The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1916-07-20

quently owned in common by the vii
layers and division of it takes place
every alternate year, and is so ar.
ranged that every man gets portions
of the good as well as of the less de,
sirable land. s,..
Fences, in the western sense OF
the word, are unknown. In the
mountainous country lands are in.
closed by loose stone walls, still called
by the ancient Hebrew name jedar,
and on the plains by thorn hedges
When the open fields are owned by in,
dividlRls, the boundary lines are in,
Dictated by deep burrows, in which at
intervaE, stones are laid as land,
marks,,,t 1t is, therefore, readily seen
how easSsy these boundaries could be
changed 'W an avarlGi9qs neighbor
undeterred by the Mosaic warning
Cursed be he that removeth his
rReighbat's, lagdolaFhf!i III 81
Rain begins zta fag libp4t Novem
her, average aifridaI; rain ran for 50
years abaltr2G inchebgUIUer d rain.
less SUMMER, and as so6p as the
ground is well moistef2eA tlie 1fellah
staTts9 planting the winter, cereals
Mutdl, sbdlItN ltLlllS, DtuliSa tIN. L llt
pillow Is crude affair, nE4dWP oak
the best parts being natural curves
held together with iron baHFs5 THESE
bands annd a small plOWShaTe, (which
only scratches the ground few inches
deep, are the only metal parts.
Oxen are the fayorite animals for
yoking to a pillow. Cows and don
keys are employed by the poorer PEG
pie. Horses, mules and camals (thG
last named only along the Mediterra
mean COAST are harneSsed singly to
plOws, while sometimes one sees an
OK and camel yoked together.
The fellah sows the grain on the
bare ground and then plows it in. In
rocky ground a man or woman fol
lows with pick to loosen the earth
that may have been skipped by the
pillow. The soil is not fertilized. The
disintegration. ofathe underlying lime
stone feeds the SOIL so that for
thousands of years it has continued
yielding crops The manure and
rubbish, instead OF being utilized are
allowed to accumulate in heaps out.
side the villages until they surround
it lie small mountains. ....
after the. winter crops have all
been planted the vineyards and olive
groves are plowed couple of times
and also the fields reserved for the
summer planting. These later crops
are not put into the ground until the
rains have entirely ceased.
During harvest time the fields are
lively and picturesque; the entire
family has o part in the work, the
small children playing about among
the sheaYes and even the babies are
brought into the fields. A large
toothed sickle is employed by the
reapers 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 al
lowed to follow the reapers and CLEAN
the fallen ears, which they tie into
neat little bundles. dropping them on
the ground as they go along, and
these they gather UP every evening
and beat out the grain with a stick,
list as Ruth did of old in the, fields
of Bethlehem. During the reaping
period what the Bible calls 'parehed
corn is made in almost every field.
Some wheat not fully ripe is cut down
and set on fire. the straw only being
The roasted heads are
rubbed between the hands and the
cbaff winnowed out in the wind.
further preparation, this
wheat forms one of the com
mon articles of diet of the reapers.
such was the parched
corn which Boaz reached to Ruth.
"Threshing by the primitive meth
DDS employed is the most tiresome
ask of all the fellahs round of toll
IN many places 1t is done entirely by
out beneath the feet of the
which are titd together
abreast and driven round and round
over the spread-out grain. The mules
md horses are provided with fiat
iheet.iron shoes for all kinds of work
md the cattle, Just as the threshing
ieasom begins, are especially shod.
AS soon as the grapes. flgs aud
Iflser fruits begin ripening the fellah.
With bis entire family moves out OF