THE MENNONITE BROTHERHOOD IN RUSSIA (1789 - 1910), P. M. Friesen, 1911

fed hay, straw, 88 and chaff during the winter, and live off the grass in the meadow the rest of the time [but what excellent meadows!], he was quite satisfied. If, with his West Prussian “marshland” plow, he had plowed a small piece of land, called a "Gewende,” some eighty to one-hundred fathoms long, he would then hitch his horses to his harrow with its wooden tines to level what he had plowed before proceeding to plow some more. Generally the owner himself walked behind the plow after he had “thrown” a number of handfuls of grain from his seed -bag (a linen bag slung across chest and shoulders) which he had at the ready. Some farmers were more well-to-do, owning a fifth horse and hiring a second driver who would be harrowing all the time while the other was plowing. The farm wagon, which our fathers had brought with them from Prussia, was, according to our current standards, a clumsy, unmanage- able vehicle. These wagons had very thick wooden axles, hubs that were two feet long and very thick rims. The box-part of the wagon was made of the same kind of boards now found on wagons used for hauling manure. But these wagons were not only used for hauling manure and grain, for when the farmer, together with wife and children, wanted to go to church, a wedding, etc., shorter boards were simply laid across the side-boards for seats and the family drove solemnly off to its destination. 3. At harvest-time most of the farmers had to depend upon the scythe for cutting their grain and many even for cutting their grass. Where sons and daughters had not yet grown up, many a housewife had to take their infants and other small children with them into the field where, all day long, she would follow her husband, tying the cut grain into sheaves, later stacking these in shocks together with her husband. When the sons and daughters had grown up they took the place of their mother and father. At the age of fourteen they began to regard 178 IN RUSSIA 1789-1860 c) Mennonite Farmers and their Russian Servants (the oldest man was still a serf). themselves as fully competent workers. Children aged ten and younger would pull a “drag-rake,” a rake about five feet wide, in front of which they were hitched, in order to collect the scattered stems of grain. Constant injury to their bare feet from the grain and weed stubble was the worst part of this work. Bringing in the hay was much more enjoyable since the hayfields were softer and the temperature cooler. However, even the more difficult harvest work was done with more or less pleasure. The old folks knew well for whom they were working and the sons and daughters considered it an honor,— for John (“Jehan”) to be a full-fledged cutter ("en Hauer”), for Tina ("Trienke") to be a full-fledged binder (“ne Bingersche”) who followed on the heels of father or brother and with flushed face and sparkling eyes teasingly called out: “Father,” or “John, let’s have more!” “Well,