CHAPTER X 



MEANS OF SUBSISTENCE 

 AGRICULTURE 



GENERAL REMARKS 



Agriculture is in a very primitive condition. It is true that most of the Christianized 

 Man6bos living in the river settlements have a few hundred abakd plants each, yet the care of 

 them is left practically to nature, their productivity depending upon the soil. But the true 

 mountaineer plants nothing except the bare necessities of life — rice and camotes, some taro, 1 a 

 little sugarcane in season, a little patch of maize, and sometimes ginger and other spices. 



His system of agriculture is in perfect adaptation to his social and political institutions. 

 Living as he does in a state of eternal vigilance, and knowing that the first death in the house or 

 an unlucky combination of omens or the menaces of his enemies may drive him from his home 

 and from his farm, he is content with a small clearing. He builds no embankments, no irrigation 

 ditches, no terraces. He has no plows, nor draft animals. He selects a patch of the virgin forest 

 every year, and with the bblo and rude axe, clears and cultivates the land. For a permanent 

 crop he keeps his camote patch, on which he may plant a few bananas and also invariably a 

 sprinkling of sugarcane. Scattered around this small farm may be found some native tomatoes, 

 more often planted by the birds than by the hand of man, a few ginger and other plants that 

 serve to season the food. A betel-nut palm is planted occasionally, and some betel leaf, but with 

 these exceptions no trees, not even those whose fruit is dearly relished, are planted. 



THE TIME AND PLACE FOR PLANTING RICE 



The time for planting is at hand when the voice of the bird ~kuahdu first breaks from the 

 forest and the leaves of lanlpau tree begin to fall. 2 Then the faimer hies to the woods to select 

 the site for the rice field, calling upon the omen bird to direct him in his choice. Of course he is 

 governed in his selection by reasons of proximity to water, safety from floods, distance from the 

 settlement, etc., but the omen bird's cry must be favorable. Having decided on the location he 

 makes an offering of betel nut to the tagbdnua and to such other spirits as may dwell in the 

 neighborhood. This act of homage is performed in order to make friends with these forest 

 lords so that they may not be displeased on account of the usurpation of a part of their domain. 

 Then he selects a spot for the house and clears it, if he has time, but if not, he cuts down a few 

 small trees as a public notice of his proprietorship. Special attention is here called to the fact 

 that the spot selected must be one of virgin forest. The Manobo never plants his rice in the same 

 place during two successive years, because it would not yield a plentiful harvest. 



The following day, or when all is ready, he and his household begin the work by erecting a 

 small shack sufficiently large to accommodate them. In the middle of the farm 3 is erected a 

 small platform for the seed and, near the house, the usual offering house 4 and other sacrificial 

 perquisites. Then he is ready to perform the rice-planting sacrifice. 



THE SOWING CEREMONY 6 



Taphagan is a female diuata under whose special superintendence are placed the rice crop 

 and all that pertains to it. She is thought to guard the crop against man and beast, even reveal- 



1 In districts close to the Mandaya country the use of taro is more common, but even in the upper Agiisan it is not a permanent crop. The 

 Mandayas subsist to a great extent on it whenever the soil is adapted to its growth. Taro is the Colocasia antiquorum. 



> Certain trees, such as the ni-to' and the oa-rd-fro', begin to fruit at this season, and are also signs of the approach of the rice-planting season. 



1 V-ma'. 



< Ka-md-lig. 



' The tip-hag sacrifice 



73 



