189(1.] KSSAY8. 39 



small, wiry, (Midiiriiig hack of Asia Minor, as far removed from 

 the lithe form and airy grace of the Aral) steed as light is from 

 darkness. 



The spade is trianguKar in sha[)e, with a straight handle, 

 longer than a man is tall. A few inches above the blade, a 

 piece of wood is mortised in, upon which the foot is set, to 

 force the blade deep into the earth. The length of the handle 

 enables the laborer to lay his whole weight upon the extremity, 

 and afterwards use it as a lever in order to raise a large quantity 

 of soil, which he merely turns over. " Shallow ploughing, but 

 deep spading seem then to be two chief rules of Oriental agri- 

 culture." 



The hoe has a broad blade, not flat, but slightly concave, 

 the handle very short, compelling the laborer to crouch to his 

 work. The sickle is about the sixme form as our own. The 

 scythe, shorter, heavier, clumsier, the snath nearly straight, 

 with bi^t one handle, the left hand grasping the snath itself. 

 The blade has no curve worth mentioning. Fortunately for the 

 back of the laborer, hay is in so little demand that the scythe 

 is practically only used in the cradle, and that, not by Turks, 

 but almost exclusively by the Bulgarians. As you pass by the 

 great wheat tields, you will see men and women with their 

 sickles slowly and laboriously reaping the golden harvest. Ask 

 them whether they could not do the work much more rapidly 

 and easily with the cradle, and they will answer, "Doubtless." 

 Ask them why they do not use it, and with a shrug of their 

 shoulders they will reply, " Good Lord ! it is not our custom." 

 And (hal is the end of all controversy with an Oriental. To 

 change the custom of his fathers is as impious an act as to 

 defile the bones of his ancestors or curse his grandmother. 



One is sometimes in despair of any progress in the P^astern 

 world. The l)e2innin}2: must be made at the root. Educate the 

 youth and they are as ready for improvement as any people. 

 In some places on the rich banks of the Danube, modern imple- 

 ments of harvesting have been introduced, and the produce 

 doubled, because the farmer is no longer afraid of sowing more 

 than he can orather. The women do a great deal of work in the 



