EMPIRES CHILDREN: THE PEOPLE OF TZINTZUNTZAN FOSTER 



75 



bles 12, 13, 14) fall in this second category. 

 The first four milpas are the rich, fertile lake- 

 shore orillas; the next two are flat solares. or 

 town lots, less fertile than the lakeshores, but 

 much preferable to the hillsides. The last seven 

 cases are hillside laderas, probably average in 

 fertility, though the sample suffers from the 

 fact that all are from the immediate region of 

 the ydcatas. In all three tables each milpa oc- 

 cupies the same place and has the same number. 

 Table 12 shows the results for maize and bean 

 production. An average of about 45 man-days 

 of work per hectare for maize alone results. 

 The lakeshores require a bit more, since the 

 land is also cross-plowed, while the hillsides 

 require a bit less. Considerable variation in 

 the amount of seed used is apparent, ranging 

 from 8 to 21 liters per hectare. From 15 to 20 

 liters would seem to be about optimum; less 

 seed is reflected in lower yields. Lakeshore 

 milpas average about 30 fanegas or 3,000 liters 

 of crop per hectare, while hillsides produce 

 only about 5. Town lots are intermediate. 



Lakeshore milpas average about 150 liters of 

 crop for 1 of seed, while hillsides average 

 only about 50 to 1. Lakeshore milpas require 

 only 1.5 to 2 man-days of work to produce a 

 janena of crop, while hillsides require from 

 6 to 9. 



Bean data are somewhat less reliable, since 

 it is not always possible to know whether the 

 entire milpa was sown, or only a part. Cutting 

 and threshing is the only labor time which need 

 be attributed to beans, since all of the rest of 

 the work in the milpa is for maize. In a sense 

 beans are a parasite on maize cultivation. Tlie 

 very low figure for labor in threshing in case 

 3 is due to the fact that horses were used instead 

 of the common flail. Eight or nine liters of 

 seed per hectare are planted on the lakeshores, 

 while about 12 are planted on the hillsides. This 

 is an approximate check with actual practice; 

 it will be remembered that an additional bean 

 is planted between maize plants on the hillside. 

 Liters of crop per liter of seed is difficult to 

 estimate, but based on the poor sample, the lake- 



Table 13. — Wheat production 



1 Beals" Cheran data (1946. p. 67) show 26.5 man-days of work per hectare. As is the case for maize, the time required for 

 plowing is relatively much greater than in Tzintzuntzan, and that for other activities much less. The best wheat lands are 

 said to produce 2 cargas of wheat, far below that of Tzintzuntzan. 



- The Agrarian Census (Archive, file 44) for April 6, 1927, reports that wheat yields 12 for 1; the range is not given. 

 Its value at harvest time is given as $13 a carga, as compared to $55 in 1945. 



3 This appears to be far more seed than is needed for a milpa of this size. 



■* This recorded yield probably is somewhat highe«r than reality. 



5 This is a 5-year average. The 1945 drought year yield was 3 cargas, giving some idea of how lack of rain, even on the 

 best land, may reduce production. 



6 This is for the drought year, 1945. A normal year should produce two or three times as much crop. The other wheat 

 fields, except as noted in footnote 5, are quoted for 1944 or 1946, both good average j-ears. 



