BRITTANY: THE LAND OF THE SARDINE 



549 



Photo from Hugh M. Smith. Copyrighted by the Century Co. 



BRETON WOMEN THRESHING THE GRAIN WITH JOINTED EMAILS, AS IN 



THE TIME OE RUTH 



the simple life led by these people — a 

 general living room, with a large, open 

 fireplace to provide heat and means for 

 cooking, and in close proximity a built-in 

 bed. 



Wells with massive stone copings are 

 found at most of the larger country 

 houses, and at these wells and in die 

 yards some interesting and picturesque 

 sights may be seen as we pass along the 

 roads. Now and then one comes upon 

 one of those interesting open-air ovens, 

 in which is baked, among other things, 

 the staple food of the peasants and fish- 

 ermen — a coarse, black pancake made of 

 buckwheat and known as galette. 



While a large part of Brittany is not 

 suitable for successful tillage, a prepon- 

 derating percentage of the population 

 have necessarily to engage in some form 



of agriculture for a livelihood. The 

 coastal regions are the most fertile, and 

 there considerable crops of flax, hemp, 

 and cereals are grown and a limited 

 amount of dairy farming is done. Many 

 goats are kept for their meat, hair, and 

 milk, and most of the peasants have bees, 

 for which they are said to entertain deep 

 affection. 



MOST OF THE EARM WORK IS DONE BY THE 

 WOMEN 



Perhaps the most impressive feature of 

 rural life in Brittany is the extent to 

 which women and girls perform farm 

 labor that is rarely done except by men 

 among the Caucasian people in our own 

 country. The country districts of this 

 province, as of other parts of France, 

 have been gleaned and scoured for men 



