RYE MAIZE 35 



Rye 



Rye has only lately been introduced by the Agricultural 

 Department, but already its cultivation, though very 

 small, is extending. The dark colour of the rye loaf 

 creates some prejudice against it, but its value in cases of 

 diabetes, a common complaint in Cyprus, is greatly in its 

 favour. 



The seed is sown and cultivated here in the same 

 manner as wheat, but at the same time or even earlier 

 than barley. It is harvested by being cut and is threshed 

 on the threshing-floor. The straw is fed to animals, but 

 when threshing machines become more general the long 

 straw will become available for other purposes than cattle 

 food, e.g. in the manufacture of the native saddles 

 (" stratura "), native straw trays and native straw hats. 



Rye is also grown for green food, in the same way as 

 barley grass. 



Maize (Indian Corn) 



This crop was first introduced by the Agricultural 

 Department in 1902. Its cultivation is governed by the 

 water-supply. It is grown mostly for green food, and is 

 met with very generally throughout the Island, being 

 sown among the growing crops, e.g. louvi, sesame, cotton, 

 etc., as a wind-break or to afford shade. There was a good 

 demand for the grain for grinding during the war and the 

 meal is found to be a useful ingredient in the ordinary 

 loaf. The stems and leaves provide a welcome change of 

 food for cattle when exhausted from threshing and during 

 the dry season of the year. At the Government Farm at 

 Athalassa the stems and leaves are made into ensilage. 



Dari or Millet (Sorghum vulgare) 

 This crop is little grown, and is mostly found in the 

 Messaria and also at Paleochori, almost exclusively in 

 places irrigated by river floods. The grain is used for 

 making flour and the fresh stalks are fed to cattle. 



FRUITS 



Cyprus produces a considerable variety of fruits, the 

 chief ones exported being raisins, pomegranates, oranges 



