times. They are frequently paved with flag-stones, but as often as not
are merely levelled pieces of ground. On these the sheaves are opened
and spread out for the threshing. The threshing-board ([Greek: doukani]
or [Greek: doukanais]) is that referred to by Virgil as _tribulum_
(Georg. Bk. 1) and is merely a stout board, studded on the underside
with sharp flint stones (see Plate V, fig. 2). This is drawn round and
round over the spread-out sheaves by mules, donkeys or oxen, and affords
a pastime to old and young during the summer months. During the process
the grain is separated from the straw, and the latter is bruised and
partly shredded, and it is the rooted belief of the Cypriot farmer that
only in that condition will it be relished by and benefit the animals
which feed on it. The straw is then gradually cleared away and the grain
is winnowed by being thrown up in the wind with wooden shovels. The
grain is then heaped up and left until measured by the tithe official.
With the grain is also collected the sweepings of the threshing-floor,
and the percentage of the foreign substances mixed with the grain varies
from 5 to 15 per cent. There are a few winnowing machines and it is
hoped that they will come into more general use as soon as they can be
imported.

At Athalassa all cereal crops are reaped and threshed by machinery.

A good many reaping machines were imported by the Agricultural
Department some years ago for resale to the farmers, and there is a very
fair demand. This procedure has not been permitted for some years, and
the work fell into the hands of an English merchant who has succeeded in
placing a few machines every year. The country is ready to employ these
and other agricultural machines, but the farmers need guidance in the
choice of a machine and are reluctant to place orders through native
merchants, who may not know the best types to supply and whose profits
they fear to be exorbitant. If they could procure these through the
medium of the Agricultural Department they would be encouraged to make
considerable purchases. The loss of grain on the "aloni" alone may be
gauged by the current opinion that each pair of oxen consumes, while
threshing, one kile of grain per day. Much damage is often caused by hot
westerly winds at the time when the grain is just forming.

In the absence of any law to prevent the adulteration of cereals,
dishonest practices are very frequent. A common method of adulteration