The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1885-06-26
Methods Of Agriculture in the East.

an apology for shovel is seldom to be
met with, while the hoe is of long,
narrow, heavy blade, and is used for
almost all purposes 1t takes the place
Of shovel when soil is to be moved,
as it is carried in shallow baskets de-
pending from yoke on the cooly's
shoulders,and the hoe is used to scrape
the earth into the baskets. After
ploughirg, and often without it, the
earth is dug up aud prepared for the
seed by the hoe, and the growing
plants are cultivated by its aid. The
plough is rough and clumsy affair,
with only one "stit," and only the
point shod with iron. 1t loosens the
soil, but turns q very slight furrow,
from its narrowness. The harrow is
more like the well-known form at home,
and the rake when used at all, is form.
ed of curved and split bamboo, but is
frail and of little value. Farm carts or
wagons are infrequent, very clumsy,
solid wooden wheels, and rudely fash
oined. Thrashing is performed as in
the times of Moses, by spreading the
sheavcs on an earthen thrashing floor
and driving unmuzzled cattle over the
grain to tread it out. Winnowing is
done on the same floor by pouring the
grain from uplifted baskets for the
wind to drive away the chaff, with
sometimes huge fan welded by an
assistant cody. Sometimes the grain
Is ground between mill-stones, the un-
der one stationary and the upper turn
ed by bullock that travels in circle.
Sometimes two women grind at a mill
as in the time of Herod of Galilee.
Quite often still ruder process is OBJ.
served. A stone coping is firmly set
in continuous circle about a space of
ground Is or 20 feet in diameter. The
coping has an unbroken groove cut in
lis upper surface V.shaped, and cir
cular stone, feet in diameter, has its
periphary hewn to fit in the groove,
which is inches or more in depth.
Into this groove the grain is placed
and the stone wheel revolves over il,
its centre fixed to pivot on the outer
extremity of beam, whose inner end
is attached to pivot in the centre of
the inclosed space. A bullock hitched
to the beam revolves the grinding
stone, and in time the grain is
crushed to powder. Nearly all burdens
are borne on mems shoulders, and thus
crops are gathered and transferred.
Labor is cheap and cultivation is sub
divided that often every plant has
special culture, and daily irrigation
with liquid manure is applied, especial.
ly with all food vegetables.
TIE soil of the Island of Java is pro.
ductive to a degree, the crudest imple-
ment serving the native. The plough
is crooked or bent stick, drawn by the
buffaloes, and merely scrapes or
scratches the top of the earth the
spade is never used, unless here and
there on an estate under European
management, and the hoe, an instru-
ment in universal use, is great, un-
wieldy, heavy, and impossible thing,
at least twice the weight of our own.
The primitiveness in implements for
use in cultivating land, and tools u.s.
ually employed by husbandmen, is uni
versal simple hatchet, for instance,
is rarely seen in the hands of native
an ak is also rdra acis, though both
these tools are procurable. 1t will be
understood, of course, that the mode of
cultivation amongst the natives is IS
simple as their implements the soil is
so rich and nature so bountiful in this
favored island that it takes but little
labor to produce good result, given
that insects, disease, want of or too
much rain, does not interfere.
Owing to the paucity of population
of Asia Minor, when compared with
the extent of arabic territory, and to
the fact that except for gardens, cotton
and tobacco fields, fertilizing substan-
ces are not used, the land is allowed to
remain fallow every third year. Thus
field which is sown with summer
crop, such as Indian corn, milet, ses-
anne, beans, vetch, etc, is sown again
the following autumn with wheat, bar
ley, or horse beans, etc, these being
the winter crops the third year it is
not planted.
The agricultural implements in gen.
eral use are of the most primitive style
and make. Oxen are used for plough
ing and thrashing purposes. The yoke
is long straight stick, usually fasten-
ed to the horns. The plough is sim
ply triangular block of hard wood,
with an iron cap on the point, one pole
in front, to which the oxen are fasten-
ed, and one behind to guide it. The
other implements are the harrow, rake,
sickle, spade, pickaxe, shovel, pitch
fork, sieve, winnOw, and clumsy low
wheeled bullock cart, all of which the
least progressive of our American farm
ers would scorn to use. The plough
ing is about four inches deep, with a
space between each furrow of twelve
inches or more. Irrigation is confined
to vegetable gardens, although there is
seldom any rainfall from May to Oc-
tober With such methods of cultiva-
tion, barley and wheat yield about
twelve-fold, beans from twenty to
twenty-five, millet, and maize from
twenty-five to ihirty-five. The thrash,
ing of cereals is performed by horses
and bullocks beans and sesame by
fail or stick. The straw, after thrash
ing is cut up and used as fodder for
cattle. OF the smaller articles above
enumerated, the pitchfork is of wood,
q mere crotched stick pickaxes, hoes,
spades and scythes are made here part
ly of iron, are imported from France.
10 induce the peasants to adopt more
modern hand-tools is not so easy as the
introduction of labor-saving machinery,
but it may be done in time and by per,
spyerinp effort thronuh tha loroa mo