Many thousands of carob plants are annually raised in the Government gardens and issued at a trifling charge. The common method of propagation has been to sow the seeds in pots, and when the plant is from 18 in. to 2 ft. high it is ready for transplanting. The seed, which is very hard, is softened by placing it in a cauldron or saucepan of cold water. The water is then brought to the boil. On arriving at boiling-point the water is cooled and should then be changed and the seed left to steep for twenty-four hours. Owing to the long tap root, sowing in ordinary nursery beds has not been satisfactory, as the plants, which certainly make better growth than in pots, do not transplant well.
The foregoing methods have to a great extent been superseded by that of germinating the seed in damp sand and sowing direct in the field in properly prepared holes. Little watering is needed if the holes are deep and the soil kept friable. A top mulch is useful to conserve the moisture.
Transplanting from pots or beds is best done when the plants are twelve months old and about 12 in. high, after that it is precarious. Grafting may be done as soon as the stem is thick enough to take a graft, either before or after transplanting.
The tree is liable to attack by insects and other pests. Scale (Aspidiotus ceratoniæ) is very common; but the greatest damage of late years has been caused by the fly Cecidomyia ceratoniæ, which lays its eggs on the flowers or newly-set fruit, and the grub feeds on the bean, causing it to become stunted and of no commercial value. This stunted condition is locally known as "brachycarpia" and has been the subject of careful scientific study and practical treatment by the Agricultural Department during the last few years. Very satisfactory results have been recorded from the campaigns, which have so far been limited to the Kyrenia District, and these have justified the extension of compulsory treatment to other infected areas. This and other pests, such as Myelois ceratoniæ, Cossus liniperda (a lepidopterous boring insect), a species of Mycetiasis, and a small hymenopterous fly which has lately appeared and is now under investigation, have, no doubt, checked production. The attacks of Cecidomyia, when serious, reduce the yield by 80 per cent. or over, and normally may lessen it by 40 to 50 per cent.
Much damage is also caused by rats (Mus alexandrinus), which gnaw the bark of the branches, causing them to dry up. Their destruction is encouraged by Government by the payment of 1 cp. per tail.
Carob gathering commences about mid-August and lasts for about a month. The beans are knocked down with long sticks, put into sacks and brought into store, or heaped up in the open air, where they often remain for several weeks. This is a safe procedure, as there is little rainfall at that season, and what might fall would not harm the beans, which would quickly dry again.
It is not easy to estimate the yield per donum of carob trees, but assuming that the trees were planted 30 ft. apart, and there were 16 medium-sized trees to the donum, the yield would average somewhere about 1,260 okes to the donum. The yield varies from year to year, a good year generally being followed by a moderate year. The fruit may be destroyed by frost in January and February, knocked off by hail-stones in March and April or scorched by hot winds in May or June. A full-sized, well-cultivated tree can give up to 720 okes. Taking good and bad years, the value of the annual produce of a medium-sized tree is 5s.
Carobs are sold by the Aleppo cantar of 180 okes, and the normal price may be put at from 13s. to 17s. per cantar delivered into store.
Carobs are weighed on export and the tithe is taken in money from exporters at the Customs House.
The following table shows the export of carobs during the ten years ending 1913-14: