The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1871-04-14
Industry Under the POrte-HOw Turks
and Work.

very small proportion to the rest OF the
population-the great mass of the peo'
pie drawing their livelihood from the
cultivation of the soil. Agricultural
operations, says ChamberS'S journal, are
carried on in two ways. In one, and
that the more common. the laborer is a
sort of partner in the other he works
for wages in cash and kind. Agricultu-
raj laborers of the first class are termed
Ortakdjis; they pay all costs of cultiva-
ton, and perform, with the aid of their
families, all the necessary labor; the
farm-owner finding seed, and providing
stabling and house-rocm. The produce
(reaping, threshing and winnowing
over is equally divided the Ortakdjis
part of the bargain being fulfilled when
the landlords share has been carried to
the granary. If the proprietor finds
oxen for blowing, the laborer's share is
reduced to two fifths. Sometimes he
gets half an acre of land for his sole use
and profit, in return for such extra SER
vices as drawing wood and taking the
farm produce to market. Sometimes
landlord prefers accepting fixed guam
tity of produce, his working partner
| taking the chances of better or worse
harvest: then he is a Kesemdji, not an
Ortakdii. Men who work merely us.
servants are called Ter-oglan, and are
engaged by the year at a remuneration
varying according to locality. In one
district. the laborer will receive from
sixtv.eight to seventy-seven bushels
maize and rye. with hundred plasters
| (about sixteen shillings English) IN
cash. In another, forty bushels OF rye;
barley and millet, thirty-three and a
half pounds of salt, half a horse-load OF
cabbages or leelks, half an OK hide for
sandals, and sixty to eighty piasters, are
considered equivalent TO years labor
while in third district, seventy-three
| bushels of wheat, with no money at all,
accord with the views Of both master
and man.
Labor is so far free that man can
leave one employer for another at the
end of his term, provided he owes the
first nothing. If he is in his debt, he
becomes serf. except in name; for,
being charged compound interest, the
debt grows so quickly, it is soon more
than he can ever hope to pay and then
he is liable to be transferred, with his
debt. to any land owner thinking it
worth while to pay off the original cred
itor. In these cases, the unlucky
debtor receives so much grain every
wear. sufficient, if he has a family, to
keep them and himself in a state OF
semi.starvation. So long as the Turkish
laborer can avoid debt, he is not so bad
w Off Naturally of penuriously econo-
mical habits. his wants are few. A
two-penny earthenware pot is the only
cooking utensil he needs to prepare his
daily meal-a dish of beans or lentils,
onions. salt picked cabbage, garlic and
pepper. eaten with bread or mixed
grain. Sailed cheese. olive oil, and
hempseed oil are occasionally INDUCED
in: but meat, wine and spirits are re-
, served for festival days. These come
rather frequently with the Christians
almost at the rate Of one week; for
counting Sundays, their idle days mum
: Der one hundred in the course OF the
: year. Many live upon Tread; making
= five or six pounds a day Of that suffice
to keep body and soul together. Set
ting aside the victims Of debt, the agri
cultural laborers are we'll clad, anC
} there are but few who cannot boast The
; possession of holiday suit, red leathe
shoes included-a suit they make las
= their lifetime. Their ordinary clothe
D are almost all made at home by thei
: thrifty, Woodworking wives their work
ing attire, consisting of cotton-twis
. shirt and drawers, thick wooden socks
r an outer garment Of dark WOODEN stuff
4 q red skull cap covered with cottol
y turban. and sandals of raw buffalo hide
o and in winter of an overcoat of sheer
0 skin, with the wool inside. The womeI
V wear cotton garments, deliberately EN-
l. hroidered with home-dyed woods, an,
+ for head dress, q cotton kerchief, COY
: ering the neck and bosom.
:, The ordinary agricultural lahore
:. lives in one-roomed house, built G
: sun dried square bricks, upon foundG
o ton of stone rubble, cemented wit
II wetted clay and chopped straw. Til
e rubble is carried about q foot above tn
|, surface of the ground, the walls bein
s bound ut intervals with strips of roug
|, hewn oak, beech, or pine, runnin
o along their inner and outer edges, an,
is fastened together by cross pieces naile
II to them. In some parts, the pent roc
o is covered with heavy slate or shall
Is slabs, but light kiln-baked tiles are o
e tener used. The room itself is fror
IS eight 20 ten feet in height, and meas
re ures from twelve to fifteen feet square
1t is provided with one or two yer
IT small unglazed windows, closing wit
l. sliding shutters, and an open fire plac
l. with flue. The white-washed wall
l. some three feet thick, are studded wit
d wooden pegs; and in their recesses, ust
Of ally two or more, shelves are fittet
-e while another narrow shelf runs a
round the room, near the ceiling. Sue
a house will cost twenty-five pounds
- Prosperous laborers will have two c
u more rooms, besides stabling and GU
/" houses. In the hilly districts of Mace
= donia, where stone and lime are easl
= procured, substantially built houses {
=" two or three rooms are commo
enough; but whether the house be {
. stone or ofclay, it is equally destitute {
Z furniture withn-chairs, tables an
! bedsteads being articles unknown, or a
= any rate undesired. A few straw-stuffe
! cushions, or even place or two of rus
Al