Page:Christian Greece and Living Greek.djvu/246

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

224 CHRISTIAN GREECE AND LIVING GREEK. science, her army contenting itself with the rifle of large bore. Ever since the acquisition of the three ironclads, the question of their supplemen- tary armament has been dragging on, but it has not been solved for economical reasons. The development of the currant trade was one of the first outward signs of the freedom of Greece. In 1820 there were produced four thousand tons, but the Turks persistently de- stroyed the plants. The production has since steadily increased: 1830, 8,900 tons; 185 1, 40,- 510 tons; 1861, 42,759 tons; 1871, 81,374 tons; 1881, 124,826 tons; 1891, 167,000 tons. The last-named quantity was worth to Greece 70,000,000 francs in gold. The olive-trees form the most familiar feature in Greek landscape. Thus it was of old and thus it continued to be till Ibrahim Pasha cut down two-thirds of the trees. No sooner had the Greeks gained independence than they be- gan to plant' olives ; in 1834 there were 2,300,000 trees, in i860 370,000 stremmata with olive- trees, in 1887, 1,742,154 stremmata. A little more knowledge of wine culture, and a great deal more attention to scientific wine- making ought to lead to a very extensive in- crease in the export of wine, as Greece can cer-