Harvest
“The farmers in Levkas (Lefkada) dedicate themselves exclusively to agriculture and very little to ranching because the island does not have enough pasture. The two main crops are olives and grapes. Cereals are not grown much here, especially because the great demand for wine between 1878 and 1890 led many fields to be dedicated to grapevines. Farmers work and save a lot and, since the lands they have are not enough for crops, they go to nearby towns on the continent and plant cereals there. Due to the fertile earth, they earn enormous benefits from these rental contracts.
The most important crop on the island is grapes followed by olives; third, Corinthian raisins; fourth, cereals (corn, wheat, flax, oats, etc.); and, fifth, fruits in summer and autumn, including apples, pears, figs, plums, cherries, apricots, etc. A lot of quince is also exported to Greece, Egypt and Trieste. The Saint Mary plain is also better for potatoes than on Corfu and Volos, but the amount produced is barely enough to meet the region’s demands. In sixth place are lentils which are grown in Karya (Livadi) and Enkluvi (Kampos) valleys. These lentils, called mikrosperma, earned a prize at the Athens 1888 Expo.
It’s difficult to determine the amount of different types of trees grown. We can calculate that there are approximately 500,000 olive trees. These are followed in terms of quantity by almond or fig trees, cypresses, pear and wild pear trees, apple, cherry, plum, peach and apricot trees. These are then followed by quince and walnut trees and Ziziphus lotus shrubs and almost all other fruit trees such as medlars, oranges, bitter oranges, lemons, tangerines, mulberries, etc. Decorative trees grown in gardens include: willows, acacias (thorn trees), large numbers of plane trees, cypresses, pine trees and also palm trees.”
