1892 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
475 
over  the  yoke  and  the  shaft  is  allowed  to  drag  as 
they  return  to  the  village.  While  in  use,  an  iron 
point  or  sort  of  shoe  is  slipped  on  to  the  wooden 
point.  In  the  plains  Salmas  and  Urumiah,  as  well  as 
in  some  other  parts  of  Persia,  I  have  occasionally  seen 
a  very  heavy  plow  which  requires  six  buffaloes  to 
draw.  It  is  made  on  much  the  same  plan  as  ours,  with 
a  sort  of  moldboard  to  turn  the  soil.  It  is  of  heavy 
timber  with  a  plate  of  iron  on  the  moldboard  and  an¬ 
other  on  the  point.  A  heavy  wooden  truck  supports 
the  end  of  the  beam  and  serves  to  draw  the  whole 
massive  affair. 
It  is  said  that  in  the  plains  of  Salmas  the  agricul¬ 
turists  do  more  work  for  their  crop  than  in  any  other 
part  of  the  world.  They  often  go  over  the  ground 
three  times  with  the  small  plow  to  stir  it  up,  and  then 
sometimes  go  over  the  same  piece  twice  more  with  the 
large  plow  to  turn  it  over.  The  drag  is  a  long  beam 
with  pegs,  and  is  drawn  sidewise  over  the  ground. 
A  crop  of  eight  or  tenfold  is  considered  very  good. 
Thrashing  and  Grinding. — Wheat  and  barley  are 
the  principal  grains,  but  rye  and  buckwheat  are  raised 
to  a  limited  extent.  The  grain  is  cut  with  a  sickle 
and  thrashed  at  the  village  thrashing  floor,  which  is  an 
acre  of  smooth,  hard  ground,  where  the  crop  is  spread 
out  and  oxen  and  horses  hitched  to  a  sort  of  stoneboat 
with  iron  or  stone  pieces  set  in  the  bottom,  arc  driven 
round  and  round  upon  it  until  the  grain  is  all  out ; 
the  wheat  and  chaff  are  piled  up  in  the  middle,  and 
this  process  is  repeated  until  the  crop  is  all  thrashed. 
The  grain  is  then  1  ossed  to  the  wind  to  be  separated  f  rom 
the  chaff.  The  grain  for  grinding  must  all  be  picked 
over  by  hand.  The  gristmills,  too,  are  interesting  in 
their  very  simplicity  :  a  hollow  log  serves  as  a  flume  to 
bring  a  stream  of  water  down  to  a  wheel  made  on  the 
plan  of  a  windmill  wheel. 
This  is  placed  horizon¬ 
tally  so  that  the  water 
pouring  through  it  keeps 
it  revolving.  Its  axis  turns 
the  upper  millstone, 
which  is  directly  above  it, 
and  has  a  hole  in  the 
center,  into  which  the 
grain  from  the  hopper 
pours.  The  grain  is  thus 
brought  between  the  two 
stones,  and  as  they  are  set 
slightly  inclined,  the  flour 
all  comes  out  along  the 
lower  side,  where  it  is 
caught  in  a  trough.  There 
is  no  bolting  process.  The 
wheat  is  a  yellow  species, 
and  gives  its  color  to  the 
flour  and  bread,  but  is  of 
very  good  flavor. 
Great  Place  for 
Fruits. — Grapes  are  one 
of  the  principal  crops  and 
the  clusters  grow  to  an 
immense  size.  They  are 
of  excellent  quality.  The 
vines  are  set  on  the  top 
of  ridges  or  hills  two  or 
three  feet  above  the  bot¬ 
tom  of  the  ditches  be¬ 
tween,  into  which  the 
water  for  irrigation  is 
turned.  The  vines  are 
allowed  to  run  around 
upon  the  ground  and  are  never  tied  up  in  any  way. 
The  vineyards  are  always  inclosed  by  a  small  mud 
wall  and  have  a  guard  house  in  the  center  where  the 
keeper  lives  together  with  his  family  in  the  summer, 
to  watch  his  crop.  When  the  grapes  are  harvested, 
many  of  them  are  hung  up  by  the  stems  for  winter 
use.  Now  in  the  middle  of  December  excellent  grapes 
can  be  bought  for  from  two  to  four  cents  a  pound,  and 
they  are  kept  in  this  way  until  February.  The  varie¬ 
ties  are  almost  countless  and  rival  in  size  the  largest 
of  the  California  grapes  and  far  excel  them  in  quality. 
They  form  a  staple  article  of  diet,  as  fresh  fruit  and 
raisins,  and  they  are  also  made  into  sugar  and 
molasses,  both  of  which  are  very  good.  The  Persians 
are  Musselmen  and  do  not  make  wine,  nor  do  the  poor 
drink  it,  because  they  cannot  afford  it.  But  the 
wealthy  and  official  classes  are  noted  for  their  large  con¬ 
sumption  of  wine  and  their  intemperance.  Their 
cellars  are  often  full  of  it. 
Beets,  turnips,  squashes,  cabbages,  lettuce,  peppers 
and  egg  plants  are  raised  abundantly  together  with 
most  of  the  other  garden  products  familiar  to  us. 
Plums,  peaches,  cherries,  walnuts,  almonds  and 
the  eder  everywhere  abound.  Muskmelons  are  raised 
in  great  abundance  and  are  of  very  fine  quality.  They 
are  kept  in  good  condition  until  January.  On  Novem¬ 
ber  1,  while  coming  out  of  Tabriz  we  met  100  donkeys 
laden  with  muskmelons  going  to  the  market.  Water* 
melons  are  also  abundant,  but  not  so  good.  Both  are 
very  cheap  and  are  carried  into  the  field  by  the  work¬ 
men  instead  of  water. 
Milk  and  Honey. — Together  with  the  wheat,  bar¬ 
ley,  melons, vegetables  and  fruits,  mutton,  beef,  fowls, 
rice,  milk  and  honey  are  the  staple  articles  of  food. 
Both  the  milk  and  rice  are  prepared  in  many  ways. 
The  milk  is  first  thickened  by  putting  into  it  a  sort  of 
yeast  made  from  thick  milk.  In  this  thick  form  it  is 
called  mesta  and  is  a  very  refreshing  food.  Eaten  with 
honey  (the  milk  and  honey  of  the  Bible)  it  is  a  de¬ 
licious  food,  having  none  of  the  bad  taste  of  the  bonny- 
clabber  of  the  Germans.  From  this  mesta  they  make 
a  refreshing  drink  and  delicious  vegetable  soup,  as 
well  as  butter,  cheese  and  curds,  all  of  which  when 
nicely  prepared  are  excellent  dishes.  The  best  mesta 
we  have  eaten  was  made  of  the  milk  of  the  buffalo, 
cow  and  goat  mixed.  The  cows  here  give  very  little 
milk.  Five  quarts  per  day  is  considered  very  good;  the 
buffalo  gives  somewhat  more.  The  calf  is  seldom  or 
never  taken  away  from  the  cow;  for  there  is  a  prevalent 
belief  that  if  this  is  done  the  cow  will  immediately  go 
dry,  consequently  if  the  calf  dies,  its  skin  is  stuffed 
and  set  up  near  the  cow.  Desiring  some  new  milk  for 
breakfast  one  morning  while  on  a  journey  in  Novem¬ 
A  Persian  Ox  Team  and  Load.  Fig.  207. 
ber,  I  went  to  the  barn  where  there  were  13  cows,  and 
two  calves  had  to  be  robbed  of  part  of  their  breakfast 
to  supply  me  a  pint  of  milk. 
Milking  Sheep. — The  sheep  are  all  of  the  fat¬ 
tailed  species  and  are  kept  for  their  mutton,  wool  and 
milk.  It  is  not  an  uncommon  sight  to  see  a  sheep  tied 
by  the  stall  of  its  owner  in  the  city  bazar,  where  it 
is  fed  on  the  waste  from  the  gardeners’  stalls  and  sup¬ 
plies  its  owner  and  perhaps  others  with  milk  for 
lunch.  In  a  flock  the  majority  of  the  sheep  are  dark- 
colored.  Goats  are  always  mingled  with  the  flock  and 
among  them  some  of  the  long,  curly-haired  Angoras 
are  occasionally  found.  In  the  fall  of  the  year  the 
shepherds  lead  their  flocks  down  from  the  mountains 
to  find  markets  for  them  in  the  cities  of  the  plains. 
The  water  buffalo  above  mentioned  is,  next  to  the 
hippopotamus,  perhaps  the  ugliest  and  most  ante¬ 
diluvian-looking  beast  extant,  yet  it  is  in  per¬ 
fect  keeping  with  its  surroundings  in  Persia,  and 
when  one  sees  six  of  them  dragging  one  of  these 
rude,  clumsy  plows,  driven  by  a  peasant  in  his 
great  sheepskin  hat,  with  bare  arms  and  legs  and 
ragged  coat,  really  he  can  hardly  realize  that  he  is 
living  in  the  “electric  age”  of  the  world.  In  this 
land,  where  there  are  no  railroads,  or  even  wagon 
roads ;  where  there  is  nothing  but  mules,  donkeys, 
camels  and  horses  for  the  transportation  of  passengers 
and  freight ;  where  there  are  vast  extents  of  country 
with  not  a  house,  fenoe  or  any  sign  of  civilization  in 
sight,  only  here  and  there  in  the  distance  a  mud  wall 
inclosing  a  village  of  mud  houses,  which  have  neither 
chairs,  tables,  bedsteads  nor  windows,  but  only  mud 
floors,  bare  mud  walls  and  flat  mud  roofs,  with  only  a 
few  dishes,  blankets  and  rugs  for  furniture  ;  where 
dried  cow  dung  is  the  only  fuel,  except  weeds  and  the 
trimmings  of  fruit  trees  and  vines,  and  a  flint  and  steel 
with  a  bit  of  cotton  serves  for  matches ;  in  these  sur¬ 
roundings  I  have  sometimes  experienced  a  feeling  of 
terrible  uncertainty.  I  have  been  compelled  to  cast 
about  for  some  proofs  of  my  identity  in  order  to  assure 
myself  that  this  was  not  a  mental  restoration  of  those 
prehistoric  times  about  which  I  had  read,  and  that  I 
was  not  wandering  through  the  realms  of  thought  and 
fancy  instead  of  the  dreary  uplands  of  Persia. 
Yet,  though  we  cannot  say  of  Persia  “  where  every 
prospect  pleases  and  only  man  is  vile,”  it  has  a  re¬ 
markably  fine  climate.  Early  in  December,  on  our 
journey  from  Khoy  to  Djulfa,  we  rode  for  many  hours 
through  fields  of  cotton  filled  with  the  pickers  gath¬ 
ering  the  bolls  into  great  heaps.  In  Urumiah  the  syca¬ 
more  trees  were  just  shedding  their  leaves,  and  roses 
were  in  bloom  the  last  of  November.  The  soil,  with 
propjr  irrigation,  is  productive,  and,  when  Western 
civilization  and  enterprise  have  broken  the  grasp  of 
Islam  and  brought  coal  and  iron  down  from  the  moun¬ 
tains  to  aid  the  agriculturist,  and  Anglo-Saxon  justice 
has  given  him  protection  for  his  property,  then  may 
these  dreary  wastes  blossom  with  fertility  and  breathe 
the  attar  of  roses.  George  donaldson. 
How  to  Sterilize  Milk. 
We  have  had  considerable  to  say  about  the  advan¬ 
tages  of  sterilizing  milk,  and  the  difficulty  of  securing 
reliable  information  concerning  the  process.  Milk 
‘ ‘ sours”  or  ferments 
through  the  action  of  bac¬ 
teria  which  are  minute 
forms  of  life  floating  all 
about  us.  If  these  could 
be  kept  out  of  milk  it 
would  keep  sweet  indefin¬ 
itely.  The  cold  of  the  ice 
chest  or  water  does  not 
kill  the  bacteria,  but 
makes  things  uncomfort¬ 
able  for  them,  so  that 
they  cannot  develop  so 
rapidly,  and  hence  the 
milk  keeps  sweet  for  a 
longer  period.  Boiling 
water  kills  the  bacteria. 
To  “sterilize”  milk  is  to 
raise  it  to  a  high  temper¬ 
ature,  and  thus  kill  the 
bacteria  in  it,  and  then 
seal  it  perfectly,  so  that 
no  more  air  can  enter  with 
fresh  bacteria  tb  develop 
and  “sour”  the  milk.  This 
is  the  theory  of  sterilizing, 
but,  as  we  have  said,  the 
practice  is  difficult,  be¬ 
cause  unclean  milk  is  too 
often  used  and  suitable  ap¬ 
paratus  is  hard  to  obtain. 
At  a  recent  meeting  of 
the  Academy  of  Medi¬ 
cine  in  this  city,  Dr.  Row¬ 
land  G.  Freeman,  who 
has  a  large  hospital  prac¬ 
tice,  described  a  simple  method  of  sterilizing  milk 
on  a  small  scale.  Dr.  Freeman  says  that  the  prac¬ 
tice  has  usually  been  to  heat  milk  to  212  degrees 
Fahrenheit,  and  hold  it  there  from  30  minutes  to 
an  hour  and  a  quarter.  This  sterilized  the  milk  com¬ 
pletely,  but  experiments  showed  that  such  boiled  milk 
was  not  satisfactory  as  food.  It  made  an  excellent 
medicine  for  treatment  of  stomach  disorders,  but  was 
less  nutritious  than  before.  Chemical  analysis  shows 
that  when  heated  above  107  degrees,  milk  passes 
through  changes  which  impair  its  food  value,  while 
completely  ridding  it  of  all  disease  germs.  The 
problem  then  is  to  heat  the  milk  enough  to  destroy  all 
germs  and  bacteria,  and  yet  not  injure  it  as  food. 
Dr  Freeman,  after  repeated  experiments,  concludes 
that  milk  heated  to  138  degrees,  will  be  made  suffi¬ 
ciently  germ-free  for  infants’  use,  and  that  a  tempera¬ 
ture  less  than  176  degrees  will  not  injure  the  milk  for 
food.  The  apparatus  used  by  Dr.  Freeman  is  shown 
at  Fig.  208,  and  is  described  as  follows : 
The  apparatus  consists  of  two  parts,  a  pail  for  the 
water  and  a  receptacle  for  the  bottles  of  milk.  The 
pail  is  a  simple  tin  pail  with  a  cover  ;  there  is  a  groove 
extending  around  the  pail  to  indicate  the  level  to 
which  it  is  to  be  filled  with  water,  and  supports  inside 
for  the  receptacle  for  the  bottles  of  milk  to  rest  on 
The  receptacle  for  the  bottles  of  milk  consists  of  a 
series  of  hollow  zinc  cylinders  fastened  together  ;  this 
fits  into  the  pail  so  that  the  tops  of  the  cylinders  are 
almost  level  with  the  top  of  the  pail.  I  have  experi¬ 
mented  with  other  forms  of  receptacle,  including  an 
