20 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY— PUBLICATION NO. 



is harvested green to be eaten boiled on the cob 

 ichodo). It is also harvested ripe, about 6 months 

 after planting. In both cases it is husked on the stalk 

 in the field. For this purpose a bone or wooden 

 pick, 5 to 6 inches long, perforated at the butt end 

 and attached to the wrist by a thong passing through 

 the perforation, is used as an aid in opening the 

 husks. Rarer are picks made from iron spikes. As 

 a general rule, the stalks are allowed to stand in the 

 field after harvest and cattle are turned in to eat 

 them and trample them down, after which they are 

 burned. Harvesting may be done by individuals 

 working alone, in pairs or sm.all groups, and also 

 in the mlnga arrangement. When planted in the 

 same plot with yuca, the corn seeds are deposited in 

 individual holes made with the spade. 



Various types of beans are planted in rows or 

 ridges as is corn, three seeds to a hole usually. 

 Beans are harvested by pulling the whole plant up 

 by the roots. They are threshed by hand as is al- 

 falfa, by beating (although horses are never used, 

 because they crush the seeds). Beans are not cut 

 with a sickle. Seed beans are still stored by some 

 people in a box full of sand, a procedure which seems 

 to date from Mochica times. This keeps them dry 

 and also is said to protect them from the attacks of 

 insects that eat out the inside of the bean and de- 

 stroy its germinating power. The more modern 

 method, however, is to store the beans in stoppered 

 bottles or in tin cans sealed with sticking plaster. 



Yuca (also known in English as manioc and 

 cassava) is planted from cuttings about 5 inches 

 long taken from the stalks. The cutting must be in 

 the state in which milky juice issues from the wound. 

 The surface of the cutting is covered at intervals 

 by buds, which on the growing stalk point upward. 

 In Moche a bud is called "mice del pah" (nut of 

 the stick). In planting, the cuttings must be so laid 

 that the buds point into the ridge of earth alongside 

 the furrow. Cuttings are planted about a meter 

 apart. Three methods of planting are in use. (l)In 

 the pisada method, the cuttings are laid crosswise 

 in a simple furrow, pointing toward the ridge of 

 earth, and are tamped down with the feet. A small 

 portion must protrude above the surface of the hill. 

 (2) To scmbrar a cslaca, the cuttings are thrust 

 into the moist soil of a hill ridge made by a "male 

 furrow," leaving an inch or so to protrude. (3) In 

 the dc accqitla method a "female furrow" is made 

 first. Then the cuttings are laid crosswise, but so 

 placed tliat the buds of alternate cuttings point in 



opposite directions. Again it is necessary that a I 

 small portion of the cutting protrude through the( 

 hill. Then water is turned into the female furrow, f 

 Yuca is usually ready to harvest in 9 months and' 

 produces large bunches of heavy roots, often as large , 

 as a man's lower leg. Yuca is harvested simply by [ 

 grasping the stalks above ground and pulling up 

 the roots, which may be left in piles on the field 

 for a few hours to dry. i 



Although alfalfa, sorghum, maize, lentils, beans, \ 

 and yuca are the principal or largest field crops, ; 

 many others included in the list below are also 

 planted and grown in fields, as well as in garden 

 orchards and field borders. 



Weeding is done by hand, and with spade, machete, 

 and calahozo. 



Every house in the cmnpiha is surrounded by a 

 hucrta and most houses in the pueblo have an at- 

 tempt at one in the back yard. These are usually 

 relatively small areas containing a great variety of 

 fruit trees, bushes, and small plots of decorative 

 flowers and kitchen vegetables. In the vegetable 

 plots it is not unusual to see onions, cabbage, lettuce, 

 azafran, and radishes, for example, all growing in 

 one plot, either in alternate rows or mixed up to- 

 gether more or less indiscriminately. Usually the 

 small vegetable plots are surrounded by a fence of 

 cane to keep out poultry and dogs. The fruit trees 

 and bushes provide shade and protection from the 

 wind as well as edible products. 



The field borders are usually 3 to 6 feet wide, up 

 next to the enclosing tapia fence of the property. 

 Fruit trees, shade trees, and a variety of bushes and 

 even planted products are to be found here. 



The field crops mentioned above are seldom grown 

 in any quantity in huertas and field borders, but 

 practically all other types of domesticated or useful 

 plants are to be found in both huertas and borders 

 and often in fields themselves. 



OTHER CROPS AND USEFUL PLANTS 



Following are lists of domestic and useful plants 

 one will find in the Moche campina. The lists are 

 not necessarily exhaustive. 



First are listed the domesticated plants, planted 

 in fields, gardens, or both : 



Aji (chili peppers). Several varieties, large, small, green, 



yellow, and red; usually planted in huerta. 

 Alvaja de coniida (albahaca? sweet basil). Plant grown 



in fenced enclosures in huertas and used for making soup 



and for flavoring other dishes. 



