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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 2 



good crop, although complete failure is rare. 

 A little wheat is grown in town lots, where it 

 seems to do better than in fields. 



Wheat is harvested by hand with a sickle. 

 Men do most of the work, but women and chil- 

 dren help sometimes. The plants are cut as 

 close to the ground as possible, tied in sheaves, 

 and transported to the houses. One, and in 

 1940 two, small threshing machine is used in 

 Cheran, but the bulk of the wheat is threshed 

 by hand with flails. The flail used is a .slender 

 pole about 8 feet long. To this are fastened 

 two or three heavy iron wires some 10 to 12 

 feet long. Threshing is done on any hard 

 clean-swept ground when the weather is dry. 

 One stone threshing floor exists at the end of 

 Zaragoza Street. The owner is usually given 

 a liter or so of wheat for its use, although it is 

 built on public property. The straw is care- 

 fully saved, whether threshing is done by hand 

 or by machine. Both men and women winnow 

 the wheat on windy days (pi. 3, center). The 

 grain is stored in sacks. 



Some wheat is consumed locally. It is 

 ground on the metate and made into bread or 

 atole. The bulk of the wheat is sold, however, 

 to four mills at Purepero, Carapan, Tarataro, 

 Jacona, or as far away as Morelia (since the 

 highway has been built). Wheat is, indeed, 

 probably the major cash export crop of Cheran. 

 Prices and costs are discussed later. 



MINOR CROPS 



Barley. — Some barley is sown in June and 

 harvested about October. Techniques of plant- 

 ing and harvesting are similar to those for 

 wheat. Barley is fed fo animals or sold out- 

 side the town. It is stored in sacks. Most 

 barley is planted to re.store failing cornlands, 

 and the quantity is not important nor is it 

 regarded as an intrinsically valuable crop. 



Oafs. — Although the growing of oats is re- 

 ported, no farmer was found who had planted 

 the grain. The quantity must be unimportant. 



Beans. — The soil of Cheran is said not to be 

 good for beans ; possibly the climate is also un- 

 satisfactory. Whatever the reason, Cheran 

 grows few beans and many are imported from 

 the Lake Patzcuaro region. 



The principal bean grown is a small pinkish 

 type called crioUa. White, orange-yellow, 



brownish, and various spotted beans with much 

 variation in size and shape were observed, and, 

 in many cases, were named by informants. 

 Until reports are received from botanists, the 

 details of variation seem of little interest. All 

 seem to be of climbing types. 



Some people plant a few beans between the 

 corn rows, usually in the garden. Mixing of 

 corn and bean seed is said not to give good 

 results. Separate planting of beans is rare, if 

 it occurs at all. Beans are threshed by driving 

 burros over the straw, or children may trample 

 out small quantities. 



Squashes and ]m7npki)is. — A few pumpkins 

 are grown in gardens for home use. The most 

 common type is a squash known as chilacayote, 

 although it is not grown abundantly. 



The chilacayote must be planted 15 to 20 

 feet apart, for the plant spreads widely. 

 Uusally it is planted in gardens. The fruit is 

 large and green, resembling a watermelon in 

 shape and color. The flesh is white and watery. 



Some chilacayote is eaten fresh, cooked with 

 brown sugar. Usually, though, it is cured by 

 leaving it in the sun on roofs or wall tops for 

 2 or 3 weeks. Sometimes the squashes are 

 coated with ashes mixed with water. This is 

 believed to harden the exterior. After curing, 

 they are stored in the "troje" or in the storage 

 loft and saved until spring. Planting time is 

 the traditional season for eating chilacayote, 

 for this is a period when there are almost no 

 fresh fruits or vegetables. The squashes sell 

 for 25 to 50 centavos. 



Braadbeans or habas.- — Broadbeans {Vicia 

 faba) , a coarse variety of European vetch, are 

 usually planted in gardens or, more rarely, in 

 the field. They are planted in furrows, like 

 maize, and are cultivated similarly. Broad- 

 beans yield well in Cheran but relatively few 

 are grown, as they are not liked as well as 

 ordinary beans. 



Potatoes. — Planting of potatoes began in 

 Cheran only 2 or 3 years ago. Apparently 

 they do well but only a few are planted as yet, 

 principally for sale in Mexican communities, 

 for they have little place in Tarascan cookery. 

 They are planted in April and harvested in 

 November or December. 



Chayote. — The chayote is not grown abun- 

 dantly. Plants are found only in gardens. 



