Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1890-08-05
saw near bangkok men In chain. eoe,g.
e,i Ia Telling aud hauling timber, aud

1 chainei togcther. Inc moftgtgru taftn-
~ of siam hs. q much worse prospect
than be of the Western states, Tor 10 his
land will not sell to paw the debt he him.
self has to 20 Into th. service ot his
creditor. Mortgages are entered Into
here just as they are In America, With
the hope of paying off the debt at har-
ye.t time.
Thi. Il the great time of the year. ani
the harvesting of Siam !. worthy of men,
tlon. When the rice !. ready for cutting
u look. very much like an American
ost ar wheat field. tf the land IL dry
Il L. cut with .lckles, aud stacked similar
Ia American wheat. When the waters
are slow In going down the farmers
sometimes move through tb. field. In
boats and cut oif the heads 10 the rice
and put th~m Into baskets. The thrash
Ing I. done by buffaloes or oxen. 4 dry
place l. fir.t picked out for q thre.hlng
floor. IN. gras. !. cut OF and ih.
ground !. made smooth aud level. coat
of plaster ~ CIV manure and water he-
Ing spread over u to make IL solid. N-
ter thi. I. thoroughly dried q pole '.
planted IN the center and the grsln Ia
then thrown all about this for a radius
~ fiftr-n feet ar morr. To the pole six
ar eight bnfisloe. ar oxen are then tied
.li. BY side aud they ar- driven around
aud around over the straw until the rice
'. trampci out and separated. The
Sisme-c have never heard ~ the society
for the Prevention of Cruelty to AMI
mal., and they do not hesitate to push
ihesc oxen Ia the utmost. One 81 the
fayoritc WAYS 10 acc-leratlng their speed
during the thra.hlng I. by twisting the
tail. ~ the beasts. and With the gosd In
on. hand and the animal. tail In the
other naked siams.e hoy can get q
racing .p~ci out of very poor beast.
Aftsr ~. ric. u we'll ttrssh.d II is
winnoec,i In IA. wini aud then packed
away for u.. or for sale. That which
l. used by the family I. hullci by the
women, Who pound u out with NOR
tar aud pesile. Of lat. wear. steam rice
MILL. hay. bccn established In Bangkok,
ani the first wss put up 10y an Amer.
can firm. bat they dli not .ucccc'i AMI
they .old their plant. OF late years,
however, the proiuct ~ siame.c ricc Ia.
.o Increased that there are nov nftccn
steam rice mill. In bangkok, and th.se
mill. arr Ia charge 20 foreign engineer..
The farming implements ~ siam are
IL tho r,ide.i description. The culti,a-
tIon ~ the whole country Ia done with q
plow that an American farmer would
h0, use. n consist, ~ crooked stick
with Que handle, aud u has plow.harr
20 ca., Iron about q. big as man.
hand. This plowshsrc has little hole
In one cnd ~ II In which Que cnd of the
crooked stick 1. put aud the whole out
nt costs about si.2S. II cuts = furrow
about two inches deep aud five inches
vide, and II Ia drawn by an ON or buffalo
which !. attached Ia u by yoke and
rupe harness. when two oven are used
the plow IA. q sort ~ tongue which l.
fastened to the yok. on the necks of the
team ani In bath case. the animal. arr
driven not by line. hut hy sort of rope
halter fastened To- . hole la the no.e ~
th. OK. The harrow L. equally rude. u
consists of a long rake With wooden
te-th attached "a . bamboo tongue which
4. fastened io the ox'. yoke. II Ia. an
oval handle which the woman or man
hold. ani upon which .hc bear. down
In orler a. brrak the cloi. aud drive the
teeth In the deeper. siam ral.e. plenty
20 vegetables ani frult., Pineapple.
arr q drug on the market: aud lemons,
citfons and pomegranats. are abundant.
Most dsliciou. orange. co.i half cent
splec- In bangkok aud YOU can get hs-
mana. Tor two cents a dorm. The tree.
are alway. green aud the rose. and 9TH
cr flower. bloom al the year around.
One ~ the most profitable crop. N the
pepper crop, and siam exports about
sap5,0 worth of black pepper every
year. The pepper plantation. are large
ly minsgri by Chinese. The berrie-
grow Ia rac-me.. like currants, from
climbing vine irainci like . hop vine up
on tree. or tree .tumps which have been
cut 90 high up from the ground, an1
good.bearing vines will Yield two COOL
crop. a year. Very little cultivation !.
neclcl. Cuttings ~ the vines abou,
eighteen lnche. long arr burici nj the
root of the tire, aud a.. they grow the
vine. are trained towanl the trunk. In
October and November the plant. are
manurcd with mlNtur. ~ leave. and
COW dung, and In some eases With heaps
of leaves. On dry -Oll. II IL neCcss,ry
Ia water the plant. every other day dur
Ing the dry seasons, for the fret thr..
year., ani at the age of four ar i've
continue to bear from seven to fourteen
YEAR,, aud I am told that ia. crop !. a
most profitable one. The principal crop
4. harvested In December aud January.
aud th. other become. ripe about July
ar August. The harvest commences q.
soon a. the berries begin to turn red aud
they are collected az thl. time and drlci
for market. 4 good average Yield for a
plant l. two pounds of pepper per an-
mum.
The IN ,rketlng of siam ani the selling
are largely done by the women. visit
ed one of the market. la Bangkok. II
was on IA. main land and consisted of q
great low shed filled with platforms.
about twenty feet square aud foot
high. Th..e platforms are covered With
great palm leave. upon which were
spread the wares of the market women.
In the ccnter of each platform Was Pill
lar which h.lpei Ia support the roof of
the .hed. aud against th. four sides of
thl. pillar four women lean their backs.
Half naked aud with her legs crossed,
each had number of little piles of on
Ions. piece. of cabbages and other veg
.table. before her. and looked In vain
for either scales ar measures. Ia this
market the only measure Was the eve
aud everything was sold at so much per
pile. There Was no paper ar string used
In wrapping up the vegetables, aud
everything was put Into a palni-leaf aud
fastened there With little wooden tooth
plck-lIke pin. Each woman had bc'el
box and SOME cigarettes beside her AMI
all chatted aud smoked Ne the market
went ON. The whole looked very bar
barous In comparison with the markets
of our western civilization, but siam IL
now at the beginning of change.
The present king u the most enterprls-
Ing ruler the country has ever had. lie
has established an agricultural depart
ment and I. doing all be- can, restricted
as he Il by the Ignorance and snper.ti-
ton which prevail. to advance the in-
tere.t. Of hi. people both a. To civili,a-
tioa aud wealth.-American Agricultur-
lat.
SHORT STOPS.