126 



THE BUSINESS OF AGRICULTURE 



Table 46. — Conslitulion and source of produce of vending 

 groups in outside markets 



markets, because men who make long trips tend 

 to be poor or at least poor in land. Wealthy fami- 

 lies do not sell in distant places both because they 

 have much to do at home and because they do not 

 need to travel for a living.'"^ 



The common means of getting to market is 

 walking, men carrying their loads on their backs, 

 women in baskets on their heads. When man and 

 wife (or the whole family) go, the husband carries 

 the larger part of the load, and sells the more 

 important things, although where a woman is 

 known to be a better vendor, she is apt to sell the 

 large items instead. They also take turns selling 

 to allow each some time for buj'ing or loafing. 

 Exceptions to the rule of walking to market are 

 the cases of San Lucas and the coast towns, where 

 canoes and public launches are used to cross the 

 lake, and Guatemala City, to which public truck- 

 busses are patronized by all except one man and 

 his son, who still walk. In the cases of 11 house- 

 holds that own horses or mules, the beast carries 

 the major burden and the merchant walks beside 

 him, carrying an additional small load. 



The big day in the Sololi market is Friday; a 

 secondary market day is Tuesday."" Most 

 Panajachel Indians leave early in the morning and 

 spend the better part of almost every Friday there. 

 A few go also on Tuesdays. Not all go to sell: 



'•' With reference to the "good old days" it is often said that the people 

 were rich and "didn't have to make long business trips." It is said that 

 some rich people died without ever having seen even Atitl4n across tho 

 lake; although there were means of travel, they said that they did not have 

 to know distant towns. 



'" For a good description of the S0I0I& market, sec McBryde, 1933. 



they do much of their buying in Solola; persons 

 with political business in Solold usually choose 

 Friday to do it; and many go just for a holiday. 

 Still," it cannot be doubted that more Panajachel 

 produce is sold in Solola than in any other market. 

 Solola is an important wholesale center; merchants 

 from various towns buy produce there in quanti- 

 ties, for resale, and Panajachel men habitually 

 bring large quantities of fruit and vegetables to 

 Solola in addition to that brought by other mem- 

 bers of the family. Furthermore, while to more 

 distant markets (such as Guatemala City) some 

 of the Panajachelenos carry produce of other 

 towns, practically everything they sell in Solola 

 is Panajachel produce, most of it grown by the 

 vendors themselves. 



Solola is not only a "family market" for Pana- 

 jachelenos but a greater number of families (69) 

 are represented there exclusively than at all other 

 outside markets together. They include all classes 

 of people — rich and poor, Panajachelenos and 

 "foreigners." Solola in some ways as much as 

 Panajachel is the market center for Panajachel- 

 enos. 



Although San Andres is no more difficult of 

 access than Solola, only 13 Panajachel households 

 send vendors there. Its market days, Sundays 

 and Tuesdays, conflict with those of Panajachel 

 and Solola. Unlike Solola, which is a market 

 center, most produce is sold in small quantities 

 for San Andres consumption. Since only small 

 amounts of onions and garlic can be consumed by 

 those who patronize this market, Panajachelenos 

 take more fruit than vegetables. As at home, the 

 women tend to do the selling. Men often accom- 

 pany their wives, but rather to buy com to bring 

 home than to sell produce. 



Those who patronize the San Lucas market 

 regularly almost always take the water route.'"* 

 Both canoe-owning Panajachelenos are among the 

 regular San Lucas vendors ; """ the others rent 

 canoes or occasionally go by launch. Perhaps, 

 therefore, a dislike of travel in canoes keeps 

 women from San Lucas. But its market days 

 also coincide with those in Solola which is pre- 

 ferred for other reasons. It seems also that the 



'«' The trip by land Is not only more arduous, but It takes longer. Never- 

 theless, when a canoe is not available or when the water Is rough, the mer- 

 chants do occasionally walk. A number of such case^ were noted. 



w*A third canoe-owner is a half-Ladino; culturally Ladlno, the family 

 does not sell produce In the markets (nor is it included in Indian In this 

 study) . 



