56 



THE LAND 



including banana and othor fruit trees, but es- 

 pecially silk-oak, are planted from 10 to 15 feet 

 apart, in boles tbat arc a little larger than those for 

 coffee. Silk-oak seedUngs are sometimes planted 

 in nurseries, but most trees are simply traiisplantcd 

 from their wild state. Bananas, of course, are 

 easily planted from shoots. 



\^^Jen the coffee bushes are still young, corn is 

 frequently grown on tiie same land. Occasionally, 

 vegetables are. But after the second year the 

 amount of shade makes this imju-acticable. Some 

 people occasionally water tiic young bushes. In 

 the third year there are some berries, and the an- 

 nual work of caring for the grov(> and harvesting 

 the berries has begun. Twice yearly, once in the 

 rainy season and once just before the harvest, the 

 grove is weeded and cleaned; the underbrush is 

 removed from between the rows so tiiat berries 

 fallen during the harvest arc more easily retrieveil. 

 Men, Vvomen, ami children alike do the harvesting, 

 which begins in November and continues tlu'ough 

 January. No special tools arc used, except a 

 hooked pole to pull down pliable branches antl a 

 ladder used by children. The lierrics are picked 

 one-by-one, carefully, or (when the worker is i)aid 

 by the quantity harvested) carelessly by running 

 the hand down tlu^ branch. They arc collected 

 in baskets or bags. The same grove must be 

 picked over several times as the berries ripen. 



To remove the beans from the pulp, women use 

 the grinding stone; but many families own hand 

 pulpuig machines and othere rent them by the 

 day. The beans are then placed in earthenware 

 pots buried in the ground. The ne.xt day water 

 is added. On the third day the beans arc placed 

 m baskets, washed, and then sumied on mats for 

 about 3 days. Then they are reaily to be sold. 

 Alternatively, they may be shelled of their outer 

 parclmient on the grinding stone or in a mortar 

 hollowed out of a tree stmnp, after which they 

 may be sold at a higher price or else consumed. 



The yield varies from field to field (depending 

 partly on the age of the bushes and th(> care they 

 receive) and from year to year — usually alternat- 

 ing lietween heavier and lighter 3'ields. A good 

 informant said that in the third year after trans- 

 planting, a ciierda produces 20 pounds, the next 

 year 50, the fifth year 75, the sixth, 101), the 

 seventh, 125, and the eighth, 150 pounds. Then 

 for 2 or ;'. years the yield drops to 125 pounds and 

 after that to 100 pounds (502 pounds per acre) 



for as many as 30 years (with good care). His 

 own yield, in the past few years, ran from 75 to 

 150 pounds per cuerda (422 to 843 pounds per 

 acre) ; but his grove is old. Another owner of an 

 old grove harvested but 87 pounds per cuerda in 

 1936. Two other informants said their groves 

 produce, from 200 to 250 pounds per cuerda (1,125 

 to 1,400 pounds per acre) ; another, that when the 

 harvest is good, he gets 125 pounds per cuerda 

 (703 per acre), and otherwise a little under 100 

 pounds (562 per acre). Official statistics show 

 that in 1935-36 the yield in the w-hole Republic 

 was at the rate of 45G pounds per acre and in the 

 Department of Solola, 409,*" and in the next year 

 455 and 443 pounds per acre respectively." It 

 is hardly conceivable that the Panajachel yield 

 should be two or three times the general yield; 

 yet it must be above average. Most probably 

 the Panajachel yield in 1936 ran to some 100 

 pounds per cuerda or 502 per acre. 



FRUIT 



Very few fruit trees are actually planted by the 

 Indians; most of them grow wild. Sometimes the 

 seeds of papayas, peaches, oranges, liinas, limes, 

 and Spanish plums are planted in onion nurseries 

 and the seedlings later transplanted. Occasion- 

 ally a seedling of a cross-sapodilla is found and 

 brought to the house to be planted in the yard. 

 Bananas and occasionally other fruit trees are 

 planted in the coffee groves. But mostly fruit 

 just grows. Likewise, the trees receive almost no 

 attention. Some people occasionally weed and 

 fertilize the ground around young trees, which 

 three or four times during the dry season are also 

 watered by the women or children of the house. 

 It is the custom to smear honey, vinegar, or lard 

 on appropriate trees during Holy Week. That is 

 the main care they receive. 



Harvesting of the fruit takes most of what effort 

 is needed. The most common method is to twist 

 off the stem of a fruit such as an orange with a 

 long notched pole. Or the tree may be shaken so 

 that the fruit drops. Or one may climb the tree 

 and pick the fruit by hand and deposit it in a bag. 

 The time involved depends upon the kind of tree 

 and the extent to which it is laden. For example, 

 it takes about an hour to gather 100 oranges, but 

 if the tree is heavily laden, 300 maj^ be gathered 



" Memorla, Dopt. A'jri., 1930. p. 330 (nuatemab, 11137). 

 •1 Memona, Dept. .\Bri.. 1937, p. 211 (Guiilemala, 1938). 



