Part 23

Sesame Seed

The annual production in Cyprus of sesame seed (Sesamum indicum) is said to be about 195,000 okes. It is one of the recognised summer crops in the plains, and is frequently sown together in the same field with cotton, maize, etc., and in the vine villages it is sown in the newly planted vineyards, where it does well. In such cases the preparation of the soil is done on the same lines as for cotton, maize, vines, etc.

The seed is used mainly for the extraction of the oil, which is largely employed in cooking, and it is also used in the preparation of sweetmeats; it is added sometimes as a condiment in bread-making. There is a small export, principally through Egypt.

The percentage of oil extracted varies according to the locality where the seed has been produced. Of the local product, that from Paphos gives the highest yield, viz. 30 to 35 per cent.; but this is inferior to the Egyptian product, which is to some extent imported and yields 40 to 45 per cent. of oil, this being probably due to the thinner skin. The crop is uncertain. The plant is readily affected by the hot west wind ([Greek: libas]) which not infrequently blows during its period of growth. The development of the seed is thereby checked and it remains thin and small ([Greek: psalios]), and naturally the oil yield is diminished.

Ground Nut, Peanut or Monkey Nut (Arachis hypogæa)

This nut is fairly popular among all classes and is imported through Egypt in moderate quantities. There is no reason why in certain localities this plant should not be grown successfully, more especially in the light sandy soils around Varosha and at Syrianochori. Efforts have been made to induce cultivators to grow this crop, but so far it has not commended itself. It calls for something a little out of the ordinary in the way of cultivation, as the plants mature their fruits under the soil; the profit to be derived from the crop is uncertain, and is thought, though without sufficient proof, to compare unfavourably with rival crops. Growers have been somewhat deterred by the ease with which the fruit can be stolen. As this is hidden under the soil, a theft is not at once detected. These drawbacks probably explain its restricted cultivation.

Should oil-extracting machinery be introduced, these nuts might well be grown for their oil, both for culinary purposes and for use in soap-making. The residuum, after extraction of the oil, and the haulm are nutritious cattle foods.

The importation of these nuts was recently prohibited except in a roasted condition, owing to the risk of their introducing plant pests when in the raw, earth-encrusted condition. This has tended to check importation, and may perhaps give an impetus to local production. Ground nuts can be grown, of course, only where irrigation is possible.

The quantity of ground nuts imported in 1917 was 1,532 cwts., valued at £2,448. Previous to that year they were not separately enumerated.

Castor-oil Seed

The castor-oil plant (Ricinus communis) is only grown to a small extent, but the tree usually thrives well and its cultivation might be extended with advantage. According to Gennadius, Dioscorides claimed that it used to be called Seseli of Cyprus, from which the inference may be drawn that the plant has long been among the flora of the Island, where it is now known as a perennial. It grows very freely from seed and rapidly attains a height of 15 or 16 ft.; but it quickly dies back after a slight frost, though it recovers again the following year. It appears to do well in most soils, but thrives best in light loam with moderate moisture.

Owing to the demand for the oil, one or two plantations have lately been made by the Agricultural Department.

The varieties locally grown include plants producing large, medium and small-sized seed. Trial cultivations are being made to ascertain their relative values. It is found that a heavier yield of better quality is usually obtained where the plant is treated as an annual and not as a perennial. Four samples of castor seed examined at the Imperial Institute were found to contain normal amounts of oil, and similar seed would be readily saleable in the United Kingdom if offered in commercial quantities (see BULLETIN OF THE IMPERIAL INSTITUTE, vol. xvii. 1919, p. 492).

FIBRES

Cotton

During the time of the Venetian occupation (1489-1570) Cyprus exported annually from seven to fifteen million pounds of raw cotton. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the English Levant Company sent large quantities from Cyprus to England. When the scarcity of cotton occasioned by the American Civil War gave a stimulus to its growth Cyprus took part in meeting the demand, and in 1866 over 2,000,000 lb. were exported. Since then the production has declined. In former times, then, the production of Cyprus cotton must have been very large, as cotton manufactures in the Island were, as in most cotton-producing countries in the East at that period, both considerable and of choice quality. Cyprus was always distinguished for its cotton spinning. Gennadius suggests that the Karpas, which is one of the centres of the Cyprus cotton manufacture, derived its name from the ancient "karpasos," a fine cotton cloth which came from India. There is an old Hebrew word "karpas" found in the Old Testament, and derived from the Sanscrit "karpasa," cotton, or "karpasum," cotton cloth.

During the Turkish Administration cotton cultivation declined, owing to the destruction of aqueducts, Venetian wells, etc., and to the practice of taxing the cotton crop in the field before it was picked--a cause of considerable delay and detriment to the crop. Careless cultivation and consequent deterioration of the fibre as well as the general fall in value contributed to the decay of the industry. Taxing the crop in the field was abandoned in 1890, and a tithe was levied on exported cotton only (Handbook of Cyprus).

The species of cotton principally cultivated in the Island is Gossypium herbaceum. American "New Orleans" seed was introduced some twenty years or so ago, and this has now largely displaced the original native kind; in fact the native kind has almost entirely disappeared, and what little is grown is mostly used for stuffing the native bed-quilt or "paploma."

Cotton grown without irrigation is known as "dry" cotton. It is grown chiefly in the Messaorian plain and in the Karpas; it is harsh to the touch and short in staple, but of satisfactory colour. "Wet" cotton is grown on irrigated land; it is usually of larger staple and of finer quality than the "dry" cotton and commands a higher price. This is grown mainly round about Kythrea, Nisou, Dali, Lapithos and in the Solea valley. Native cotton is always grown "dry"; the ordinary American variety is grown both "wet" and "dry."

The Karpas cotton, which is "dry" grown, is inferior not only on account of its shorter staple, but on account of the method of picking. In some places of Messaoria, at Dali, Nisou, etc., the "dry" and sometimes the "wet" cotton is picked in the morning before the dew has quite evaporated, and it is picked direct from the growing plant. But the most general practice is for the villagers to cut the bolls early in the morning before the dew is evaporated ([Greek: pornê]), transport them to the houses and then remove the lint at their leisure. In this way the bolls are more or less crushed and the lint when removed contains a mixture of husk, leaves, etc.

In the case of native and other varieties the lint of which adheres to the boll, the husks, leaves, etc., are removed from the bolls in the following way: The bolls are spread out on mats to dry in the sun; when sufficiently dry the bolls are put in a rotary sieve made of reeds and sticks, similar in make to the ordinary reed baskets of the country. Each end of the sieve is closed, but it has an opening in the middle, about 1 by 1-1/2 to 2 ft., which is closed by a small reed mat. The sieve is about 5 to 6 ft. long and 2 to 2-1/2 ft. in diameter. The bolls are dropped into the sieve through the opening and it is then revolved by hand by means of an axle which passes through it longitudinally. By this means most of the crushed husks and leaves fall through the interstices of the sieve.

The native seed is usually grown on dry lands as it withstands drought. The "wet" cotton is mostly of the American variety.

Professor Wyndham Dunstan, F.R.S., in his Report on the Agricultural Resources of Cyprus (1905), referred to the successful trials made with "Sea Island," "Peterkin," "Truitt's Big Boll," "Culpepper Big Boll," and "Allen's Long Staple." Since then other varieties have been tried by the Agricultural Department, and while "Allen's" and "Truitt's" have continued to do well, good results have been obtained from "Triumph" and "Durango," both of which are early kinds and are therefore very suitable to the Island. A report by the Imperial Institute on samples of "Allen's Improved," "Mebane's Early Triumph" and "Sakellaridis" cottons grown experimentally in Cyprus in 1915 will be found in the BULLETIN OF THE IMPERIAL INSTITUTE (vol. xv. 1917, p. 298).

Owing to fear of locusts, late sowing (about May-June) became rather general. This is a dangerous practice as the bolls ripen late and much cotton is spoilt by the early autumn rains. It is mostly sown broadcast or in trenches; on irrigated land it is mostly sown in the ridges, but the older practice of sowing broadcast still, unfortunately, continues.

"Dry" cotton is usually sown either on land which can be irrigated by a river when in flood, or in "livadhia" or low-lying lands which retain their moisture a long time. In the former case the seed is sown about March-April, while the soil is still damp from rain water or from river overflow. It is generally expected that when the young plants are fairly established a second irrigation from flood-water may occur. In the "livadhia" the seed is sown later. "Wet" cotton is watered about every fortnight.

The crop begins to be collected in mid-September and continues up till the end of October. "Dry" cotton is rarely manured; "wet" cotton occasionally. The use of chemical manures is coming into practice. There are several ginning machines in the Island, but baling by hydraulic presses is done almost exclusively at Larnaca.

In the Island the cotton seed is used for sowing and for feeding cattle. The exports of cotton seed have been:

Year. Quantity. Value. Cwts. £