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National Geographic : 1919 Jun
Contents
THE AZORES when the cattle graze in the fields, the rent is based upon the alqueire ; but in summer, when they are driven to the hills, where the land is not measured, the charge is based upon the size of the herd. The men who attend to the milking go up into the hills in the evening, where they sleep in caves, in order to round up the cows early in the morning and milk them. The milk is then taken to town in large tin cans packed on burros. Fields of broad beans and lupine are everywhere in evidence. These products are used as fertilizers. Walls of lava stone divide the green fields into small squares, giving the hills a characteristic checkered appearance. IOTHOUSES HEATED BY FERMENTATION Formerly, oranges were the principal article of export, and in 1872 300,000 boxes were shipped abroad, representing a value of about $500,000. From that time on the orange industry gradually declined, as oa result of the destruction of the trees by disease, and agriculturists turned their attention to the growing of pineapples. The first pineapples were grown in a small town, Livramento, but now the principal centers are Ponta Delgada and Villa Franca. The fruit is not planted in fields, as in the warmer climates of Mex ico and Central America, but carefully nursed in hothouses, without artificial heat. To produce the necessary heat, beds of special fermenting material are made. The hothouses, approximately 40 by 90 feet, face north and south and contain as many as 3,000 plants. The young pine apples need replanting, and therefore several hothouses are used before the fruit is ready for market. In the first house the earth is prepared by covering a heavy layer of small branches with soil that has been previ ously used. This is turned over and watered. The young plants are placed about a foot apart and covered with a layer of loamy soil. After being carefully watered, they are allowed to remain undisturbed for about 12 weeks. When they appear above the ground the glass roofs are covered with a coat of whitewash to soften the light of the sun. The plants are transplanted to the sec ond hothouse after they have reached a height of about six inches. The beds in the second hothouse consist of three lay ers, the bottom one being old soil that has been used in the hothouse; the second, new earth; and the top, a thoroughly rotted hothouse soil. The plants are placed two feet apart and allowed to grow until they are one foot high. Then follows the interesting process of smoking the plants. This method is the result of an accidental discovery. Years ago the furnace in one of the hothouses began to smoke and filled the entire house with fumes. The planter believed that his crop was ruined, but discovered later, to his surprise, that all his plants not only matured more quickly, but also simultane ously. Since then it has been learned that pineapples requiring several years to ma ture under the old system will show signs of bearing forty days after being smoked, and then mature more evenly. The furnaces used for smoking are filled with green grass or foliage and allowed to smoke three nights in succession. The plants mature in about one year from the time of planting. The average cost of producing one pine apple, packed for export, is about 24 cents. While this is expensive, the fruit is remarkably free from all fibrous sub stances. The pineapples are packed in ex celsior and shipped to England on fruit boats devoted especially to this trade. The pineapples raised in St. Michaels sell for four and five shillings apiece in London. A GREAT WINE COUNTRY The second great industry of St. Michaels is the manufacture of wine. It sometimes happens that the crop is so great that there are not enough pipes on the islands to hold the wine, and growers have to build special cement tanks. Several kinds of sweet and sour wines are manufactured, but that most widely used is a red wine (vinho de cheiro). It contains a very small percentage of alco hol and has a rich grape flavor. A liter of this pure wine is sold for 60 reis, or about five cents in American currency. It is almost impossible to become intoxi cated on this "vinho de cheiro," and 533
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