THE LAND 



49 



On new land in the hills, the trees and brush are 

 cut away with machetes during March and early 

 April, and burned over during the last of April, 

 when it is ready for planting. On land used the 

 year before, the soil is thorouglily hoed and the 

 weeds and old cornstalks piled and burned. 

 Ashes are thought to be good fertilizer. Seed 

 has been kept on the ear from the year before, 

 carefully selected by picking over. Seeds from 

 the same piece of land are usually planted each 

 year, for each altitude and region has its appropri- 

 ate variety. After the first rains of May, a 

 number of men plant together, each with a small- 

 bladcd hoe and a small bag in which the seed is 

 carried. A 6-inch hole is dug with the hoe and 

 five or six seeds are carefully placed in it, after 

 which the hole is covered over with the hoe and the 

 earth patted down. Every fifth or sixth plant, 

 chosen so they will not form rows, is planted also 

 with three or four beans. *' Squash are planted 

 (between the corn plants) only after the corn is up. 



On a slope, planting is begun at the top, and the 

 rows follow the contoiir lines, apart either a vara 

 and a half (4.1 feet) or a vara and three-quarters 

 (4.8 feet), apparently depending on the practice 

 of the farmer rather than on the type of soil. 

 The distance between plants in a row is the 

 same as between rows. Some Indians say that on 

 new land, known to be richer, the distances are 

 reduced by a foot, but the few data I have do not 

 seem to bear this out. I have seen corn growing 

 on slopes as steep as about 45°. In irregular 

 fields, odd niches of soil are utilized simply by 

 planting as many stalks as the space permits; no 

 land is ordinarily neglected if it can be planted. 



Until the seed sprouts, at least, the fields are 

 carefully guarded against gracklcs, mice, etc. 

 Scarecrows and traps of various kinds are used ; but 

 children are frequently on the field a good part of 

 the time. Seeds which do not sprout are replaced. 

 After the danger of small animals is past, the milpa 

 need be visited only every few days. The field is 

 usually cultivated twice, sometimes tlu-ee times: 

 when the plants are about a yard high, the field is 

 weeded and the earth lulled around each plant to a 

 height of about a foot; then with the second weed- 

 s' There is no fixed pbn for the distribution of corn and beans. The planter 

 actually places about 2 pounds or corn and a half pound of beans (foT a cuerda — 

 0.178 acre) in his bag and draws out a handful for planting. If there happen 

 to be less than five or more than six liernels of corn, he malces a correction. If 

 there are one, two, or three beans, he plants them— provided that he has not 

 planted beans in the immediate vicinity. What goes into each hole, is 

 tberefore, partly a matter of chance. 



ing (when the "points" begin to form on the 

 plants) the mound is built to about a foot and a 

 half; at the same time the leaves of the bottom of 

 the stalks are often cut away. Like the planting, 

 each cultivation is done by a group of men with 

 hoes. When the ears are formed, some are 

 usually picked for eating or sale and the leaves 

 around them cut for use. Wlien the ears are 

 fairly ripe, the tops of the stalks may be cut off for 

 use as fodder. Now in delta fields the stalks are 

 nicked above the middle and the tops bent over so 

 that the ears point downward. The tall corn in 

 the delta is particularly vulnerable to wind; the 

 reason given for "doubling" it, however, is that it 

 protects the ears from the birds and the last rains 

 which otherwise rot the grain. While the grain 

 ripens, the field is especially protected from the 

 larger animals: deadfall traps are used. 



In December, the men harvest, again work in 

 groups, each witii his shoulder bag, a large mesh 

 bag,'" and a harvesting nail, a 6- to 8-inch hard- 

 wood or bone spike with which he separates the 

 ear from the husk to remove the bare ear. Large 

 ears are taken with the husk. Harvesting begins 

 at the upper edge of a hill so that ears that fall 

 can be retrieved later (the poor later are permitted 

 to glean anything left). The harvesters carry 

 the corn back at noon and at night, emptying 

 the bags in the courtyard of the house where the 

 ears dry for several days before being stacked on 

 the ear in the granary. Practically every part of 

 the corn plant, from the stalks to the silk, has 

 important uses which need not be detailed here. 

 Of course the grain itself is the basic food staple. 



CORN YIELDS 



The corn yield varies not only from year to 

 year but with difTering terrain and soil fertility, 

 hence also on the length of time the land has been 

 in use. Indians ordinarily report their harvest 

 in number of bags whose content varies with their 

 size and, since they are filled with whole ears, 

 with the quantity of grain on an ear of given size. 

 Since the land harvested is also not exactly 

 measured, it is little wonder that ofiicial statistics 

 (not themselves too carefully gathered) should 



" Marie of maguey fiber in towns outside of Panajachel, and bought in 

 the markets. The bags are closed at both ends by means of drawstrings. 

 They differ in size, depending on the number of meshes and the size of each. 

 According to intormimts, those most commonly used in Panajachel are of 

 meshes 50 by 10 or 5f) by 9. Some are 40 by 10 and 36 by 12. One informant 

 uses bags of 56 by 12, but he says these are uncommon. 



