Norwich bulletin., 1916-07-25

the Mosaic warning, Cursed be he
 that remOVeth his neighbours land
 mark.
 Rain begins to fall about November, Beverage annual rainfall for 50 years about 26 inches), after a rainless sum- mer, and as soon as the ground is well mCistened the fellah starts plant ing the winter cerealS-wheat, barley,
 crude affair, made of oak, the bent
 parts being natural curves held to- gether with iron bands; these bands and a small ploWshare, which only scratches the ground a few inches deep, are the only metal parts.
 "Oxen are the favorite animals for yOkIng to a blow. Cows and dOnkeyS are employed by the poorer people. Horses, mules and camels (the last named only along the Mediterranean cOast) are harnessed singly 10 blows, while sometimes one sees an OK and @ camel yoked together.
 "The felIah sows the grain on the bare ground and then blows 1t in. In rocky ground a man or woman fol- lows with pick to loosen the earth that may have been skipped by the plOW. The soil is not fertilized. The disintegratiOn of the underlying lime stone feeds the soil, so that for thou sands of years it has continued yield ing crops. The manure and rubbish, instead of being utilized are allowed to accumulate in heaps outside the villages until they surround it like small mountains.
 After the winter crops have all been planted the vineyards and olive groves are plowed a couple of times and also the fields reserved for the summer planting. These latter crops are not put into the ground until the rains have entirely ceased.
 During harvest time the fields are ] lively and picturesque; the entire fam fly has part in the work, fhe small l children playing about among the sheaves and even the babies are i brought into the fields. A large tooth- l ed sickle is employed by the reapers l when the grain is long but if short a smaller one is used, the edge being | quite dull; so That it does not cut but simply uprOOts the grain.
 Destitute women and girls are aI- lowed to follow the reapers and glean l the fallen ears, which they tie into neat little bundles, dropping them on i The ground as they go along, and these | they gather up every evening and beat | out the grain with a stick, just as Ruth did of old in the fields of Beth l Iehem. During the reaping period what the Bible calls 'parched corn is made In almost every field. Some wheat not fully ripe is cut down and set on fire, the ctraw being consum- ed. The roasted heads are rubbed be- l tween the hands and the chaff win moved out in the wind. Without ufrther preparation, This roasted wheat forms one of the common articles of 1 diet of the reapers. Undoubtedly such was the 'parched corn which Roaz reached to Ruth.
 ''Threshing by the primitive meth 1 Ods employed is the most tiresome task of all the feIlah's round of toll. In
 many. places it is done entirely by treading out beneath the feet of the animals which are tied together abreast and driven round and round 1 over the spread-Out grain. The mules and horses are provided with flat sheet-iron shoes for all kinds of work and the cattle, just as the threshing season begins, are specially shod. AS soon as the grapes, figs and i other frui+sc bein ripening the feIlah i with his entire family, moves out of the village into the vineyard. The grape season is looked forward to as the best part of the year. and at this time the natives live for the most part on fruits and bread. Jokingly the fel- l laheen say that they get so fat from eating grapes That their fezzes burst. Olives are harvested in the fall, 1 but by method so injurious to the trees that they yield a full crop but l once in two years. Instead of picking l them by hand for time is not money 1 with these easy-gOing people, they beat l the trees with sticks to knock off the fruit, which at the same time results | in destroying the tender shoots which
 should bear the next years fruit. The
 olives when salted or pickled in brine are valued food, for a peasant can
 make a meal of only bread and olives with perhaps the addition of raw onion.
 Sheep as well as goats are milked 1 by the women, and the milk turned in- l to chees and butter. Butter is made 1 in a goat skin like those used for car l rying water. This is only half filled