This situation is largely due to war's toll of man-power. If the 

 head of the household is so fortunate as to secure a permission 

 during harvest, he will be found in the field with his family. 

 The most modern threshing device is a machine which mangles 

 the sheaves and pours grain, chaff, and straw together on the 

 barn floor. Horses furnish the motive power for this crude im- 

 plement by means of a "sweep." The common practice is to 

 beat out handfuls of the grain against a board, and to separate 

 kernels from chaff by utilizing a favorable wind. 



To view the activities of the field recalls Millet's paintings, 

 "The Angelus" and "The Gleaners." One who has studied 

 these paintings has gained some idea of the subject under dis- 

 cussion. 



Next to agriculture, dairying is the most important industrial 

 occupation. Nearly every household possesses two or three cows 

 and a few milch goats or sheep. All lands are unf enced ; hence 

 when cattle are driven afield they have to be watched lest they 

 stray into the growing crops adjoining the meadows. It is not 

 unusual to see elderly women knitting as they keep watch over 

 their herds, or gathering the fragments of harvest scattered 

 wisps of grain which they place in a basket strapped to their 

 back. In many cases sheep and goats are pastured in common. 

 Every morning the village berger appears in the main streets 

 with his dog. At a blast from his horn-whistle the flocks are 

 released from their pens ; immediately they rush out in the street. 

 Shepherd and dog gather the various flocks together and drive 

 them out to pasture among the hills. Each night shepherd and 

 flock return, the latter dispersing unaided to the various quar- 

 ters. 



Pasturage is plentiful ; the heavy rains make certain a heavy 

 growth of meadow grass. Hence dairying is important as a 

 means of supplying such articles of diet as butter, cheese, and 

 milk to the household, especially at a time when the resources 

 of the entire country are drained heavily in order to meet the 

 burdens of war. 



Another mode of livelihood is the manufacture of steel 

 products for foreign trade, chiefly with South America. These 

 manufactures include scissors and pocket knives of many sizes 

 and designs. Judged by the price of our machine-made goods the 



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