The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1914-03-28

O0
break up and prepare the soil. The pillow, drawn
by a pair of zebus, Is a 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 pillow 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
ly a youth. AS soon 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, a plank
five feet long by one and a 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 so that it shall not be washed out
when the fields are flooded by artificial irrigation.
If the rains are good and plentiful, the young green
blades soon show above ground; but If the nour-
ishing element fails, artificial irrigation must be
resorted to, and the few springs which exist in the
Shiraz valley become worth a good deal OF money.
Water is scarce In southern Persia, and has TO
be bought by most farmers throughout a dry sea
son. On specified days in the week each field
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 conine the
water, and in this way the earth Is thoroughly
soaked. Where running water Is not obtalnaole'
wells ana Underground CuduuSlp Tx ~
the wells, SOM of which are as much as 20 or lou
feet deep, the water is drawn by horses or other
animals. A rope attached to the harness runs
over a wooden wheel on a gentry above the well
mouth. The bucket" consists OF the skin OF a
sheep or other quadruped, from the neck of which
the water flows into a basin level with the ground
and then through narrow channels to the growing
crops. These wells. can be seen and the squeaking
noise of the wooden wheels heard throughout the
land. The canals, very often many miles long,
are covered aqueducts, through which the water
is led from the mountains to the plains and vii
lagos. The soil thrown up In digging these
passages form mounds at the mouths OF the shaIts'
which are sunk at intervals Of % or 30 yards. The
digging of these canals is a special trade ana
the secret Of their construction is guarded jeal-
ously by the men who earn their living In this
manner.
The crops begin to ripen and harvesting starts
towards July in the Shiraz 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 ted
into sheaves, but is merely stacked up. When
threshing time arrives, the simplest OF machines
appears on the scene. 1t is combined thresher
and chaff Between two broad wooden run
ners there is a pair of wooden rollers, In which
short, wide, blunt knife blades are fixed. The
upper part consists of four wooden uprights, on
which a board is mounted. as a seat for the driver.
A pair of zebus drag this machine over the straw,
which is spread fat on the ground, and Is cut or
rather, broken, up by the constantly rotatlns
knives, while the pressure Of the runners sepa-
rates the grain from the husks. The weight OF
the driver supplies the necessary pressure. II
takes eight or ten days to thresh out a stack and
when this Is finished, If the wind is blowing fresh
Iy, the w%innowing can begin. Again a very sim
pie 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 w%innowers 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 leewa I'd, where it collects in a
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 chan 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
aud gathering such grain and chaf as are left.
Before the grain goes to the mill it Is cleaned
once more In a stone mortar with heavy wooden