Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1991, Qupperneq 142

146
FAROESE SPADE-CULTIVATION . .
ed from its base by a horizontal cut and
divided into 30 by 30 cm ’slates’. Afterwards,
fertilizer is brought to the field, usually car-
ried on the back in a special type of square
basket, leypur with a bottom flap that
swings open like a door (see fig.4 and for
further details Jóhannes av Skarði, 1964 and
1965). As it is very precious, the manure
(mostly cow dung or mixtures thereoO is
meticulously distributed onto the grass-
surface of the teigar.
During the next stage, the vertical soil
prism from above which the first turf was re-
moved, is worked. The soil is cut almost ver-
tically into slate-like blocks of soil, that are
placed evenly on the manured field surface,
being spread alternatively onto the ridges to
the left and right of the digger. Hence the
surfaces of the two neighbouring teigar be-
come covered with a dark layer of soil, uni-
formly covering the manure and grass on the
top of the ridges, with the exception of the
bottom part. Into this, a square of the grassy
edge loosened during the very first opera-
tion, is turned back and the turf of the soil
prism is placed on its top, forming a very co-
herent new surface.
When all the rectangular columns been
worked similarly, and the whole surface is
granulated by fine hoeing, saksing, the field
is ready to be sown, raked with a ri'va, and
flattened with a kind of bat, the klárur,
shown in fig.5. For saksing most often an
old and worn haki was used and for raking a
ríva that did not look much like a modern
rake.
To complete the cultivation cycle, harvest
was usually done manually by using a knife,
and the sheaves of barley, bundi, tied with a
straw-band, were placed at the edge of the
teigur for initial drying. Before the barley,
korn, was stored in the barn, it was dried -
often for long period- in the field in heaps,
skrúgv.
The field preparation, velting, was a
laborious task. Still, it was claimed that one
man in one day could dig an area that would
yield one barrel of korn (approximately 400
sq.m. according to H.J. Jacobsen, 1958). He
would have to be strong and skilled to do so!
The Functions of the Reinavelta
The function of the field form.
Ecologically, the reason for the existence of
reinavelta is the position of the Faroes close
to the polar limit of cereal cultivation. At the
same time, the extreme maritime type of cli-
mate poses other problems for the presump-
tuous cultivator.