580 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



A PERSIAN COBBLER "SAVING SOLES." PERSIAN SHOES ARE 

 EITHER SEWED OR NAILED WITH WOODEN PEGS. 



poor, this source of fuel does not enter into the fuel 

 situation to any great extent. Crude petroleum and 

 kerosene are available along the one line of railroad 

 which runs from the Russian boundary to Tabriz, or 

 when transported from the Caspian Sea ports by pack- 

 train. The oil comes from the great Baku oil fields, but 

 although the railroad engines are oil burners there is 

 practically no oil used for fuel. Kerosene for lighting 

 purposes is very common, the oil being carried many 

 miles into the interior of the country on the backs of 

 animals. The result of the lack of coal and the expense 

 of oil is to throw the burden of furnishing heat for 

 heating rooms, cooking and for industries, upon the for- 

 est products of the country, and owing to the destruc- 

 tion of the forests this burden is very heavy. This prob- 



lem is solved or an attempt is made to solve it by 

 two methods. These two methods of securing heat are 

 practically universal; the exception being in the case of 

 the very few foreigners and the few wealthy people 

 who have wood burning stoves and who are buying 

 fruit wood for fuel, and both of these are of real in- 

 terest so that some account of each method will not be 

 amiss : 



Charcoal is used by everybody to make his or her tea 

 with for everybody drinks tea several times a day, 

 when they can get it. The Russian samovars in all sizes, 

 shapes and materials are used in making them, the 

 spherical brass type being the most common. 



Practically everybody has some form of a samovar 

 as tea is looked upon as a necessity, and the consump- 

 tion of charcoal for this purpose is large. Another use 

 for charcoal is in cooking "kibobs" which are little 

 pieces of meat broiled over a little brazier of hot char- 



. ' .;-: - ''~<rr>'Lr::^'^a:^- 





A PERSIAN "FLIVVER" LOADED WITH NATIVE FUEL-MOULDED 

 MANURE CAKES. 



A PERSIAN THRESHING MACHINE IN ACTION. AS THE "SLED" 

 IS PULLED FORWARD, THE CROSS STICKS WITH THE PROTRUD- 

 ING KNIVES REVOLVE, CUTTING UP THE STRAW. 



coal. This is a very popular dish and, in the streets and 

 in the bazaar these kibobs may be bought at any time 

 during the day. In the private homes also a good deal 

 of cooking is done over charcoal. Then in cold weather 

 charcoal is used in the "kursies." A kursie is about 

 the cheapest arrangement for keeping the whole fam- 

 ily warm. First of all a low table, perhaps two feet 

 high and two feet or more square is placed in the mid- 

 dle of the room. An earthen or iron pan or vessel with 

 dirt in the bottom on which is a hot fire of charcoal is 

 placed on the floor under the table. Then the entire 

 family gathers around and sitting on the floor stick 

 their feet under the table close to the panful of hot 

 coals. A big quilt is put over the top of the table and 

 falling down around the sides covers the entire family. 

 In most of the houses there is no genera! system of 

 heating and the houses are cold, so that the people are 

 forced to sleep and practically live under "kursies" in 



