DOI article:
Lerche, Grith: Observations on harvesting with sickles in Iran
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.48998#0039
HARVESTING IN IRAN
37
Fig. 7. The collector has gathered several handfuls of
reaped wheat amongst the thorny bushes. He uses a
wooden pitchfork, “Oshin”, in his left hand and a
wooden hook, “Kelag”, in his right. At Derjesi.
Fig. 7. Der Sammler hat mehrere Biischel gemahten
Weizens zwischen den Dornenbiischen gesammelt. Er
beniitzt eine holzerne Heugabel, »Oshin«, die er in
der linken, und eine holzerne Sichel, »Kelag«, die er
in der rechten Hand halt. Fot. Ax. S.
One of the two harvesters reaped 1,3x8 m
per minute or 10,4 square metres - i.e. 624 square
metres per hour or 4992 square metres per 8
hours. Theoretically then, he could harvest 1 ha.
of land in two days. The other harvester was left-
handed and because the sickle was intended for
the right-hand, he did not work so quickly. On
this area of 10,4 square metres, five handfuls were
harvested, with c. 150 stalks in each. The reaped
handfuls lay within a mutual interval of 1,6 to 2,2
m on the 8 m long distance.
The two men with the large sickles, Mangal,
worked their way along each separate balk, mov-
ing in a squatting position (fig. 1). An old man
also harvested along a balk in a similar position,
working more slowly and using a small serrated
sickle, rather like a pruning hook. This sickle was
called “jDo'z’, or, in the dialect of Bam c. 270
km south-east of Sirjan, “Dorz” (fig. 5). The Do'z
is also used in harvesting barley and other green
crops. Both sickles are used for cutting.
There was an elderly woman using a Do'z, but
she had no balk or bed of her own. She cut the
straw that the two young men with balanced
sickles could not get at because of the many
thorny bushes that grew among the grain. Five
women and five little girls carefully picked up
every ear that was dropped and they plucked the
single stalks that had escaped the harvesters.
Around her neck, each woman had tied a large
handkerchief that hung like a bag on her chest,
and into this bag she put the collected ears (fig.
6). In Israel, according to ancient custom glean-
ing was the privilege or right of the landless, wid-
ows, orphans and others without a source of
sustenance - a kind of social relief. The gleaning
near Sirjan can hardly be explained in that way.4
A fourth man gathered the reaped “handfuls”
of corn, using to collect them a wooden pitch-
fork, “OshirT, in his left hand, and a wooden
hook, “Kelag”, in his right (fig. 7). With these
implements he could gather several handfuls,
which were not bound into sheaves, and carry
them to a net with a wide mesh, lying open on
the ground. When the heap was big enough he
tied the four corners of the net together, placed
the load on the back of a donkey, and carried it
off to the threshing ground.
The next day several peasants harvested wheat
in a large area of irrigated fields on the plain
north-west of Sirjan. In the surrounding district,
13-20 threshing grounds with stacks could al-
ready be seen. This group consisted of peasants
from the village of Barbad, and their procedure
was similar to that of the peasants from Derjesi.
37
Fig. 7. The collector has gathered several handfuls of
reaped wheat amongst the thorny bushes. He uses a
wooden pitchfork, “Oshin”, in his left hand and a
wooden hook, “Kelag”, in his right. At Derjesi.
Fig. 7. Der Sammler hat mehrere Biischel gemahten
Weizens zwischen den Dornenbiischen gesammelt. Er
beniitzt eine holzerne Heugabel, »Oshin«, die er in
der linken, und eine holzerne Sichel, »Kelag«, die er
in der rechten Hand halt. Fot. Ax. S.
One of the two harvesters reaped 1,3x8 m
per minute or 10,4 square metres - i.e. 624 square
metres per hour or 4992 square metres per 8
hours. Theoretically then, he could harvest 1 ha.
of land in two days. The other harvester was left-
handed and because the sickle was intended for
the right-hand, he did not work so quickly. On
this area of 10,4 square metres, five handfuls were
harvested, with c. 150 stalks in each. The reaped
handfuls lay within a mutual interval of 1,6 to 2,2
m on the 8 m long distance.
The two men with the large sickles, Mangal,
worked their way along each separate balk, mov-
ing in a squatting position (fig. 1). An old man
also harvested along a balk in a similar position,
working more slowly and using a small serrated
sickle, rather like a pruning hook. This sickle was
called “jDo'z’, or, in the dialect of Bam c. 270
km south-east of Sirjan, “Dorz” (fig. 5). The Do'z
is also used in harvesting barley and other green
crops. Both sickles are used for cutting.
There was an elderly woman using a Do'z, but
she had no balk or bed of her own. She cut the
straw that the two young men with balanced
sickles could not get at because of the many
thorny bushes that grew among the grain. Five
women and five little girls carefully picked up
every ear that was dropped and they plucked the
single stalks that had escaped the harvesters.
Around her neck, each woman had tied a large
handkerchief that hung like a bag on her chest,
and into this bag she put the collected ears (fig.
6). In Israel, according to ancient custom glean-
ing was the privilege or right of the landless, wid-
ows, orphans and others without a source of
sustenance - a kind of social relief. The gleaning
near Sirjan can hardly be explained in that way.4
A fourth man gathered the reaped “handfuls”
of corn, using to collect them a wooden pitch-
fork, “OshirT, in his left hand, and a wooden
hook, “Kelag”, in his right (fig. 7). With these
implements he could gather several handfuls,
which were not bound into sheaves, and carry
them to a net with a wide mesh, lying open on
the ground. When the heap was big enough he
tied the four corners of the net together, placed
the load on the back of a donkey, and carried it
off to the threshing ground.
The next day several peasants harvested wheat
in a large area of irrigated fields on the plain
north-west of Sirjan. In the surrounding district,
13-20 threshing grounds with stacks could al-
ready be seen. This group consisted of peasants
from the village of Barbad, and their procedure
was similar to that of the peasants from Derjesi.