Part 25

The wool is of moderate quality; this is partly due to the breed of sheep and partly to the conditions under which they are kept. Attempts have been made by the Agricultural Department to impress on the native breeders the necessity of keeping the sheep well fed, and experiments have been carried out at the Athalassa Experimental Farm for the purpose of demonstrating the advantages of careful rearing.

Two fleeces from the Athalassa Farm were sent to the Imperial Institute in May 1912, for examination and commercial valuation. One was the fleece of a yearling ram. This was clean, fairly soft and almost white. The other was the fleece of a yearling ewe. This was clean, slightly harsh and almost white, but was slightly coarser than that of the ram.

These fleeces were considered by a firm of London brokers as an excellent class of carpet wool and likely to meet always with a ready sale in the London market (see BULLETIN OF THE IMPERIAL INSTITUTE, vol. x. 1912, p. 537). A similar opinion was expressed immediately before the war (July 1914) by a London firm to whom two bales of Cyprus wool had been sent, of which a part had been purchased in the bazaar and washed and trimmed by the Department and part came from the Athalassa (Government) flock. It was considered as "an ideal wool for carpet making or for blankets, but deficient in lustre for braids."

The actual yield per sheep, viz. 3 to 3-1/2 lb., compares unfavourably with that of Lincolns, which they most closely resemble. This is due partly to breed, but largely also to the conditions under which the sheep are kept (see p. 17).

Hemp

The cultivation of hemp (Cannabis sativa) is practically confined to the southern part of the Paphos district, and there only in places where the water-supply is ample. The plant is grown only for fibre, which is exclusively used for rope-making, which is carried out by hand by the villagers round about Ktima. It would be of advantage to have a rope-making machine at work at a spot centrally situated in the area of production. A simple hand-worked machine is now being experimentally used and will, it is believed, turn out a better class of rope.

The plant grows well on fertile and irrigated lands. Farmyard manure, and specially sheep manure, are generally applied, and chemical fertilisers are now also coming into use.

Harvesting takes place when the plants begin to turn pale. The plants are uprooted, not cut, and are made up into sheaves tied together at the butt end only. The bundles are not more than 2-1/2 spans round, and of equal size. When first uprooted the sheaves are placed flat on the field in rows to dry and in such zig-zag fashion that the top end of one sheaf is always made to rest on the butt end of another, and thus does not come into contact with the ground: this ensures the circulation of air and hastens the drying process. The sheaves are taken later to the threshing-floors, where they are stood upright until they are dry. The seed is separated by beating. The sheaves are exposed to the sun until the leaves are shed, and when the stems are entirely dry the bundles are tied up at both ends and are taken to the retting-place, which is usually the common stone tank or cistern of the country. There they are steeped in water for six to nine days. The bundles are generally covered by about one foot of water. On the sixth day the fibre is tested. If it separates easily the bundles are removed, if not they remain for another two or three days. This requires much care and experience, as the quality depends largely upon effective retting. Then they are taken out of the water and sun-dried, being piled up into pointed shooks, left hollow in the centre.

The fibre is separated by means of a wooden implement locally called "melidjia." This consists of a wooden trough placed on two legs which are fixed in the ground. A wedge-shaped piece of wood which is hinged to the trough at one end is used as the beater. The hemp stalks, after the butts are cut off, are placed in the trough and the beater worked up and down so as to split the stalks and lay bare the fibre.

The average production of fibre per scala is 60 to 80 okes, but where conditions are all favourable it may reach 160 to 200 okes and the seed yield may be anything from 80 to 200 okes per scala.

Silk

The silkworm (Bombyx mori) finds in Cyprus a climate exceptionally favourable to its development, and Cyprus silks have been famous for their quality throughout the middle ages and as far back as the sixth century A.D., when Greek monks first introduced silkworms from China.

In the fateful year 1845, when the disease pebrine nearly destroyed the silk industry of Europe, the anxious search for healthy silkworm eggs that then ensued led Arabs from Syria to visit Cyprus and buy large quantities of silk cocoons from which they raised and exported the eggs. At that time, therefore, it is evident that Cypriot moths were well thought of. Pebrine soon reached Cyprus and almost brought the Island breed to an end. Thanks, however, to the Pasteur system, whereby pebrine and other silkworm diseases have been brought under complete control, the industry both here and elsewhere was not only saved but has been considerably developed.

Writing in 1896 Mr. P. Gennadius, late Director of Agriculture, Cyprus, stated that the local production of silkworm eggs was so small that it could not be taken into consideration, and from the figures then given the total average annual production at that time is estimated to have been 35,000 okes of dry cocoons. This represented an average yield of only 3-1/2 okes of dry cocoons, equal to 15-1/2 kilograms of fresh cocoons, per ounce of silkworm eggs. This compared very unfavourably with the average annual production of fresh cocoons in France and Italy at that time, which was 35 kilograms and 30 kilograms respectively per ounce of silkworm eggs. Moreover, this ratio had been, up to that period, on a descending scale.

In a report published in 1897 Mr. Gennadius attributed this unsatisfactory state of things to the following causes:

1. The importation of cheap silkworm eggs of inferior quality; the average price paid by merchants was 2 to 2-1/2 francs per ounce, while the price in France ranged from 9 to 12 francs.

2. The action of merchants who imported larger quantities of eggs than they could properly dispose of.

3. The ignorance and folly of rearers who undertook to rear far more worms than they could properly "educate," having regard to space, leaves and labour.

In 1908 the Department of Agriculture set to work, with some success, to improve the methods of rearing up to that time in vogue, and during the six years ending 1913 (inclusive) the average annual quantity of eggs hatched out was 12,319 oz., the average annual export of "dry" cocoons was 45,551 okes, and the average annual estimated local consumption 4,449 okes, making a total annual production of 50,000 okes, as against 35,000 okes in 1896. The former total represents an average yield of about 4 okes of "dry" cocoons, equal to about 18 kilograms of fresh cocoons per ounce of seed, and marks a slight improvement upon the ratio of eighteen years previously.

Since 1914 this branch of work has received a larger share of attention from the Department. Five sericultural stations have been established, regulations have been issued, inspections by qualified persons have been systematically made, practical advice has been given to rearers in the matter of cleanliness, disinfection and so forth, the granting of licences to egg-raisers has been put on a better footing and the whole industry has been brought more under observation and control.

Numerous suggestions have been made from time to time for insuring that only a good quality of egg shall be imported. As an effective--perhaps the most effective--means to this end, the Department of Agriculture has set itself to improve the production of local eggs and thus indirectly discourage their importation: holders of licences to raise eggs are required to pass periodical examinations; several have in consequence had their licences cancelled, new licensees have been added, and many unlicensed persons have been prosecuted and convicted for illegally raising eggs.

The common method of hatching practised by villagers, by placing the eggs tied in cloth with a little cotton-wool in their beds or by carrying them on their persons, still prevails, but it is gradually yielding to a better system of incubation. The Department has designed a simple, inexpensive hatching-box, and these are now being used with good results.

Until about three years ago probably 25 per cent. of the local rearers were producing their own seed without any microscopical examination at all. Bad feeding, bad ventilation, ill-adapted premises were general. As a consequence pebrine and flacherie played such havoc that many people were beginning to abandon silkworm rearing and uproot their mulberry trees. The expansion and increased resources of the Agricultural Department happily came just in time to check this backward move.

Silk reeling is unfortunately done in the most primitive manner with wooden appliances and hot water by village hand labour. The locally reeled silk is used only for Island consumption and the great bulk of cocoons is exported in the raw state, mostly to Lyons and Milan. The burden of freight on this bulky cargo is naturally a heavy handicap and the local silkworm rearers have consequently to be content with very low and inadequate prices for their cocoons. During the reeling process 20 to 25 per cent. of the silk is lost, and a further loss is incurred during weaving owing to the numerous knots having to be cut away and the silk threads rejoined.

A considerable loss is said to take place in selling cocoons in the European markets. The cocoons on arrival at Marseilles are subjected to official tests and sold according to the reports made by the official testers. It is of advantage to the buyers that the report should be made as unfavourable as possible as the price is lowered proportionately, and it is felt that the cocoons exported are thus placed too much at the mercy of the testing officials.

These Cyprus cocoons are reeled in France and Italy and the silk is largely sold to England. It would be to the mutual benefit of England and Cyprus if a direct demand for Cyprus reeled silk could be created and modern reeling plant introduced into the Island. A large sum of money, now annually paid for freight, would thus be saved to the Cypriot producers, which would stimulate the local industry and tend to increase greatly the annual production and improve the local weaving of silk stuffs, an industry which has already gained considerable fame and at which the Cypriot women are adepts.

As the following table shows, the amount of raw silk exported is a negligible quantity, but a fairly large quantity is locally reeled and is used in making the silk stuffs which are so much sought after in the local bazaars:

__________________________________________________________________ Export of cocoons. | Export of | Export of raw silk | cocoons waste. | ------------------------------------------------------------------- Year.|Okes.|Country.|Okes.|Country.|Okes.|Country._ -------------------------------------------------------------------