CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF SOUTHWEST GUATEMALA—McBRYDE 4( 
noted for avocados. Momostenango is the chief 
source of this fruit in the markets of the Quezalte- 
nango—Totonicapan Valley region. The best citrus 
fruits are grown between about 1,500 and 1,800 m. 
‘(4,921 and 5,905 ft.) elevations, near the upper limits 
of their yield. The Lake Atitlan region, especially 
Tzununa and Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan, produces a 
surplus of fine oranges and other citrus fruits, which 
go in trade both to Highland and Lowland markets 
(pl. 27, f). (For types of fruit, centers of produc- 
tion, environmental requirements, and movement in 
trade, see pp. 144, 146, 147.) 
Vegetables.—Vegetables, early introduced from 
Europe, illustrate particularly well a high degree of 
specialization. Only three areas in the entire region 
produce vegetables in large quantities. These are 
Solola, Almolonga, and Aguacatan. Solola (2,150 m. 
or 7,054 ft.) and Almolonga (2,200 m. or 7,218 ft.) 
produce more onions than anything else; no garlic 
at all is grown, as these elevations are too high and 
cold. In Aguacatan (1,700 m. or 5,577 ft.) with a 
warmer climate, garlic is dominant, and in Pana- 
jachel (1,550 m. or 5,085 it.) garlic and onions, 
equally important, are the two leading crops. (For 
lists of crops and their production, see pp. 30, 31, 32; 
for trade movement, see map 10.) Unlike those of 
other garden municipios, Aguacatan Indians trans- 
port most of their vegetables and flowers by truck. 
Since Ladinos are the principal consumers of these 
goods, they are sold primarily in the larger towns, 
where Ladinos are most numerous. 
Lowland products to Highlands.—The out- 
standing Lowland and piedmont commodities sold 
in Highland markets are coffee en oro (raw ‘“‘bean’”’), 
panela (unrefined sugar blocks), salt, and dried 
chile. These are transported in large quantities by 
truck. In San Francisco el Alto as many as three 
trucks loaded with panela from the Colomba and 
San Felipe areas appeared in the market during 
1936 (pl. 36). This was said to be the first year 
panela was sold in the market from a truck, but most 
of it was still handled by the 50 to 60 individual 
Indian vendors who appear every Friday. Mules 
are also used to transport much of the panela and 
coffee. Though panela is generally marketed 
separately, a lesser amount of coffee is often sold 
with it, as in the case of the San Jorge (Solola 
municipio) Indians, who sell the coffee ground and 
roasted, mainly at Solola (pl. 12, d). Coffee is 
generally handled in small amounts, along with 
dried chile (especially Cobdn and chocolate), salt, 
panela, cotton (white and brown), rice, garlic, anotto, 
ginger root and other spices, cacao, incense, cigars, 
cigarettes, trinkets, small buns, candles, peanuts, 
hats, ropes, threads, seeds, sewing accessories, medic- 
inal herbs, occasionally onions, and other mis- 
cellaneous items (pl. 14, b). Though few vendors 
(mostly itinerant Totonicapan and Chichicastenango 
merchants) try to carry all of these, many of them 
will sell over half, while they usually specialize in 
from two to five, with very little of anything else. 
Totonicapan men, and some from San Cristobal, 
Quezaltenango, and neighboring towns, cover the 
western section, and Chichicastenango men operate 
in the eastern section of Southwest Guatemala. In 
the larger markets many Lowland products are 
handled separately in quantity. Besides panela, men- 
tioned above, coffee is sold in hundred-pound sacks 
at San Francisco el Alto by 35 to 40 men (San 
Francisco and Totonicapan) ; chile, by 25 men of 
Santa Maria Chiquimula; salt, by 35 to 40 women 
and men, local and from neighboring towns. In the 
large daily markets such as Quezaltenango and Hue- 
huetenango these products are offered for sale in 
almost comparable quantities (pl. 38, 0). 
Lowland fruits, especially bananas of various sorts, 
and also plantains, coconuts, pineapples, nances, 
oranges, and papayas, along with manioc, edible 
pacayas (palm flowers; see p. 146), sugarcane, and 
cacao, are sold in much the same manner as the 
mixed Lowland commodities described in the pre- 
ceding paragraphs. They are carried up from the 
Lowlands commonly on the backs of individual 
Indian merchants rather than in trucks. Men of 
Chichicastenango, Totonicapan, and the Quezalte- 
nango area handle them, too, but more important by 
far in this trade are the Atitecos, visiting markets 
north and east of Lake Atitlan (pl. 23, d), and the 
Xankatales (Nahuala—Santa Catarina), northwest of 
the Lake. 
The Highland—Lowland exchange of maize has 
been treated of in earlier sections (pp. 23 and 74). 
Livestock (map 13).—The livestock trade is in 
large measure interregional, especially in the case of 
cattle and pigs. Sheep and relatively few goats are 
raised in the higher mountain regions and sold in 
neighboring Highland markets, so that they remain 
mostly above 2,000 m. 
Sheep.—San Francisco el Alto is an important 
sheep market (pl. 35, c, d), as are San Juan 
Ostuncalco, Cantel, and Quezaltenango in the 
high valley region, and Chiché farther east. Usually 
