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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY— PUBLICATION NO. 3 



of this has disappeared at the present time. Squier 

 also mentions fields of cotton and rice in the Moche 

 countryside, which are now entirely absent, not only 

 from Moche, but also from the region of Trujillo. 



A Government-supported agricultural school is 

 established in the town (map 1, No. 13) and farms 

 several tracts of land belonging to a jorastero family 

 north and east of town. The school normally has 

 from 4 to 6 instructors or staff members and about 

 20 students. The latter are boys in their teens from 

 various localities of the region, who are being trained 

 to act as foremen and field bosses on the haciendas. 

 The school at present has very little, if any, influence 

 on agricultural methods in the Moche campina itself. 

 No demonstrations or "extension" programs are 

 carried out for the benefit of the Mocheros. 



DOMESTIC ANIMALS AND STOCK RAISING 



An estimated three-fifths of the farming land of 

 Moche is devoted to alfalfa, used to pasture and feed 

 milk cows. The present empiiasis on dairying seems 

 to be a recent development of the past 10 years. 

 Previous to this phase, Moche agriculture was de- 

 voted primarily to the raising of garden crops for 

 the Trujillo market, and previous to the garden-crop 

 phases there were probably other periods of emphasis, 

 such as that centering about the production of 

 cochineal. This is to be expected, since the marketing 

 of Moche products is largely dependent upon the 

 changing conditions of the Trujillo demand and 

 supply situation. Garden crops for the Trujillo 

 market are still produced in Moche on a small scale, 

 but with the advent of Japanese truck gardeners 

 about the city and the rise in the price of milk, there 

 has been a shift in favor of dairy cattle. 



The bulk of the milk is taken to Trujillo, either 

 by the wives of the producers themselves or by cer- 

 tain women who act as commission saleswomen, 

 known as revendadoras, who collect the milk from the 

 producers in Moche at a discount price. Some of 

 the Moche milk is sold in the port town of Sala- 

 verry. In 1944 the average price per liter obtained 

 in Trujillo was about 30 centavos (a little over 

 4J/^ cents in United States money ; a liter is slightly 

 more than a United States quart). I have no 

 thorough statistical data on milk production. One 

 of the apparently more prosperous producers said 

 that he obtains from his 10 cows about 130 1. per 

 day for an average of between 5 and 6 months of 

 the year ; the other 6 months average only between 30 

 and 40 1. per day. During the season of heavy produc- 



tion his incoine from milk is about 40 soles ($6.12) 

 per day. There may be 20 producers in the Moche 

 community who do this well. Many, however, dur- 

 ing my stay in the community were selling only 3 orH 

 4 1. per day. The general practice seems to be toH 

 milk the cows only once a day, in the early morning, jn 

 allowing the calves access to the cows during the 

 day. The men milk the cows, which are usually 

 kept tied in the fields during the night, very early 

 in the morning, usually between 3 and 4 o'clock,) 

 so that the women may leave for Trujillo on the i| 

 first bus at 5 a. m. Milking takes place in the field, 

 an earthen pot being used, as a rule (some use 

 metal buckets) ; a milking stool is rarely used. 



Service of a good Holstein bull costs 75 soles, 

 although service from nonblooded bulls may be had 

 for as little as 20 soles. Some farmers maintain 

 bulls, but the majority sell their bull calves for beef 

 or geld them to use as oxen. I do not know the 

 number of breeding bulls in the community. A 

 yearling calf brings between 150 and 200 soles for 

 beef, but a yearlitig heifer will bring 200 soles at the 

 least. 



Milk cows in Moche are not fed small grain, 

 although they are occasionally given maize on the 

 cob and svveetpotatoes. In addition to feeding on al- 

 falfa, sorghum, and such wild grass as may be avail- 

 able in field borders, the cows are also allowed to 

 forage in fields of standing cornstalks after the ears 

 have been removed, as previously mentioned. In the 

 mountains to the southeast there is temporary pasture 

 some years during the month of August. This 

 pasture is watered by the gariia (mist) and consists 

 mainly of clover and capiili; cattle are driven to 

 these areas for short periods if the springs and 

 normally dry stream beds contain sufficient water 

 for them to drink. 



Milk is transported to Trujillo or Salaverry in 

 metal cans with narrow-collared necks and tight- 

 fitting lids; the cans are of various sizes, the staiid- 

 ard being 10 1. Most of the milk is carried by 

 woinen riding the bus, although not a few still go 

 to Trujillo, carrying their milk cans on burros. A 

 donkey with a pack saddle carries normally four 

 10-1. cans, two on each side. The buses have railed 

 baggage space on the roofs where milk cans, baskets, 

 jars, and other luggage are carried. The whole milk , 

 is sold and, so far as known, there is no systematic 

 skimming in the Moche households, nor any regular ! 

 industry of cheese or butter making. \ 



Among the Mocheros (as distinguished from the 



