l82 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I33 



the land and another did the seeding ; each furnished two sacks of 

 wheat, that is, half of the seed needed. "And today we harvested the 

 grain, six sacks in all — a profit of one sack for each of us. It is a 

 poor harvest." Another informant owned land but no oxen and no 

 seed. He had to give up his oxen as payment on a mortgage. A 

 neighbor plowed the land and furnished the seed. Both men together 

 seeded the land, and together they harvested it. Each got one-half of 

 the harvest. When I asked a man if his wife seeded the land that 

 belonged to her, he answered somewhat indignantly, "The land may 

 belong to her, but after all she does not rule over it; the man does 

 that!" 



Fields and gardens, it is believed by many, should be planted when 

 the moon is waning. "It is the only time that the moon has strength." 

 If rain interferes when the moon is waning, planting should then be 

 done between the first quarter and full moon ; never at full moon, new 

 moon, or when there is no moon. 



Complaints were made in all areas against small green-colored par- 

 rots (choroy, yawilma) that come in large flocks, practically every 

 year, immediately after the wheat has been planted, and do much 

 damage by pecking the kernels from the soil. Small children are sent 

 to run back and forth in the fields to keep the parrots on the wing. 

 "Finally the parrots get angry, give much back talk and fly away," 

 said a little girl, quite amused. 



Wheat, in the early days, was harvested by plucking the ears by 

 hand, as previously described. Today it is cut with an iron sickle 

 secured in a wooden handle. The spread of the opening of a sickle, 

 observed in use in Conaripe area, was 7 inches ; the handle 5 inches 

 in length. The cutting edge of the blade had been serrated with a 

 knife and was kept keen with a porous stone of volcanic origin found 

 in the area. 



The one who cuts the wheat grasps a half dozen stalks, more or 

 less, with one hand a little below the ear (with little finger toward 

 the earth), applies the sickle about 6 inches below the little finger, 

 bends the stalks over the sickle away from the body, pulls the sickle 

 toward the body, cuts the ears off, and lays them to the side, on stub- 

 bles. When enough grain has been cut to fill two outstretched arms, 

 someone passes along, piles it up, and carries it by armfuls to an 

 oxcart (pi. 35, /, 2). This is done if the grain is thoroughly ripe ; if it 

 is not thoroughly ripe, and there is no rain forecast, it may be cut one 

 day and hauled away the following. All members of the family, in- 

 cluding small children, assist in harvesting. Anyone having a right 

 to a share in the harvest of a particular field will assist in the reaping. 



