64 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY— PUBLICATION NO. 2 



In addition to the above-described types of 

 loans, there are also loans at interest for which 

 normally no security is offered. These loans 

 are usually made by persons within the village 

 and rarely exceed $100 in amount. Interest 

 is normally 10 percent per annum. In some 

 cases it is stipulated that the debt is to be can- 

 celed upon the death of the debtor. In other 

 instances the debt becomes a charge against 

 the estate of the debtor. If the possessions of 

 the debtor at death are insufficient to pay the 

 debt, it is not transmitted to his sons. How- 

 ever, according to Pedro Chavez, the sons prob- 

 ably would make every effort to pay such a debt 

 because of the strongly held belief that a person 

 dying with debts cannot rest in peace until the 

 debts are paid. 



All transactions involving loans are in writ- 

 ing, although they are not registered at the 

 miaiicipio. 



COSTS OF PRODUCTION AND INCOME 



Some further insight into production prob- 

 lems may be gained by detailed studies of 

 specific activities. These data throw light 

 upon the relative profitability of such activities 

 and also provide information on income. Not 

 all activities are covered in the ensuing discus- 

 sion, nor are the data equally reliable in each 

 category. Such activities as witchcraft or 

 midwifery are not included ; the labor factor in 

 beekeeping or fruit growing is impossible to 

 ascertain. An activity followed by only a few 

 individuals merits less attention than one fol- 

 lowed by many. 



Not only is the treatment of topics uneven, 

 but the income data are subject to misinterpre- 

 tation. It must be emphasized that virtually 

 no one in Cheran, except a few "rich" farmers 

 or storekeepers, has only one occupation. Con- 

 sequently, any effort to establish annual income 

 on the basis of figures in this section would be 

 grossly misleading. Finally, it should be noted 

 that not all the activities discussed below are 

 productive. Because of the problem of income, 

 I have considered a number of "service" occu- 

 pations in this section. 



AGRICULTURE 



Maize. — Data on farm production were diffi- 

 cult to obtain. On no other subject is there so 



much secrecy or misleading information given. 

 Three sources of information were used: (1) 

 Data from farmers about their own activities. 

 All this information is suspect, even after 

 eliminating obviously false answers. (2) Data 

 from Agustin Rangel, who was interested in 

 establishing himself as a farmer and probably 

 was a good and relatively unbiased observer. 

 (3) Observation of farm practices and partici- 

 pation in harvests on roughly measured fields. 

 Actual measurement of fields was undesirable 

 and would have caused trouble. 



In table 1 are given the various data collected 

 on farm yields. The average of figures given 

 by farmers is about the top figure given by 

 Rangel for average land in a poor year. It is 

 slightly above the figure for the yield of aver- 

 age land in a poor year as secured by participa- 

 tion in the harvest. The cross checks suggest 

 the figures given by farmers are on the whole 

 plausible although probably low. The figures 

 given by any individual farmer, however, may 

 be quite incorrect. This should be borne in 

 mind throughout the discussion. 



Table 1. — Estimates of viaize yields- in Cherdn 



ESTIMATE BY OWNERS 



NvHiihcr "f hectares 

 cultivated 



Yield {per hectare) in- 



Car gas 



2V-, 



lOJ^i 



(i 



W 



M' 



Ks' 



H' 



}-\^ (early-frost area) 



4 



1 



\^. 



Vi 



Vi 



Average 



40 



ISO 



=7 



20 



10 



5 



10 



3 



90 



10 



10 



12 



12 



FaTiegns 



Value of crop 



SO 

 135 



15 

 7H 



VH 

 2H 

 70 

 TA 



9 



$90-110 



60- 70 



25 



65 



15 



350-100 

 40 

 40 

 55 

 55 



ESTIMATE BY AGUSTiN RANGEL 



Type i:if land and year 



.Average yield per hectare 



Cargas 



Best land: 



Average year. 



Had year 



Average lantl: 



Average year. 



Had year 



Poor land 



40 

 15-25 



30 

 5-20 



Finirgas 



30 



22 H 

 3?i-15 

 I'A 



^ An exceptionally rich "joya," a fertile depression in the 

 mountains fertilized by drainage from surrounding slopes. 



- This is a stupendous yield, if true, but the land is said to be 

 exceptionally located, with fertilization from adjoining slopes. 



^ Data in this line are typical of information from owners. One 

 area given as V2 hectare yields a crop to be expected of a full 

 hectjtro : on inspection, it proved to be nearly 3 hectares. 



