The Pearl of Asia/Chapter 31

by Jacob T. Child

Native Bullock Carts and Ox Yokes.

XXXI.
Siamese Ploughs, Ox-yokes and
Harrows.

A native plough is not worthy of the name. They are of two kinds, one designed to be drawn by a single buffalo, and the other by a yoke of oxen. The difference between them is mainly in the length of the beam. The plough for a single buffalo has a beam only about four feet long; but the beam for a yoke of oxen is from 10 to 12 feet in length, proceeding forward from the handle with an upward curve, then downward, and then again upward to a slender and graceful point which is seen above the heads of the oxen, and 18 or 20 inches ahead of them. This long beam saves the necessity of having any rope or chain to draw the plough. The yoke is attached to it by means of a rope passing through an auger hole in it and around wooden pins in the plough beam some three feet [rom its anterior end. The end where it curves above the heads of the oxen serves an important purpose aside from mere fancy. Cords passing from the nostrils of each ox is made fast to it, with sufficient tightness to keep the heads of the cattle quite elevated, making them, it is said, much more manageable than without sueh an expedient. But for it, they could not be kept in the track marked out for them, as they lose all recollection of duty in their hunting for something to eat as they plod along. Such appears not to be the weakness of the buffalo, and consequently needing no such martingales to keep his head up, he is hitched to a plough with a short beam and draws it by means of rope traces passing from a rude whippletree to a wooden yoke fixed on his neck by a rope in place of our ox bow. The yoke is in the form of a crescent with its extremities curving a little outward forming a small knob. To these knobs the traces are tied. You will see the buffalo going along with great apparent carelessness, always holding his head near the ground, snapping up here and there a mouthful of grass, and yet never losing the furrow by which he is to walk. The only trouble seems to be that he will halt a little to get what he wishes to eat. He, as well as the oxen, is guided by reins fastened to his nostrils.

A yoke designed for a pair of oxen is often a simple straight and rounded stick 2 1/2 inches in diameter and 3 1/2 feet long. Some of them are more tasty by having a slight bend downward in their middle with a little enlargement there for an auger hole for the rope of the plough or the tongue of a cart to be attached, a slight curve upward and then downward for the necks of the oxen, ending in a little curve upward. The neck of each ox is confined to its place by means of two straight wooden pins three-quarters of an inch in diameter and a foot long, passing through the yoke in the place of a bow, being less open at the top than at the bottom; and then small cords, passing under the neck tied to the upper ends of the pins, complete all the purposes of an ox-bow.

The two kinds of ploughs are about equally strong, but neither of them strong enough to stand a hard pull from a yoke of ordinary w estern oxen. The one for a buffalo would not usually weigh more than 30 lbs. Its runner and mould board is a natural crotch being one and the same stick, the shorter branch of the crotch serving for the mould board, and the longer branch for the runner. The latter is about iwo feet long by 10 inches round. It comes to a small point at its nose fitted for the socket of the ploughshare. The latter, but a little larger than a large human hand, is made of cast-iron the shape of half of a large ovate leaf cut square off in the middle. Its upper plane is flat, inclining a very little to the right hand when in its placo. It bulges out on the under side to form a flattened socket to receive the nose of the runner. It is never fastened in its place excepting by a close fit, their owners wishing to have them so that they may be knocked off at night and carried home to secure them from thieves.

The mould board, if such it can be called, is only of the same width of the runner, but made thinner, curving backward and upward about 12 inches. It has a slight inclination to the right hand to favor the turning of the clods to that side rather than the other. Being a natural branch of the runner it needs nothing to strengthen it. The hinder end of the beam curves down and is framed into the back end of the runner. The handle of the plough (for there are never two) is a natural crook forming a large segment of a circle four feet long, passes through the beam just behind the mould board, and is framed in the runner near the acute angle made by the two.

Now such is all there is of a Siamese plough, the wood part costing only 75 cents, and the iron 16 cents. It cuts a furrow 2 inches deep and from 5 to 6 inches wide. We should judge that only about half of the clods it breaks up are tuned over by it. It does its work very imperfectly at the best.

The natives plough in the same way as we do in Amcrica, going round and round a part of the lot or the whole, if it be but small, until it is all cut up. The teams always have rope reins fastened to their nostrils, and these the ploughmen take in their left hand while they hold the plough with the other.

The harrow is simply a large wooden rake, consisting of a rounded stick of tough wood 3 inches in diameter, having 10 or 12 teeth. It has a hoop shape handle for the convenience of lifting it up to shake off grass and stubble that get entangled in its teeth, and for bearing down to give it more execution when needed. Its tongue is made of two small bamboos and extends far enough ahead to admit of tying to it the cords from the nostrils of the oxen and foroing them to hold up their heads. The pitch-fork used in handling rice and gruss has but one prong, yet they get along rapidly with it. Amcrican hatchets, hoes and axes are coming into use and find ready sale in the bazars.