Note 10 — Economic Life
Reading edition
As the grain begins to ripen, the land is allowed to dry, and when all is ready for the cutting, the people put on their best garments and go to the fields. Each stalk is cut separately by means of a crescent-shaped blade (lakom or lakᴇm) attached to a small wooden cylinder (Fig. 14, Nos. 3–3a). This handle is held between the thumb, first and fifth fingers, while the stalk is caught by the second and third fingers, Page 392and is pulled inward against the steel blade.10 Many workers grasp the stalk near the head with the left hand, while the cutting blade is used with the right.