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._
-------------------------------------------------------------------

1909 |41,013 |France | 2,120 |France | 6 |Turkey
1910 |44,550 | " | 1,105 | " | 259 | "
| | | | | 157 |Egypt
1911 |57,422 | " | 2,704 | " | 246 |Turkey
| | | | | 70 |Egypt
1912 |43,196 | " | 2,571 | " | 90 |Turkey
| | | 70 |Turkey | 3 |Greece
1913 |48,884 | " | 2,502 |France | 118 |Turkey
___________________________________________________________________

Efforts have been made by the Agricultural Department to improve the
Cypriot race of silkworms. Two races of white colour, the Japanese and
the Baghdad, have been separately crossed with the yellow race of
Baghdad. These crossings began in 1912-13 and have been continued up to
the present. The objects aimed at are to establish a new Cypriot race
(_a_) giving good cocoons of a fine structure and larger in size than
the French variety and yielding a maximum quantity of silk; (_b_)
producing c