The Sidney herald., 1956-08-16
Bill Lassey Sees
Primitive Farming
Methods In Tukey
Amasya, Turkey
,Tuly 81. 1858

Amasya, Turkey
July 81, 1855
Greetings From
North-C Central Turkey:
/ was awakened at 500 this
morning by a very loud and per-
sistent squeal. The village was
awake and already at work and
the squeal was that of a solid
wooden wheel ox-cart. These
carts are seen everywhere around
here and I've become quite ac-
customed to the noise except
when it awakens me The carts
squeal because no fabrication is
used and wood rubbing against
wood will make a lot of noise
if enough pressure is applied.
The cart was hauling a load of
wheat to be threshed.
This is the third private farm
that / have visited and the first
real village living that / have
seen. My host has no machines
to do his farming with. All work
is done by hand and with horses,
oxen and water buffalo power.
In a village like this one many
farmers live very close to each
other and have all their build
ings (of which there are few
located in the village. They go
from the village each day to
the fields.
l have been driving the thresh-
ing machine part of the time
since l arrived. l say machine
but / mean threshing board be-
cause it is nothing more than
two heavy planks tied together
with many sharp little nails driy-
en- into the underside. This is
pulled over and I'VE the wheat
stalks until they are ground up
very fine and most of the wheat
is knocked out. My host has a
fine team of horses to pull his
but others were using oxen.
The wheat is then thrown into
the air allowing the wind to blow
the chaff from the kernels. The
process is very slow and primi-
1--WE to us in America who use
machines for everything, but to
these people it is an inexpensive
and efficient way to get the job
done. Some older people may re-
call when a similar method was
used in the early days of Mon
tana wheat growing.
The Turkish style of eating was
a little difficult for me at first.
The food is brought to the table,
Tor a small stool), on a large
tray. There is usually a bowl OF
each kind of food on the tray
from which each person helps
himself with his spoon or fork.
When / say himself" this is ex-
actly what I mean. Since / have
begun my visits to Turkish farms
the only girl or women to SIT
at the table with the men has
been the IFYE girl. Whenever
guests are present the women
simply do not eat with the men.
Everyone dipping into the same
bowl of food with forks and
chunks of bread might a
little unsanitary to you and 1T
is. But these people are largely
uneducated and know nothing of
germs and bacteria. This method
of eating has been used for a
long time and for them 1t is per-
satisfactory.
In the cities and on govern
ment farms, we eat very much
as we do in the United States.
Each person has his own plate,
often several. And / am sure
that we will meet other eating
customs as we travel around
Turkey.
Most of the cooking in this
is done by the women
over a large fire place in the {
Kitchen. They squat or sit on q ]
small stool and place the pans !,
and kettles on the hot Goals. ]
ike the food very much and am
constantly amazed at how good I
and how hot they manage to :
make it.
We eat a large amount of j
bread at each meal and usually
omato and cucumber salad.
Neat is served only occasionally
n a stew or soup. Mutton is the
most common meat and is pre-
Jared in a variety of ways. In
edition there is usually a rice
alad and some kind of fresh
ruit. Again there is a good deal
f variation between different
reas.
Last Sunday one of the IFYE's
,ad his 3lst birthday and quite
occasion it turned out to be.
We were at the government
Ivestock farm near Bafra and
@ leaving the next day for
Iasya. We had been describing
, some of our Turkish friends
ow birthdays are celebrated at
ONE with a party and presents
nd how important the 2lst one
!. / guess they thought it was
good idea because to every
mes surprise, a large group OF
eonle came to the farm with
resents, candy, and even a cake
IT a party. We really had a fine
and I'm sure that this
[ffy' will never have a birth
ay quite like that n again.
ne of his presents was a beau
full scale model of a sail boat.
was hand made and in the
:. S. would be very expensive.
On the underside was inscrib-
1: ITO our American friend, we
ave enjoyed very much the visit
you and your friends to our
Immunity and we know now