Five years ago several thousand Sultana vines were imported by the Agricultural Department from Crete, and these have now become fairly well distributed over the Island and the produce is beginning to appear in the market. These dried sultanas in 1918 sold for as much as 4s. per oke.
Three years ago the following varieties of table vines were imported from England by the Agricultural Department:
Black Hamburg
Alicante or Black Tokay
Canon Hall Muscat
Lady Hastings
Royal Muscadine
Muscat of Alexandria
These are now being acclimatised, and it is hoped gradually to distribute a large number of grafts.
Vine cultivation covers an area of about 140,000 donums and is in the hands of some 15,700 vine growers.
Owing to defects of planting the vines of Cyprus do not in most cases begin to bear fruit before the third or fourth year, while, if modern methods were adopted, they would bear fruit in their second year and attain their full growth in their fourth year.
What is known as the "willow-head" system of pruning has been very general, with consequently poor results. Better methods have long been inculcated and are now being more and more adopted. Manuring is but rarely practised and ploughing is confined to lightly turning the surface soil with a wooden plough, and this not every year. On the higher slopes of the mountains terracing is common and necessary.
Grape mildew (Oidium Tuckeri) is prevalent in nearly all the vine areas. Other diseases and pests of the vine met with are anthracnose, pourridié, Septosporium Fuckelii, cuscute, Cochylis, Zygæna ampelophaga and Pyralis. Happily the stringent regulations which for many years have been in force prohibiting the importation of any kind of living plant have resulted in keeping the Cypriot vineyards free from the scourge of phylloxera.
Sulphuring has become more general of late years. The Government has done much to bring this about, and for fifteen years or more has imported sufficient sulphur from Sicily, which has been placed in the hands of village store-keepers and sold at a fixed price by the Agricultural Department. This has never more than exceeded the bare cost and more often has been issued at half cost and in times of distress even gratis.
The vine-owners have been stimulated by the recent high prices for wines to expend more time and money on this operation. The ignorant prejudice against the effectiveness of sulphur as a cure for grape mildew has to a great extent died out. False ideas of economy alone prevent its general use.