| Show ASIA MINOR the primitive methods of agriculture 1 THAT FAR AWAY LAND the government collects a laree tax oa all products of the country of the officials correspondence IVAS asia minor aug 23 1890 the various pursuits per suits and occupy ii iid ut the inhabitants of frugal asia adinor there is none less es teemed and more unprotected by pro per authority than is that of the hus which is without a doubt the reason for the lack of modern improvements prove ments in tillage and ownerships of tiie s il concerning which it is the object of the writer to make a few observations tiie of a years stay among alie peasantry of the region in question in kiei with the course of labor of the tinnier tin iier let us first observe how he cul ti he soil cultivation though the liroi ind fundamental mental principal to pro daca an abundant harvest as is know to all experienced farmers is most reck les ily performed by the farmers of this region the instrument used for the purpose called baian plow is very simply constructed being merely a conical shaped piece of wrought iron about inches in length and four or five in diameter at the base the apex of it forma the point and in alie hilloc hi baise is fastened last ened alie elbow shaped wooden handle with the elbow turned to the the beam which lesem bles a utah pioneers waon league is cd into the handle about a looi biu the iron point and held in place by u rusa beam which forms a triangle handle and the main beam chis drawn by a yoke of oxen or hidu alos it a rato of about two miles per but little towards ihu object of turning the soil by guns over it once as it merely makes scratch on the surface about the and depth af the plow itself the earth equally to both sides i hen ill necessity of cross plowing v asich hen done batill leaves the soil but aih loosened the unbroken portion being left in small squares or di this done the immedi iedy follow s and bows sows the wheat or bar aey broad cast on ilie rough surface at in average of a bushel and a half per juie tu cover the seed a pole from eight to ten feekin length fastened perpendicularly to another pole used lor a tonu rue is dragged by oxen over the ground until smoothed with the last lowing it will bo readily perceived i hat by this means the seed is naturally d raw nanto and covered in the burrows lur rows thus aleaina strips intervals without seed after the soil has thus been plowed and planted it is left to gracious nature in hope of abundant increase the sowing of wheat is gener ally done in the fall seasons that it may lake root and receive strength from the i all showers la an ordinary orn inary season llie spring raina which come at regular intervals for about five or six weeks in the months of april and jimiy are sufficient to mature the crops af small grain in some dry rainless seasons however crops are a total failure merely on account of the lack of on the part of the land owners as in most all parts of the country there aie rivers brooks flowing undisturbed in their natural courses year by year which liht with but little labor be conducted onto the soil and utilized in dry seasons would then at all times bring forth an aban nand crop but there are many reasons for this carelessness on ibe the farmers first there being no means cf transportation from the interior to an emde whereby there would be any gain to alie producer and in a fruitful the products being much greater than alie home demand he has to sell his abundant crop for about the samp that he could get for half the amount were there only sufficient for the demand odthe country raised aud second although the government lays u tax of from 10 to 12 per cent on all ilie products of the farmer it kofl ers him no protection or encouragement hence there is no inducement for him to make an extra efforts the soil if it were properly cultivated and irrigated would produce at least oliree times as much as the demands of the country two thirds of the products therefore if transported by the present system of transportation viz by camels and mules would have to he sold at algare which besides leaving no margin for the producer would scarcely pay for its transportation or else be factored up only to spoil as the people claim that wheat and barley cannot be kept more than two yeara in thia country without spoiling let ua now consider for a moir exit how the harvest is gathered etc plowing and sowing is always done by the male sex but the reaping and catherine of the harvest is claimed to bo kara ishi tw omana work the implements gusej for reaping are after alie ancient style I 1 think alie enst have been handed down from early historic times the cycle the instrument used nd in the hands of a stout woman will reap about an acre per day but in some more advanced regions they have laid abide the cycle and invested in a straight wooden handled scythe by means of which about two and a half acred are reaped in a day eacle days reaping is lathered in the evening without being bound into small stacks of about one ton each where it remains until kh armau markit threshing time after it has all been mowed and neatly stacked in the fields then begins the gathering to the khar man which is usually located near the border of the town or village of the farmer aai more rarely in some convenient place in tho field the farmers abraha wayon is about as inconvenient as it is simple beins only two plank wheels about four feet in diameter bound with a heavy tire and fastened by a mortise one on caan end of a wooden axle five lee ions crosswise with the axe which of course turns with alie wheels are placed two poles coming together ia front form alie tongue in each pole where they cross the axle aio two pegs which keep alie concern together in choosing timber for asle trees great care is alwaes taken to procure something that will make a loud squeaking noise when the wheels turn which ia ilie delight of the teamster so much so that when a man is seeking a job of he always makes inquiries aa to whether tho employers wagon squeaks if not you may rest assured he will not be employed it is by means of this skeleton cart with a kind of rack placed over it that tho grain ia hauled thresh ing machine is made of a two inch plank from two to three feet wide and five or foet long turned up in front sorce j bear lake snowshoe and the bottom is beset with sharp eded flint stones in rows about an inch ap m these project about of an inch from the surface of the cement by which they are beldin place while some of the laborers are cna cd in hauling the grain from alie field to alio charman Kh arman the balance are employed in taking from the pile in the center and spreading ft about a foot high in a circle around tie outside over which one or more of alo above described machines aro drawn by a yoke of oxen each the driver ristp on the machine for a weight until the is broken into cha the second layer ia spread over this and treated like the first after which 1 ho mixture is raked to one side ina pile tb same is repeated again and again until the whole harvest ia threshed comes the separating process which is perhaps the most tedious of all as it cannot be proceeded with unless there is a considerable breeze of wind hence when the wind is favorable all bands are employed with special wooden forks in tossing the mixture into the air the chaff being light is thus blown away and the grain falls again into its place this is continued day after day until all the light substances are blown to one Eide after which comes the sebye process of separating from the grain the small rocks clods and other hard sub stances which are scraped up from the threshing ground in abundance the farmer is however not allowed to proceed with this last process unless there ia a tax officer present one of whom is placed in every klarman kb arman lest by any means the owner should dispose of the part of his products before it is taxed everything must be taxed before it is gathered to alie store bouse when the cleaning process is completed the dividing of the the spoils legins seven measures are placed on alie farmers pile then one to that of the government and so on until the whole is divided if the work cannot be completed in one day the divided portion is neatly piled together in the evening and branded with certain marks that neither party may take without being known to the other if the brands should be changed or destroyed by any means during the night abich is often the case a great row and a delay in division is the result on the following day there is a law to the effect that if either party is found smuggling he must besides returning the forfeit give the same amount of his dues to the other party after the dividing is over alie grain is gathered to alie bins and the to the stables and sheds where it is fed the oxen during the winter the tax is also gather ered to the large government granaries gran eries which are numerous throughout the country affied |
