EMPIRES children: THE PEOPLE OF TZINTZUNTZAN FOSTER 



71 



squash, first in the lakeshores, and then on the hill- 

 sides. \\'ith the rains the pottery making tempo no- 

 ticeably falls off, to half or less of the dry season 

 production. Fishing comes to a virtual halt, both 

 since fish do not bite well, and because most fishermen 

 own farm lands. The fruits of the preceding month 

 continue, and tunas and limiUas are added. Corpus 

 Christi sometimes falls in this month, and when so is 

 the only significant fiesta of the rainy season. JVIuch 

 lightning, usually producing fatalities in lake area. 



July. Maize cultivation is the important agricultur- 

 al activity. During the last of June and the first part 

 of July comes the escarda, followed by the segunda 

 during the second half of the month. Rains are 

 heavier than in June and greenery comes out to a re- 

 markable extent. Wild zacate grows wherever there 

 is no cultivation, the riolento bean flowers, maize is 

 knee to hip high, and mothers are worried about their 

 children who insist on eating green peaches and who 

 consequently suffer from stomach ache. The air is 

 pleasantly damp and warm, with a humid feeling much 

 more like the Tropics than the tierra jria. Magnifi- 

 cent cloud displays, with immense thunderheads pil- 

 ing up over the lake and mountains all day long; 

 heavy downpours and then rapid clearing up of the 

 atmosphere. Much mud everywhere, and great diffi- 

 culty in drying clay for pots. This is a time of rela- 

 tively little sickness, and the malarial mosquitoes have 

 not yet come. The first prisco peaches are ripe, as are 

 apjdes. 



August. The final cultivation, the tablon, takes 

 place, and there is some hand weeding. First pre- 

 paration of wheat lands by mid-August. First vio- 

 lento beans, first squash, and first figs appear. Peaches 

 in full season. Heavy rains continue. 



September. Rains decrease considerably, and first 

 wheat is sown. Maize is now 2 to 3 m. high, much 

 of it in tassel ; bean vines cover the stalks, and squash 

 vines trail over the ground — the milpa is a dense, 

 green jungle. By the end of the month the first roast- 

 ing ears are ready. Figs, peaches, tunas, and perones 

 continue as fruits, but the season for the others is over. 

 The first n-aranja limas appear, to continue until No- 

 vember. From the ydcatas one gets a fine idea of the 

 land under cultivation — the soft green maize milpas, 

 and the brown patches where wheat will be sown. All 

 uncultivated grounds are covered with a luxuriant 

 vegetation, with many blossoming flowers and much 

 grass. Maize stalks are cut, the hard outside cover- 

 ing peeled off, and the moist, refreshing, slightly sweet 

 pith is chewed "a la sugarcane." Calabacitas, or 

 young squash, are a great delicacy. Nights are cooler, 

 but days are still sunny and warm, and it is a nice 

 time of year. Bean and maize crops can be pretty 

 well estimated, so the farmer knows whether his work 

 has been fruitful or in vain. 



October. Wheat sowing continues. In the lakeshore 

 milpas at the end of the month maize is cut to allow 

 wheat planting. Roasting ears, ato/e de grano, and 

 uchepus (p. 49) are the great delicacy during the 

 first half of the month. Great quantities of chayotes 

 and squash, and the few nispero trees are giving fruit. 



Milpas begin to turn brown and yellow, though green 

 is still the predominant color of the landscape. 



November. Late wheat sowing and harvesting of 

 maize and beans are the main agricultural pursuits. 

 First official communal duck hunt takes place near 

 Janitzio, and fish reappear in quantities in the mar- 

 ket at Patzcuaro. Rains have pretty well stopped, and 

 local fruit harvests are over. Potterv 



IS agam in iul 



swing. The Day of the Dead is the big fiesta of this 

 month. New wheat fields begin to show a soft greenish 

 cast overlaying the brown earth. 



December. Normal dry season activities are well 

 under way. Threshing of beans and late harvesting 

 of maize are the principal agricultural activities. 

 Cherimoyas, to last through February, have appeared. 

 Sugarcane, brought from the hot country, is the spe- 

 cial food treat of this and several following months. 

 The period of intense cold has begun, and days are 

 clear and crisp. Beginning with the fiesta of the Vir- 

 gin of Guadalupe. December 12, through Christmas, 

 there is a slackening in the work pace. 



THE ECONOMICS OF AGRICULTURE 



Milpas, apart from the house plot, are owned 

 by 107 of the 248 households. A dozen indi- 

 viduals, including a woman, hold parcelas, plots 

 of several hectares, in the ejido. A handful of 

 subordinate family heads in joint families own 

 additional land, so that of the 292 heads of 

 families in Tzintzuntzan, about 125 have some 

 agricultural lands. ' Actually the picture of 

 land-hunger is much worse than these figures 

 indicate. Of the 125 landholders, only 15 have 

 enough to produce the maize, beans, and wheat 

 which are needed for family consumption. Ten 

 of these are large landowners — relatively 

 speaking — ■ and receive the bulk of their cash 

 income from the sale of surplus crops. 



Nonlandholders who wish to farm during the 

 rainy season have three possibilities open to 

 them: farming a inedias, share cropping; farm- 

 ing on tierras empenadas, on which they hold a 

 mortgage and as interest enjoy the use of the 

 land; and working as a parcionero or indentur- 

 ed laborer who receives a fixed quantity of 

 maize at the end of the season. Importance is 

 in the order given. 



In the classic form of share cropping the me- 

 diero or share cropper provides all the work of 



^ The difference between these figures and the census 

 count of 66 full and part-time farmers is explained in two 

 ways. Some landowners do not farm their holdings, because 

 of lack of draft animals or other reasons. Such land is work- 

 ed by share croppers. Other persons may plant maize in such 

 small milpas that, while technically they are landowners, for 

 all practical purposes they cannot be considered farmers. 



