MOCHE: A PERUVIAN COASTAL COMMUNITY— GILLIN 



15 



boca del rio" (from around the mouth of the river), 

 etc. 



Straddhng the road and occupying central portions 

 of both the northern and western sections are the 

 lands of the Haciendita, apparent as comparatively 

 large unsubdivided fields in the aerial photographs 

 (pis. 1 and 2). This land, totaling about 113 hectares, 

 is not a part of the Moche campliia in any sense other 

 than the geographical. A few Mocheros work as 

 peons on the Haciendita, but otherwise the crops, 

 methods, organization, and personnel are outside the 

 Moche picture. Another, smaller area of forastcro 

 intrusion is visible (pis. 1 and 2) as comparatively 

 extensive, unbroken fields, about 30 acres in extent, 

 off the northeast corner of the pueblo. Most of this 

 is at present leased to the Government-supported agri- 

 cultural school, which, as will be pointed out below, 

 also plays no part in the agricultural configuration of 

 the community. 



CULTIVATED LANDS AND THEIR 

 MANAGEMENT 



Planting and care of domesticated plants occur in 

 Moche in three types of locations: (1) Fields, (2) 

 garden orchards (huertas), and (3) field borders. 



Many a Moche "field" would perhaps appear to a 

 North American fanner to be too small to be worth 

 cultivating. The average land holding seems to be 

 about 1.6 hectares, or 3.9 acres, with a wide range 

 about the average. The individual field, however, 

 would average much smaller. When the official 

 catastro is completed we shall have, it is to be hoped, 

 accurate figures on this matter, but it is doubtful that 

 the average cultivated field or planted plot exceeds 

 1,000 sq. m. I know of several fields in cultivation 

 which do not exceed 100 sq. m.. and the largest single 

 field of which I know is probably not over 4 hectares 

 (40.000 sq. m.). 19 



Although land holdings are usually divided by 

 tapia fences, this is not necessarily true of fields, and 

 a single fenced piece of ground may contain two or 

 more fields or cultivated plots, each given over to a 

 different crop or to different plantings of the same 

 crop. 



.Among the Mocheros a farm, or land holding, is 



1® Compare the aerial photographs (pis. 1 and 2). It must be re- 

 membered that the Haciendita, comi)rising some 113 hectares, lies 

 geographically within the caviptita, but is not considered a part of it. 

 either from the community or cultural point of view. The broad open 

 fields visible in the center of the fanning area to the north of the 

 town belong to the Haciendita, whereas the small subdivisions seen 

 covermg most of the remainder of the area are the holdings of 

 Mocheros. 



usually called a chacra;"" a person also refers to "mis 

 terrenos" (my lands) and "mi propiedad" (my prop- 

 erty). The word granja is used in Moche to refer 

 only to a poultry farm or a small stock farm raising 

 swine. There are three commercial granjas in Moche, 

 all operated by jorasteros for the Trujillo market. 

 "Fields," in the sense of individual cultivated plots, 

 are usually called cainpos or sciuhrados : occasionally 

 one uses the word coscclia (harvest or crop) when re- 

 ferring to a given plot, identifying the piece of land 

 with the crop growing upon it. ''Crop'' is also known 

 as "sicmbra." Mocheros use the word janegada when 

 speaking of land areas more often than the word 

 hcctarca; there seems to be general agreement that a 

 jancgada is equal to about 3 hcctarcas, but informants 

 are never precise or sure. The jancgada is a Spanish 

 land measure introduced during colonial times, and 

 it is apparent that most Mocheros still think in terms 

 of it and have not yet become accustomed to trans- 

 lating jancgadas readily into hcctarcas. 



There are no clearly defined planting times in 

 Moche to which all farmers adhere. The general rule 

 is that there be sufficient water to get the new crop 

 started properly. Except alfalfa and }'uca ( sweet 

 manioc), which are planted only once a year or less 

 often, a farmer may expect to plant and harvest two 

 crops per year of such crops as corn, lentils, beans, 

 and sweetpotatoes. In most years and on most lands, 

 December is regarded as the time for putting in the 

 wet-season crop (tieinpo dc abundaiicia) , which is 

 harvested in May, and June is the time for putting in 

 the dry-season crop (ticiiipo de cscascz), with the 

 harvest beginning in October. Individual conditions 

 may vary somewhat. The fiesta of San Isidro in May 

 serves as a sort of harvest festival for the first crop, 

 and the October fiesta serves as the harbinger of the 

 second harvest. 



No fertilizer other than the droppings of livestock 

 made directly on the fields is used in Moche farming. 

 The constant planting of leguminous crops like alfalfa, 

 beans, and lentils doubtless restores the nitrogen to 

 the soil satisfactorily. 



A nonrigid or informal crop rotation is practiced, 

 of which the following example may give an idea. 

 The field described was planted to corn and lentils in 

 the first crop of 1938. During the second crop it 

 stood idle, i.e., cattle were allowed to forage on the 

 cornstalks. Corn and lentils were again put in for 

 the first crop of 1939, and the second crop was beans. 

 Early in 1940 it was planted to alfalfa and sorghum. 



^ From the Quechua, according to De .\rona ( 193S, p. 157} 



