QUIROGA: a MEXICAN MTJNICIPIO — BRANB 



121 



figures on agricultural population in the Quiroga 

 area (Villa de Quiroga and its ranchos) in 1940 

 and in 1945. 



Table 24. — General and agricultural population in Quiroga 



Population 



General: 



Total population , 



Total males 



Adult males 



Total number of families 



Total number of households 



Agricultural: 



Agricultores propietarios 



Agricultores-ayuda familia 



E j idatarios 



Agricultores. campesinos 



Jornaleros del campo. 



Total 



1940 



1945 



The decrease registered between 1940 and 1945 

 in the last two categories represents primarily 

 the shift of laborers into the building trades and 

 chair manufacturing, and the absence of some as 

 hraceros in the United States. The increase in 

 number of landowners is fictitious, since the 1940 

 census grossly understated the number which we 

 increased after consulting the tax rolls. The 

 increase in nimiber of ejidatarios is due principally^ 

 to the fact that we listed all official members of 

 the ejido, including those who gave batellero as 

 their occupation. 



HISTORY OF CROP FARMING 



The principal source of agricultural income is 

 from the farming of field crops. This was not 

 the case with the pre-Conquest Tarascans who had 

 no draft or pack animals, used the digging stick 

 and hoe instead of a plow, and lacked a number of 

 the important field crops which were introduced 

 by the Spaniards. We know from archeologic 

 evidence and the reports of the sixteenth century 

 that the Tarascans planted small fields near their 

 houses and cultivated these fields with such 

 attention to each individual plant that it was more 

 horticulture than agriculture or field farming. 

 They had neither the plants nor the equipment for 

 large fields and broadcast sowing. It is probable 

 that at present Old World plants (of all types) 

 occupy a greater acreage and yield a more valuable 

 production than do the native plants. The princi- 

 pal native plants were as follows (the last itali- 

 cized name within parentheses is Tarascan): 



Maize {maiz, tsiri), Zea mays L., which was the chief 

 source of starch (in tortillas, tamales, parched corn, 

 atoles, pinoles, hominy, etc.) and for sirup and drink 

 (juice from the cane was boiled down to a sirup and also 

 was fermented, and the grain was made into a beer). 

 The Relaci6n de Michoacdn also mentions that the Taras- 

 cans irrigated some of their cornfields, and had three 

 kinds of corn — colored (probably yellow and red), 

 spotted (pintado) , and white. 



Amaranth {bledo, queliie, alegria, huaulli, pari), Amaran- 

 thxts paniculatus L. var. leucocarpus Saff., which was an 

 important breadstuff second only to maize, and probably 

 was used locally before the introduction or cultivation 

 of maize. 



Goosefoot {bledo, queliie, xacua), Chenopodium spp. Sev- 

 eral of the chenopods were collected wild to be used as 

 pot herbs (greens and for flavoring) and probably some 

 of the bledos de muchas maneras were cultivated to a 

 slight extent. 



Kidney bean {frijol, thatsini), Phaseolus vulgaris L. Red 

 and black beans were raised in abundance and were used 

 in a variety of ways including in tamales. 



Pumpkin (calabaza, meldn, puruan), Cucurbita pepo L. 

 The Spaniards immediately after the Conquest used 

 calabaza and meldn as synonyms for the pumpkin, 

 although some of the more precise restricted meldn to 

 edible pumpkins and used calabaza for inedible pumpkins 

 and the calabash gourd (Lagenaria). Phraseology was 

 so loose that we cannot be certain as to what cucurbits 

 in addition to the Cucurbita pepo were present. Prob- 

 ably the calabash gourd and also the musky pumpkin 

 Cucurbita moschata Duch. and the fig-leaved pumpkin 

 or chilacayote {Cucurbita ficifolia Bouch6) were cultivated 

 by the prehistoric Tarascans. 



Chile pepper {chile, axi, cauds), Capsicum frutescens L. 

 The Spaniards at first used the West Indian term axi 

 rather than the Nahuatl chilli. The Tarascans had 

 green, red, and yellow chiles which were used as sauces, 

 and as filler for tamales. 



Agave {maguey, amole, acamba), Agave spp. The century 

 plant or agave was cultivated in a number of species^ 

 and was utilized for sirup, wine, food, fiber, etc. 



Tobacco {tabaco, picietl, andumucua). Several species of 

 Nicotiana were cultivated {N. tabacum L., N. mexicana 

 Schlecht., A^. rustica L.) and were used for smoking, 

 chewing, drinking, incense, and medicine under such 

 names as andumucua, shasharacua, sinchacua, and 

 itzutacua. Michoacdn probably has more prehistorie 

 pipes than any other state in Mexico. The last three 

 Tarascan names actually refer to the implements used. 



Tomato {jitomate, xucupara). We cannot be certain how 

 the writer of the Relaci6n de Michoacdn was using the 

 Mexicano word tomate. Literally tomatl refers to the 

 fruit of a large number of solanums of the genera 

 Solanum, Saracha, Lycopersicum, Nicandra, and Physalis^ 

 and tomate is most commonly used in the unmodified 

 form for the husk-tomato of the genus Physalis. 



Cotton {algoddn, xurala) , Gossypium spp. Although cotton 

 was woven in the Pdtzcuaro Basin, the evidence indicates 

 that it was brought up from the tierra caliente to the 

 south. 



