ples 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 satisfactor