Sometimes goats are turned in to nibble off the
shoots in order to save labour, and at the same time to feed the
animals; they of course damage the vines, but the Cypriote thinks the
system pays. The young vines are never staked and tied as in Europe, but
are allowed to take their chance, and the heavy bunches in many
instances rest upon the dusty ground.
There is seldom rain after May, but a few showers are favourable at this
particular season when the young bunches are in blossom. In the best
vineyards attention is given to clearing away the weeds after rain, but
usually the vines are left to nature after the grapes have formed, as
the hot sun and drying wind are sufficient to keep down adverse
vegetation.
The grapes ripen towards the middle or end of August. The commanderia
grapes are collected and spread upon the flat mud-plastered roofs of the
native houses, and are exposed for several days, until they show
symptoms of shrivelling in the skin, and the stalks have partially
dried: they are then pressed. By this time many of the grapes that have
been bruised by this rough treatment have fermented, and the dust and
dirt of the house-top, together with flies and other insects, have
adhered to the impure heap. It has been imagined by some travellers that
the grapes are purposely dried before pressing; on the other hand, I
have been assured by the inhabitants that their only reason for heaping
and exposing their crop upon the house-tops is the danger of leaving it
to ripen in the vineyard.
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