26 



AGRICULTURE 



fn. A. E. 



tion to maize, "they also sow beaup and 

 melons, which are excellent, especially 

 those with a red seed. Their squashes 

 are not of the best; they dry them in 

 the sun to eat in the winter and spring" 

 (Voy. andDiscov., in French, Hist. Coll. 

 La., IV, 33, 1852). 



The foregoing applies chiefly to the 

 region e. of the Rocky mts., but the 

 native population of the section now em- 

 braced in New Mexico and Arizona not 

 only cultivated the soil, but relied on 

 agriculture to a large extent for subsist- 

 ence. No corji was raised or agriculture 

 practised anywhere on the Pacific slope 

 N. of the lower Rio Colorado, but frequent 

 mention is made by the chroniclers of 

 Coronado's expedition to New Mexico of 

 the general cultivation of maize by the In- 

 dians of that section, and also of the cul- 

 tivation of cotton. It is stated in the 

 Relacion del Suceso (Winship in 14tli 

 Rep. B. A. E., 575, 1896) that those who 

 lived near the Rio Grande raised cotton, 

 but the others did not. The writer, 

 speaking of the Rio Grande valley, adds: 

 "There is much corn here." 



' ' From the earliest information we have 

 of these nations [the Puel)lo Indians] 

 they are known to have been tillers of 

 the soil, and though the implements 

 used and their methods of cultivation 

 were both simple and primitive, cotton, 

 corn, wheat [after its introduction], 

 beans, with many varieties of fruits were 

 raised in abundance" (Bancroft, Nat. 

 Rac, I, 538, 1882). Chile and onions are 

 extensively cultivated by the Pueblo 

 tribes, as also are graj^es and peaches, but 

 these latter, like wheat, were introduced 

 by the Spaniards. 



The Indians of New Mexico and Ari- 

 zona had learned the art of irrigating 

 their fields before the appearance of the 

 white man on the continent. This is 

 shown not only by the statements of early 

 explorers, but by the still existing re- 

 mains of their ditches. "In the valleys 

 of the Salado and Oi\a, in s. Arizona, 

 however, casual observation is sufficient 

 to demonstrate that the ancient inhabi- 

 tants engaged in agriculture by artificial 

 irrigation to a vast extent. . . . Judg- 

 ing from the remains of extensive ancient 

 works of irrigation, many of which may 

 still be seen passing through tracts culti- 

 vated to-day as well as across densely 

 wooded stretches considerably beyond 

 the present nonirrigated area, it is safe 

 tosay that the i)rincipal canals constructed 

 and used by the ancient inhabitants of 

 the Salado valley controlled the irriga- 

 tion of at least 250,000 acres" (Hodge 

 in Am. Anthrop., July, 1893). Remains 

 of ancient irrigating ditches and canals 

 are also found elsewhere in these terri- 

 tories. 



The sunflower was cultivated to a limi- 

 ted extent both by the Indians of the 

 Atlantic slope and those of the Pueblo 

 region for its seeds, which were eaten 

 after being parched and ground into 

 meal between two stones. The limits of 

 the cultivation of tobacco at the time of 

 the discovery has not yet been well de- 

 fined. That it was cultivated to some 

 extent on the Atlantic side is known; 

 it was used aboriginally all over Cali- 

 fornia, and indeed a plant called tobacco 

 by the natives was cultivated as far n. as 

 Yakutat i)ay, Alaska. 



Although it has been stated that the 

 Indians did not use fertilizers, there is 

 evidence that they did. The Plymouth 

 colonists were told by the Indians to add 

 fish to the f)ld grounds (Bradford, Hist. 

 Plym. Plant., Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 4th 

 s., Ill, 100, 1856). It is also stated that the 

 Iroquois manured their land. Lescarbot 

 says the Armouchiquois, \'irginia Indians, 

 and others "enrich their fields with shells 

 and fish." The implements they used 

 in cultivating 

 the ground 

 are described 

 as "wooden 

 howes" and 

 "spades made 

 of hardwood." 

 "Florida In- 

 dians dig their ground with an instru- 

 ment of wood fashioned like a broad 

 mattock," "use hoes made of shoulder 

 blades of animals fixed on staves," "use 

 the shoulder 1)lade of a deer or a tortoise 

 shell, sharp- 

 ened upon 

 a stone and 

 fastened to 

 a stick, in- 

 stead of a 

 hoe;" "a 

 piece of wood, 3 inches broad, bent at 

 one end and fastened to a long handle 

 sufficed them to free the land from weeds 

 and turn it up lightly." Mention is also 



hoe, from an engraving i 

 Sixteenth Centuf 



IMPLEMENT OF SHELL, FLORIDA 



Flint Spade, Middle Mis- 

 sissippi Valley 



Flint Hoe, Middle Mis- 

 sissippi VALLEY 



made of shells used as digging imple- 

 ments, and INIoore and Cushing have 

 found in Florida many large conchs that 

 had served this purpose. 



