CEREALS 29 



sowing is done on fields which have been cross ploughed 

 only. As a rule sowing begins after the autumn rains, and 

 may go on until January. But if rain does not come 

 before the end of October, many sow before the rain ; and 

 in many places farmers sow regularly before, i.e. without 

 waiting for the autumn rains. This sowing is called fepo/3o\a. 

 Lands flooded by a river or other running water are called 

 TTorifjia (Handbook of Cyprus, p. 154). The sowing is 

 done broadcast ; the drill is not used. 



Often, owing to want of sufficient hands and shortness 

 of time or other reasons, land which has been fallowed 

 is sown without being first ploughed up. This is called 

 efc TO 7Tp6cra)7rov, i.e. on the surface, or face of the field. 

 Again, a field which has had a corn crop is sown the next 

 autumn without ploughing ; and this is locally called 

 " on the stubble." 



It is not uncommon for the same land to be sown year 

 after year with a corn crop, with no rotation. This is 

 especially the case with the deep soils in the plains, known 

 as " kambos," as contrasted with the shallow, rocky soils 

 called " trachonas." 



At the time of harvest numbers of labourers, men 

 and women, usually arrive from Anatolia and Syria and 

 find employment in the fields. 



The threshing-floors are practically identical with 

 those of Biblical times. They are frequently paved with 

 flag-stones, but as often as not are merely levelled pieces 

 of ground. On these the sheaves are opened and spread 

 out for the threshing. The threshing-board (Sov/cdvi, or 

 Sov/cdvais) is that referred to by Virgil as tribulum (Georg. 

 Bk. i) and is merely a stout board, studded on the underside 

 with sharp flint stones (see Plate V, fig. 2). This is drawn 

 round and round over the spread-out sheaves by mules, 

 donkeys or oxen, and affords a pastime to old and young 

 during the summer months. During the process the grain 

 is separated from the straw, and the latter is bruised and 

 partly shredded, and it is the rooted belief of the Cypriot 

 farmer that only in that condition will it be relished by 

 and benefit the animals which feed on it. The straw is 

 then gradually cleared away and the grain is winnowed 

 by being thrown up in the wind with wooden shovels. 



