28 NOTES ON AGRICULTURE IN CYPRUS 



in season, part of the diet of almost every Cypriot house- 

 hold. It is now made in England and sold as " Bulgarian 

 milk " or " yaourti." It is in the form of clotted cream, 

 but if placed in a bag of fine cloth and if the whey is left to 

 drain off, it forms a thick paste, and has an excellent 

 creamy flavour, and is eaten in both cases either alone or, 

 like Devonshire cream, with stewed fruits, etc. 



Trachanas 



This is another favourite milk preparation, being a 

 mixture of " yaourti " and ground wheat made into a 

 thick paste. This is sun-dried and makes an excellent 

 soup. 



Kaintaki or Tsippa 



This much resembles Devonshire clotted cream. It is 

 the natural cream formed after boiling the milk overnight 

 and setting it in shallow pans to cool. If the boiled 

 milk is poured into the pans from a height, so as to make 

 a foam, a better result is obtained. 



V. CROPS AND OTHER PRODUCE OP THE LAND 



CEREALS 



The Messaoria plain is the principal corn-producing 

 area of the island. Wheat, barley and oats are the chief 

 cereals grown, and they are sown more or less throughout 

 the whole of Cyprus, nearly up to the summit of Troodos, 

 to an altitude of about 4,500 ft. Indian corn has been 

 cultivated for ten years or so, and is becoming more general 

 both for green food and for seed, and rye has begun to 

 make its appearance during the last few years. Dari is 

 becoming more known. 



The preparation of the land for cereals is as follows : 

 About the middle of January, when the land is soaked with 

 rain, the fallow field (veao-fj.a or vearos) is broken up, and 

 in some cases sown with a green fallow, and in March or 

 April it is cross ploughed (8t/9o\o). If the autumn rains 

 are early, the field is ploughed for a third time (**w*a) t 

 after which the crop is sown ; but if the rains are late, the 



