3 o NOTES ON AGRICULTURE IN CYPRUS 



The grain is then heaped up and left until measured by 

 the tithe official. With the grain is also collected the 

 sweepings of the threshing-floor, and the percentage of 

 the foreign substances mixed with the grain varies from 

 5 to 15 per cent. There are a few winnowing machines 

 and it is hoped that they will come into more general use 

 as soon as they can be imported. 



At Athalassa all cereal crops are reaped and threshed 

 by machinery. 



A good many reaping machines were imported by the 

 Agricultural Department some years ago for resale to the 

 farmers, and there is a very fair demand. This procedure 

 has not been permitted for some years, and the work fell 

 into the hands of an English merchant who has succeeded 

 in placing a few machines every year. The country is 

 ready to employ these and other agricultural machines, 

 but the farmers need guidance in the choice of a machine 

 and are reluctant to place orders through native merchants, 

 who may not know the best types to supply and whose 

 profits they fear to be exorbitant. If they could procure 

 these through the medium of the Agricultural Department 

 they would be encouraged to make considerable purchases. 

 The loss of grain on the " aloni " alone may be gauged by 

 the current opinion that each pair of oxen consumes, while 

 threshing, one kile of grain per day. Much damage is 

 often caused by hot westerly winds at the time when the 

 grain is just forming. 



In the absence of any law to prevent the adulteration 

 of cereals, dishonest practices are very frequent. A 

 common method of adulteration is to mix with the grain 

 the joints of the straw which are cut during the process 

 of threshing and separated when winnowing. These are 

 often sprayed with water in order to increase both bulk 

 and weight. The moisture is absorbed by the grain, which 

 thereby swells and is made to look bigger. 



Under the Seed Corn Law of 1898 the Government 

 make advances of seed wheat, barley, oats and vetches to 

 cultivators under an agreement to repay in kind after 

 harvest a quantity of grain equivalent to the amount of 

 seed so advanced, together with an addition of one-fourth 

 of the quantity so advanced, by way of interest. 



