conflagrations are mainly the work of shepherds eager to provide increased pasturage for their flocks; they are sometimes, however, due to the carelessness of smokers, and occasionally, it is said, to spontaneous ignition in hot weather. Great damage is also done by the goats, which browse on the young saplings; the pine trees are much injured by the practice of scoring their bark for resin. With the disappearance of the trees the soil of the mountain slopes, deprived of its natural protection, is soon washed away by the rain; the rapid descent of the water causes inundations in the plains, while the uplands become sterile and lose their vegetation. The climate has been affected by the change; rain falls less frequently but with greater violence, and the process of denudation is accelerated. The government has from time to time made efforts for the protection of the forests, but with little success till recently. A staff of inspectors and forest guards was first organized in 1877. The administration of the forests has since 1893 been entrusted to a department of the Ministry of Finance, which controls a staff of 4 inspectors (ἐπιθεωρῆται), 31 superintendents (δασαρχοί), 52 head foresters (ἀρχιφύλακες) and 298 foresters (δασυφύλακες). The foresters are aided during the summer months, when fires are most frequent, by about 500 soldiers and gendarmes. About a third of these functionaries have received instruction in the school of forestry at Vythine in the Morea, open since 1898. Owing to the measures now taken, which include excommunication by the parish priests of incendiaries and their accomplices, the conflagrations have considerably diminished. The total annual value of the products of the Greek forests averages 15,000,000 drachmae. The revenue accruing to the government in 1905 was 1,418,158 dr., as compared with 583,991 dr. in 1883. The increase is mainly due to improved administration. The supply of timber for house-construction, ship-building, furniture-making, railway sleepers, &c., is insufficient, and is supplemented by importation (annual value about 12,000,000 francs); transport is rendered difficult by the lack of roads and navigable streams. The principal secondary products are valonea (annual exportation about 1,250,000 fr.) and resin, which is locally employed as a preservative ingredient in the fabrication of wine. The administration of the forests is still defective, and measures for the augmentation and better instruction of the staff of foresters have been designed by the government. In 1900 a society for the re-afforesting of the country districts and environs of the large towns was founded at Athens under the patronage of the crown princess.

Tons.Francs.
Chrome8,900337,952
Emery6,972742,486
Gypsum1857,995
Iron ore465,6223,387,467
Ferromanganese89,6871,182,652
Lead (argentiferous pig) ore13,7296,811,792
Lignite11,757143,814
Magnesite43,498864,982
Manganese ore8,171122,565
Mill stones12,62834,660
Salt25,2011,638,065
Sulphur1,126121,000
Zinc ore22,5622,852,355

The chief minerals are silver, lead, zinc, copper manganese, magnesia, iron, sulphur and coal. Emery, salt, millstone and gypsum, which are found in considerable quantities, are worked by the government. The important mines Mines. at Laurium, a source of great wealth to ancient Athens, were reopened in 1864 by a Franco-Italian company, but were declared to be state property in 1871; they are now worked by a Greek and a French company. The output of marketable ore in 1899 amounted to 486,760 tons, besides 289,292 tons of dressed lead ore. In 1905 the output was as follows: Raw and roasted manganese iron ore, 113,636 tons; hematite iron ore, 94,734 tons; calamine or zinc ore, 22,612 tons; arsenic and argentiferous lead, 1875 tons; zinc blende and galena, 443 tons; total, 233,300 tons, together with 164,857 tons of dressed lead, producing 13,822 tons of silver pig lead containing 1657 to 1910 grams of silver per ton. It has been found profitable to resmelt the scoriae of the ancient workings. The total value of the exports from the Laurium mines, which in 1875 amounted to only £150,513, had in 1899 increased to £827,209, but fell in 1905 to £499,882. The revenue accruing to the government from all mines and quarries, including those worked by the state, was estimated in the budget for 1906 at 1,332,000 dr. The emery of Naxos, which is a state monopoly, is excellent in quality and very abundant. Mines of iron ore have latterly been opened at Larimna in Locris. Magnesite mines are worked by an Anglo-Greek company in Euboea. There are sulphur and manganese mines in the island of Melos, and the volcanic island of Santorin produces pozzolana, a kind of cement, which is exported in considerable quantities. The great abundance of marble in Greece has latterly attracted the attention of foreign capitalists. New quarries have been opened since 1897 by an English company on the north slope of Mount Pentelicus, and are now connected by rail with Athens and the Peiraeus. The marble on this side of the mountain is harder than that on the south, which alone was worked by the ancients. The output in 1905 was 1573 tons. Mount Pentelicus furnished material for most of the celebrated buildings of ancient Athens; the marble, which is white, blue-veined, and somewhat transparent, assumes a rich yellow hue after long exposure to the air. The famous Parian quarries are still worked; white marble is also found at Scyros, Tenos and Naxos; grey at Stoura and Karystos; variegated at Valaxa and Karystos; green on Taygetus and in Thessaly; black at Tenos; and red (porphyry) in Maina.

The official statistics of the output and value of minerals produced in 1905 were as in the preceding table.