Pitiusas

On the fertile plains which can be watered with the help of a noria, the so-called Turkish wheat is grown. Not only do its grains represent healthy food for man; its stems and leaves are also happily eaten by donkeys and mules. The yield from this cereal’s harvest is very variable, though never abundant.

In other similar areas, cotton is also cultivated, growing perfectly on Ibiza. Though its harvest offers much better results than expected, it has not spread much nor has it been cultivated constantly; rather, it has depended on demand from continental markets.

In light of the enormous drop in the price of cotton this year (1868), many plantations have been abandoned; as such, the next harvest will seemingly be insignificant.

Tobacco was grown on the island to a lesser extent until 1866. The annual harvest would produce up to approximately 500 quintales ( hundredweights) on average, but a governmental decree put an end to this crop.

The noria consists of a vertical wheel which pulls up water in recipients made of clay, wood or a type of reed. Its crossbeams fit with the other, smaller horizontal wheel which has a pole attached and to which an animal is tied to push. When circling and making the smaller wheel turn, the large vertical wheel moves the buckets which fill with water down below. The animals used for this purpose tend to be mules, though donkeys do not do poorly if they are strong. At any rate, the animal’s eyes are covered with two discs made from palm tree leaves to keep them from getting dizzy from so much circling.

Archduke Ludwig Salvator of Austria. Las Baleares por la palabra y el grabado. Primera parte: Las Antiguas Pitiusas. Ed. Sa Nostra, Caja de Baleares. Palma de Mallorca. 1982