THE LAND 



55 



TUBERS 



Sweet cassava and sweetpotatoes are g^o^v^l 

 along the oblique edges of the garden beds (as are 

 several varieties of peppers) about a dozen of the 

 first and 140 plants of the second in each of most 

 onion tablones in town. They arc planted from 

 shoots, svveetpotatoes some 9 inches apart (usu- 

 ally in December for August harvesting) and 

 sweet cassava about 6 feet apart. Since cassava 

 grows for as long as 2 years, it is planted at any 

 time; the other crops of the field are harvested 

 and the tablones remade while it grows. 



PEPINOS 



Pepinos, with onions, garlic, and beans, are the 

 fourth major truck crop, and a Panajachel special- 

 ty. They are rarely grown in tablones, almost 

 always in individual hills in an open field. They 

 require, like garlic, relatively fresh land, so are not 

 usually planted in remade tablones. They grow 

 from July to June; the crop occupies the soil for a 

 year, therefore, or sometimes even more, since on 

 new land the soil is first prepared in May. After 

 the soil has been turned with a pickax and pulver- 

 ized, and stones and weeds removed, circles 2 to 3 

 feet in diameter are marked off about 2 yards 

 apart and shoots of pejnno bushes inserted in the 

 center of each. At this point a special soup made 

 of the hoofs of cattle is put on each plant. The 

 field is usually fenced. \Ylien the rains stop, the 

 plants must be frequently watered because pepinos 

 are usually grown in sandy soil. Watering is done 

 by flooding the field between the plants, the hills 

 of which are carefully ridged and reridged to keep 

 the bushes growing inward and to keep the water 

 from rumiing off. A monthly weeding adds to 

 the labor required. Plants bear fruit different in 

 both size and number, both varying with the 

 quality of the yield. Results of calculations made 

 with one thorough informant checked so well with 

 other data that I had that I am basing my estimate 

 of yields on the conclusions we reached: 



Pepino yield: 



Best 52,552 large. 



56,594 medium. 

 60,637 small. 



Average 33,249 large. 



30,318 medium. 

 35,270 small. 



Worst 13,946 large. 



4,042 medium. 

 9,903 small. 



The best harvests come on rented land, for renters 

 look for "new" land. On land that has not been 

 planted with pepinos for 2 years, the harvest is 

 average. If land is planted in consecutive years, 

 the harvest will "surely" be poor the second year. 

 (People who do tliis"know no better.") If pepinos 

 are planted too late, I was told, a sickness attacks 

 them and the j-ield is very poor. These rules hold 

 for any year, it was said. 



The list of garden plants cultivated is by no 

 means exliausted; there are a number of herbs such 

 as coriander, rue, mint, and cintula, a few addi- 

 tional vegetables such as peas, tomatoes, and cu- 

 cumbers, and some miscellaneous plants such as 

 strawberries. But those of any considerable 

 economic importance have been discussed, and for 

 the rest the data available are too scant for inclu- 

 sion even if discussion should be warranted. 



COFFEE 



Coffee grown by Indians is found exclusively in 

 the delta, virtually all of it on land that might 

 otherwise be used for truck. The techniques used 

 are similar to those of local Ladinos, which prob- 

 ably do not difi'er much from those practiced by 

 small producers elsewhere in Guatemala. Groves 

 are begun with saplings that are either found in 

 the fields where they have sprouted and grown 

 wild, or have been planted in nurseries. Even 

 when nursery-grown, however, they most fre- 

 quently are planted not from seed but from wild 

 seedlings transplanted to nursery when 2 or 3 

 inches high. The nurseries are simply garden 

 beds less carefully made than for vegetables. 

 The seeds or seedlings are planted from 4 to 7 

 inches apart usually at the beginning of the rainy 

 season. One weeding is usually required. Dur- 

 ing the ensuing dry season the bed is watered 

 twice weekly. At the beginning of the following 

 rainy season, the saplings, now a foot or two high 

 and with four or five branches, are ready for trans- 

 planting. The bed is flooded for an hour or two, 

 the young bushes carefully pulled out, and the 

 roots wrapped in banana "bark" (layers of the 

 trunk) and bound with fibers of the same. The 

 bushes are frequently sold to Ladinos. 



Meanwhile, in tlie field destined to receive the 

 coffee, holes about 2 feet square and deep are dug 

 at intervals of from 5 to 7 feet. The bushes are 

 unwrapped, carefully set into the holes, and the 

 earth stamped down around them. Other trees, 



