The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1914-03-26


break up and prepare the soil. The plow, drawn
by a pair of zebus, is very crude affair. The
share, made of soft iron imported from Sweden,
is attached to rough wooden bars made by the
village carpenter, and the pow is fastened to the
heavy yoke by a chain The soil is merely
scratched on the surface, for the depth to which
the share penetrates depends entirely on the
physical exertion of the driver who is often mere
1y youth. AS the rainy season sets In,
generally somewhere about November, field work
begins Only two kinds of grain are grown In
Ears wheat for bread and barley for the food OF
the horses donkeys and mules, though now 1t Is
also often used for baking purposes by the poorer
classes When the seed has been sown, plank,
five feet long by and half feet broad, pressed
down by the weight of the driver who stands on
it. Is driven over the ground to level 1t and to
cover the seed that it shall not be washed out
when the fields flooded by artificial Irrigation
If the rains are good and plentiful, the young green
blades soon show above ground; but If the nour-
shing element fails, artificial irrigation must be
resorted to- and the few springs which exist in the
Shiraz valley become worth good deal OF money
Water is scarce in southern Persia, and mas to
be bought by most farmers throughout dry sea-
son. On specified days in the week each Reld
owner gets his supply for certain hours The
fields are then flooded and to retain the water as
much as possible each division is crossed by num-
bers of dams, two feet high, which contne the
water and in this way the earth Is thoroughly
soaked. Where running water Is not optalnaDle'
wells and underground channels are dug From
the wells some of which as much as 6O or lOO
feet deep, the water is drawn by horses or other
animals rope attached to the harness runs
over a wooden wheel gentry above the well
mouth The bucket" consists of the skin OF a
sheep or other quadruped from the neck OF Whch
the water flows into basin level with the ground
and then through narrow channels to the growing
CROPS These wells can be seen and the squeaklng
oor1 IOhn
land The canals, very often many miles long,
are covered aqueducts through which the water
ia led from the mountains to the plains and vii
lagos The soil thrown up In digging these
passages form mounds at the mouths or the sna1ts'
which are sunk at intervals OF 20 or 81 yaros. Inc
digging of these canals Is special trade anu
the secret of their construction Is guarded 1eai-
ously by the men who earn their living IN thls
manner.
The crops begin to rpen and harvesting starts
towards July in the Shraz valley but earlier as
one goes further south The simple sickle Is the
only reaping implement used all over the vast
country. When the crop Is reaped 1t Is not ueu
into sheaves, but Is merely stacked up When
threshing time arrives the simplest OF macnlnes
apnears on the scene. 1t Is combined thresher
and chaff.cutter. Between two broad wooden run
ners there is pair of wooden rollers, III Witch
short wide blunt knife blades are nxed. Inc
upper part consists of four wooden uprlghts' Oh
which board Is mounted as d scat All IAO NAA'O-'
pair of zebus drag this machine over the straw
which is spread fiat the ground, and Is cut, or
rather broken, up by the constantly rotatlng
knives while the pressure of the runners sepa-
rates the grain from the husks. The weight OF
the driver supplies the necessary pressure. IL
takes eight or ten days to thresh out stack ana
when this is finished If the wind is blowing fresh
ly. the winnowing can begin. Again very SIM
ple instrument, merely a wooden fork. Is all that
is used by the peasants. The monsoon, which
blows in August and September over southern
Persia plays an important part in this proceeding
The winnowers start on the weather side OF the
threshed stack, tossing the straw into the air
with their forks the breeze blows the light chan
several yards to leeward, where it collects in
heap while the heavy grain falls at the feet OF the
workers, and in this rough-and-ready manner the
separation of the grain from the chah Is Effected
The remaining operations of harvesting are very
simple The chaff is baled up in large, specially
made nets and brought on donkeys to the VII
lagos while the grain follows in bags on the backs
of camels or donkeys The poor people are now
allowed to CLEAN over the fields. sitting the dust
and gathering such grain and chatf as are left.
Before the grain goes to the mill 1t Is cleaned
once more in stone mortar with heavy wooden
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