A Botanical and Economic Study. 139 



"The food of the poor Indian was maize." ■ " Among the 

 Indians of Hnancavilcas, the best-flavored maize bread is 

 made in all the Indies." ■ " As no maize can be raised at the 

 elevation of Callao the people obtained their supply by the 

 Titimaes, who brought up loads of maize, cacao and fruits of 

 all kinds, besides plenty of honey" (Cieza, ch. 99). The 

 Incas extended the maize land over the newly conquered 

 provinces by the construction of irrigating canals and ter- 

 races. 11 



Garcilasso de la Vega, the last of the Incas, whose accounts 

 are highly overdrawn and must be received with caution, says' 

 that the palace gardens of the Incas were ornamented with 

 sold and silver figures of maize, and in one case he tells us 

 that there was an entire corn-field of considerable size, repre- 

 senting maize in its erect and natural shape. 



Division 2. Aboriginal Cultivation. — The Indians of 

 North America followed very closely one method in the 

 sowing and cultivation of their maize ; in the hot, arid districts 

 the practice necessarily differed from that pursued in more 

 favored localities, but broadly speaking the methods were 



one. 



The Navajos and Mojaves, of New Mexico, planted their 

 corn with a pointed stick."' The Moquis, of Arizona, in rais- 

 ing corn, are beset with annoyances, like drought and flood. 

 The soil is thin and sandy, with very little moisture at the 

 top, because of the evaporation induced by the heat and dry- 

 ness of the atmosphere. The under strata of clay and sand- 

 stone, however, retain the moisture a long 1 ime. The Moqui 

 farmer consequently buries the seed deep in the ground. He 

 takes his planting stick (see illustration) in his right hand, 

 and presses on the horizontal bar with his foot, making a 



1 Pizarro, P., Relacion de la Descubrimento y Conqueste Peru, 1529, 379. 



'-' Cieza, Travels, 1532, ch. 114. 



3 Garcilasso de la Vega, 1609, Bk. v, ch. 5. 



* Garcilasso, Com. Real, Lib. 8, cap. 26; Sarmiento Relacion, MSS., cap. 24; Sturte- 

 vant, New York Agric Soc, 1878, 45. 



5 Emory, Rep. U. S. and Mexican Bound. Surv., 1, 112; Ind. Off. Rep. Spec Com. ( 

 1867, 337: Merriwether, Ind. Off. Rep., 1854, 172 



10 



