The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1919-12-22
Victoria Hayward and Edith 8.

Victoria Hayward and Edith 8.
Watson, the Manitoba Free Press.)
Doukhobors-those people who came
from Russia into Canada years ago
and attracted attention by their pecu-
liar religious belief that caused men
and women alike to give an annual
parade while stark naked-are now
conceded to be the best all-round far
mers in the entire Dominion. They
prove and exemplify that they can win
their own complete living, including
clothes. from their own farms. They
grow flax. spin and weave it them
selves. dress in clean linen, and are
Independent of the dry goods market.
They raise everything they need for
the table from their own fields. They
build their own bungalows with wood
en- framework, from materials chop
ped, hewn. dug and mixed on their
own wood lot and In their own door
yard. Put a Doukhobor community
down, some spring, with nothing more
than ordinary farming tools, on q
homestead thousand miles from any
town, and they would not starve nor
freeze, nor seek help from anyone.
They would 60 to mother earth for all
(ACy u0CO0O" AuOWu8 uOWs tu0y
would got it.
The hum Of things DOING is in the
atmosphere at all Doukhobor settle
ments just now. Works of all kinds
are in progress. From whatever angle
the limelight is turned upon their
communities, there in the glow. are to
be seen star workers-at real work
Whether the stage be set at Verigin.
Saskatchewan or at Brilliant, British
Columbia, the them Of the drama is
practically tho same. The settlement.
on the plains or in the mountain val
ley. is hive of production.
The different settlements illustrate
the varied nature of this production.
For these Russians, taken as a whole,
are not 50 much specialists in one line
as general farmers, although of course.
with them, the crop must. as with any
other farmer, be determined by the
nature Of the soil.
Whenever one happens on "a WILL
age. coming into the big yard. or pass
ing along 1.-The street" that runs
through the length Of the village, as
at Vernoe in Ver1gin settlement. it is
to have unfolded before the eyes a
variety Of industries, all of which
spring from the tilling of the earth.
One may see a Doukhobor woman
sitting homegrown clover seed for the
next years crop. Behind this SIMPLE
process of wnnowing the seeds stands
an army of women and children at
work on the uplands, gathering the
ripe clover heads into their wide
aprons. Every morning the seed is
brought out and spread on the quilt to
dry in the sun. When it is thoroughly
dry Nine. Konkin takes the sieve in
her hand. In the case of the most
obstinate husks she finds the palms Of
her own strong hands the best kind Of
mill. The outfit for this industry is
very simple-a good sunny spot in the
orchard behind the village where the
wind is just strong enough to carry
off the husk and yet not fierce enough
to lose single tiny seed. For every
one of these seedlings is precious,
since clover seed raising has become
q Doukhobor industry.
Another favorite side crop of the
Doukhobors in British Columbia is
millet The feathery heads of the
grain may be seen noddins in the
breeze everywhere. by the roadside.
in patches, and its waving plumes
border orchard and dooryard flower
gardens with equal ease. Millet Is a
favorite porridge and vegetable with
the Doukhobors. Served with mild
and sugar or with butter. It Is equally
delicious. On account Of the natural
oil it is considered very nutritious and
rich in food values. These women
may be seen sitting millet to separate
the seed from the husk. A larger
mesh or sieve Is used for this work
than
High Cost Of Living" is a meaning
less phrase to the Doukhobor grow
ing everything for the home table,
even to the morning dish of porridge
We feed millet to our canaries, but
not one In ten knows 1t as a breakfast
food for ourselves and our families.
The British Columbia Doukhobor
no less than the plainsman raises
large quantities Of beans. The COM
munity lockers in each village are full
Of them. But in no sense can the
Doukhobor be said to live on them.
As vegetarian he must not eat pork
and beans.
The beans are women's work. In
every dooryard the picture of the wom-
and and the drying beans is repro
duced. The beans are shelled by
pounding them with q billet Of wood.
The Doukhobor housewife is never
idle At Brilliant, the community
runs large jam factory, and you
may buy the product almost anywhere
in the stores, but still there u no
Doukhobor women but has her own
idea Of how jam should be made and
fruit dried for home use And too
she 6ancdes the fruit that g1vw On her
own house" tree. So IN every vaUaeA
the women Of that village preserve
most Of the fruit for home cousymp-
ton, and groups Of them are to be
seen In every yard, cutting up barrels
q hoOe grown applea
Evaporation % here force a3ded hv
two gigantic forces, the sun to begin