Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1847-05-12
Mexican Agriculture, sc.

81 s go 5Au0Ai0aH ShStiVuituASs WV
/, A correspondent of the st. Louis Repub- ,
liean gives the following description of the :
agricultural implements in Mexico, which
WIZ doubtless be interesting to the farmers
9 sallntF tFy.hy showins what taiseras
BILE tools Mexican can work with. Bet
low we copy some of these descriptions, as
the manner in which they SOW their grain: ,
PLOws, HARRows, AND SOWING WHEAT.
Riding on the tenth of December, up the
valley in which Parras is situated, came
to field where they were sowing wheat.
The sower was sowing the wheat broad
cast on the unplowed ground. Twenty
three plows followed each other on the same
land, plowing the wheat in. A contrivance
for harrow levelled the ground after the
plows. Eoch plow was drawn by two oxen.
The plows were the same pattern used by
the Romans two thousand years since.
They were made of the fork Of a small
tree, one prong of which answered for the
beam, and was cut long enough to fasten
the oxen to; the other was cut off about
four feet long, and sharpened at the end,
and single stick fastened into the fork
and projecting back, made the handle
This was the whole plow-locE, stock, and
! barrel. When forked tree cannot be
found, the short stick is morticed into the
long one. The short prong was the coul-
Iter-the long one the beam. This was
fastened by raw-hide thong to the OK
yoke, which, in turn, was fastened in front
of, and to the horns of the oxen, by anoth-
er raw-hide thong. The handle was held
by person who was armed in the other
hand with a long pole with sharp goad in
the end of it, which he unsparingly plung-
ed into the oxen to quicken their speed, or
to change their direction.
Some Of the better plows have the coul-
ter shod with piece of iron, resembling n
bull tongue, eight inches long, and taper
ing from thence to two inches at the point.
This is the greatest improvement made up
on the plow.
The ground is never thoroughly broken
, up, and is only scratched into burrows few
inches deep. Efforts have been made to
introduce better plows, and some have been
brought from the United States. But the
' Mexicaps did not like to use them They
> were soon broken or thrown aside as USE
less, because no one would plow with them.
The harrow was as simple contrivance
as the plow, and consisted ofa singl stick of
;, square timber, the size of q joist, fastened
in two places with raw-hide rope to keep
= it square to the front, and drawn by a
= yoke OF oxen to level the ground
CORN MILLS, HOES, AXES, AND oX-CARTs.
:, The metate or stone corn mill, used for
4 preparing toriilias, are the same article
= that was used by the Indians at the first
conquest of Mexico.
g Their hoes are clumsey, rough machines
q decidedly meaner than the meanest hoe ir
q old Virg ginia-and that is as bad a charac
ter as know how to give them.
). Their axes are long and clumsy, will
"a blades about three inches wide, and resem
), bling the upper part of pickaxe or grub
70 bing hoe. 1t looks remarkable that they
ID should ever be able to peck n tree dow
q with one. The great superiority of the A
Of merican axe is so evident, that some tev
% venturesome persons have commenced tn
use Of them.
A Mexican cart is the most unique of al
Va their inventions. 1t has not piece oliro
i in it or about it. 1t is constructed entirel
Il, of wood and raw-hide. The axeltree is
- rough hewed log rounded at the ends. Th
n. wheels are made Of knotty live oak, tw
f. feet and q half through the hub, and trim
- med down to seven inches in the treaC
no Two slabs of the same width are pinned
to the center piece, to give rotundlty to tn
ou wheel.
~ A heavy tongue is mortised into the axl'
or and has wooden pin inserted through II
~ upper end, by which to fasten it to Il
yoke. The body is made of wooden poll
IS inserted into round saplings eight feet lon
%od % This is used for hauling wood, &c. Whe
they wish to haul corn, corn stalks are pl
ro ced across the wooden poles and lasht
% tightly to them with strips of raw hid
%, When wheat or shelled corn is to be ca
;, rled, they line the inside Of the stalk b.
,ur with mating made of the pal'niIla, whi'
;th resembles The material of which gunr
of bags are made. >
on ~ The OK yoke is a piece of timber fl
~ inches wide and three inches thick, slight
- S indented near each end. This is tied
~ ~ front of, and across the horns, with q pe'
sn' sn of tough raw.hde. Another piece faste
,lv M the yoke tightly to the tongue of the ca
~: sr second yoke Of cattle is usually iasten
to the cart.
on The driver moves along by the side
the cart, sometimes on foot and sometlm
on an ugly illnatured mustang, with a lo
, to OK goad in his hand. He uses this We
and freely, and when he wishes to "file let'
he pops his goad into the off OK, who scre