Russian Peasant Women.

Auckland Star, Volume XIX, Issue 142, 16 June 1888, Page 3 (Supplement)

Russian Peasant Women.

The women in Russia do two-thirds of the work in the country. There are immense wheat, oat, and hay-fields every where, arid in August there is great actiyity in the country. The large majority of persons at work are women. They wear short dresses, plain and straight, and a long piece of cloth over their heads, like Arabs. The wheat is sown broadcast, and if not nut by the women with sickles, is harvested with the old-fashioned scythe, which is a twopound snead and a broad, short blade. From the snead up to the handle there is a wooden bow, something like in appearance half of a heavy barrel-hoop. This bow keeps the wheat, &c, from falling back over the scythe-handle and scattering. I have never yet seen a mau who would deign to gather up, bind, and stack the wheat or oats when once it was felled. The women must do this while the men do the " gentlemanly " work, although I have seen many women cutting grain with the scythe. The neighbours club together in harvest and help one another. A Russian harvesting rendezvous is quite lively, and is the scene of a motley crowd. The old men atid'young, boys-and girls, with their mothers, grandmothers, and aged women assemble at daybreak. There are a number of horses on which are carried water, food, and extra implements. The horses : th 6 boys and men ride, while the women walk. They always carry the scythes, forks, and rakes back and forth each day, and work as long as there is daylight; and since it is daybreak at 3 a.m.; and not dark until 9.30 p.m., the hours of labour are long. — Moscow Letter.