Part 19

Much damage is also caused by rats (Mus alexandrinus), which gnaw the bark of the branches, causing them to dry up. Their destruction is encouraged by Government by the payment of 1 cp. per tail.

Carob gathering commences about mid-August and lasts for about a month. The beans are knocked down with long sticks, put into sacks and brought into store, or heaped up in the open air, where they often remain for several weeks. This is a safe procedure, as there is little rainfall at that season, and what might fall would not harm the beans, which would quickly dry again.

It is not easy to estimate the yield per donum of carob trees, but assuming that the trees were planted 30 ft. apart, and there were 16 medium-sized trees to the donum, the yield would average somewhere about 1,260 okes to the donum. The yield varies from year to year, a good year generally being followed by a moderate year. The fruit may be destroyed by frost in January and February, knocked off by hail-stones in March and April or scorched by hot winds in May or June. A full-sized, well-cultivated tree can give up to 720 okes. Taking good and bad years, the value of the annual produce of a medium-sized tree is 5s.

Carobs are sold by the Aleppo cantar of 180 okes, and the normal price may be put at from 13s. to 17s. per cantar delivered into store.

Carobs are weighed on export and the tithe is taken in money from exporters at the Customs House.

The following table shows the export of carobs during the ten years ending 1913-14:

Year. Quantity. Value. Tons. £ 1904-05 31,887 104,301 1905-06 26,187 85,105 1906-07 44,965 157,452 1907-08 42,381 151,610 1908-09 57,010 188,841 1909-10 44,059 157,972 1910-11 37,485 145,590 1911-12 51,359 182,883 1912-13 63,658 251,750 1913-14 44,989 179,027

The falling-off in 1913-14 was mainly due to the losses caused by the fly Cecidomyia ceratoniæ.

The fruit of the carob is exported mostly to England, but also to France and Egypt, and more recently, before the war, to Germany. Gaudry mentions that about the middle of last century it was exported to Russia, Sardinia and Austria. Some is used, in Egypt and the Levant especially, as food for the poorer classes and for making sweets and sherbets. Its chief use in Western Europe is as food for animals, bovine and equine, for which purpose it is ground up and made into either meal or cattle cakes. It is also said to be employed in the manufacture of chocolate and spirit, and there is a demand for the seed for use in the manufacture of certain gums.

The juice of the bean, "carob honey," locally called "mavromelos," "teratsomelo" or "betmezi," is consumed as a substitute for bee-honey or jam and also as a flavouring for culinary purposes. From the carob honey is also made the sweetmeat "pastelli."

At one time carobs were used in Cyprus for fattening mules and other animals, but, unfortunately, this practice died out. Efforts are now being made to revive it, and the advantages of this local product are again becoming recognised.

The carob contains some 50 per cent. of saccharine matter and the interesting question has been raised in recent years as to whether the bean might not become a new source of sugar production.

Lucerne (Medicago sativa)

This plant was introduced about eighteen years ago, but in spite of its undoubted success when properly grown on suitable soil, the Cypriot farmer was for many years very slow to make use of it. Every effort has been made of late years to encourage its cultivation and during the last three or four years there has been a steadily increased demand for seed. Irrigation is necessary in order to obtain a satisfactory yield, but there are many farms where it might be grown with great advantage. Its value for cattle food is generally recognised, and now that greater attention is being given to dairy cattle, lucerne would seem to have an assured future.

Vetch (Vicia Ervilia)

This plant, known locally as "rovi," is undoubtedly the most widely grown of the fodder crops. Being a leguminous plant, it has a restorative action on the soil, although the average Cypriot farmer still considers it to be exhaustive.

In the plains sowing begins in January, whereas in the Pitsillia, and even in the Morphou, Solea and Tylliria districts which are only at the foothills, it is sown in October-November, i.e. before the cereals.

Rovi is almost the only food in the form of seed given to ploughing oxen throughout the East. It is regarded as heat-giving and strengthening, and is therefore fed specially in winter. It is sometimes given unthreshed with the straw. It is harvested in May, when it is uprooted, made into little bundles, which are stacked together in small heaps in the field, until they turn yellow, when they are removed to the native threshing-floor and threshed in the customary manner. The dry stems, etc., are eagerly eaten by cattle and sheep. The average yield is very little, from 2 to 4 or 5 kilés per donum. It is subject to tithe.

Chickling Vetch (Lathyrus sativus)

The chickling vetch, known locally as "favetta" or "chavetta," has come rather more into prominence of late years, displacing the vetch (Vicia Ervilia) to some extent, as it gives a heavier yield. It is subject to tithe.

Vetch (Vicia sativa)

This crop, called locally "vicos," was introduced from Crete in 1913 and has been found excellently suited to this country. It is most useful in any rotation, and has to some extent supplanted rovi (Vicia Ervilia) as it gives a larger yield. It is a most nutritious cattle food, for which purpose it is grown. When crushed and mixed with chopped straw it is readily eaten by cattle and sheep. The plant seeds itself very freely. It is sown about November-December and is ready for harvesting in about April. Seed is sown at the rate of 5 to 6 okes per donum and the yield is normally from 8 to 12 kilés per donum. It is a good drought-resister and needs no irrigation, and being a leguminous plant should be cut and not pulled up, as the roots left in the soil serve to increase the amount of nitrogenous salts. Being a vetch it is subject to tithe.

Tares (Vicia tenuifolia var. stenophylla)

This plant, locally called "mavracheron" or "phakacheron," grows wild in the Pitsillia district among the vineyards and other cultivated as well as uncultivated lands. It is of value in those remote localities where grain and straw are little grown and difficult to procure, as it provides a wholesome fodder for cattle. The villagers have now taken to cultivating the plant. It is cut before the seeds are fully matured to prevent loss of seed through shedding. The seeds and chaff are mixed together when fed to cattle.

Milk Vetch (Astragalus)

This plant, locally called "arkokoutsia," grows wild in some abundance among the hills. When it appears above ground it is readily eaten by animals, especially sheep; but at this stage it is apt to cause hoven. As the plant hardens the animals do not touch it, except when fully ripe, and then it is greedily eaten.

As soon as it blossoms, but before the fruit is set, the plant is gathered and tied into bundles or small sheaves and stored in a heap. When, after a few months, it is quite dry, and at a time when other foods are scarce, it forms an important part of an animal's ration.

The plants are sometimes allowed to mature their seeds, and these, after being steeped in water for two or three days to remove acidity, are given to pigs, and are considered a nourishing and palatable food.