:^ i^f- 







•>»^^ ^^•^■». 



Growing the potato in Peru, its original home. The photograph shows a potato field at 13,000 feet 

 elevation. Potatoes grown in Peru are always of small size. They are prepared for keeping over the season 

 by a process of freezing and drying. The Indians of the high Andes are an agricultural people. They cannot 

 raise corn as in lower altitudes but replace it with barley. Men take a share of the work in the fields with the 

 women 



Stirring a pot of chicha. — What may truly be called a national drink is made from corn, which is boiled, 

 dried in the sun. pulverized between stones and finally brought again to a boil with sugar. As an early step 

 in the process portions of the boiled corn are masticated and returned to the pot, the addition of saliva hastening 

 the fermentation. 



Drinking chicha and chewing coca leaves are the two indulgences of the South American Indian 



31 



