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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 1 1 



Machetes vary considerably in shape, size, and 

 manufacture— from short straight knives (com- 

 monly manufactured in Connecticut) to long 

 shghtly curved bolos and deeply curved medium- 

 sized garabatos. The two latter forms are usually 

 of Guerrero manufacture and probably represent 

 a carry-over from the days when arrieros from 

 Quiroga frequently made the trip to the Guerrero 

 coast. However, machetes are not so numerous 

 or important in the highlands of Michoac6-n as 

 in the thorny scrub country of the tierra caliente 

 in southern Michoacan and in Guerrero. The 

 axes, occasional mattocks, pitchforks, and spades 

 and shovels are usually of local manufacture and 

 are rather crude. The cords, bags, and cloths of 

 ixtle commonly come from Guanajuato, Queretaro, 

 and San Luis Potosi. Leather thongs and ropes 

 are made locally. 



SOILS AND FERTILIZATION 



Most of the fields now in use have been culti- 

 vated for centm'ics, probably since shortly after 

 the Conquest when acquisition of the good lowland 

 lands by the Spaniards forced the Indians onto 

 the slopes and into areas somewhat remote from 

 their settlements. Very Httle new land is added 

 by clearing the forest and scrub (monte), and even 

 such lands are suspect. A great deal of the 

 scrub and timber on the slopes near Quiroga 

 seems to be a "second growth" probably several 

 times repeated. AU of the soils in the Quiroga 

 area are deficient in one or more plant nutrients. 

 However, very little attempt is made to fertilize 

 the soil. Where a field has been allowed to lie 

 fallow for several years and thus accumulate a 

 considerable cover of vegetation there is fertiliza- 

 tion through the organic matter which is plowed 

 in, and the deficit of potash is made up from the 

 ashes of the brush cover which was burned. The 

 normal sequence in such cases is to chop down 

 the brush in the winter months (December, 

 January, and February), let it dry for a time, fire 

 the dried brush in March and April, and com- 

 mence plowing in May. This clearing and fer- 

 tilizing by fire {la quema) has been prevalent for 

 centuries, and despite State and Federal laws 

 against such fires (which frequently get away and 

 burn up good timber) since the 1880's the practice 

 continues. While we were in Quiroga we noticed 

 smoke and fires in the highlands beginning about 

 March 27, which continued for about a month, 



and a number of these fires did damage to the pine 

 and oak forests. This practice is by no means 

 local, and over much of Mexico at this season the 

 atmosphere is clouded with a smoky haze. The 

 lands that have been cleared for some time are 

 kept productive by rotatmg crops, allowing them 

 to he fallow, and by adding animal manure. The 

 common sequences in about two-thirds of the 

 lands (especially in the ranchos) are: (1) To plant 

 one crop of maize or wheat or barley, rest a year, 

 plant habas, rest a year, and then repeat the 

 sequence (for poor lands); or (2) to plant wheat 

 (September-May) followed by maize (May- 

 December), rest a year (that is, from December 

 to May), plant habas (May-January) followed by 

 maize (May-December), rest a year (from Decem- 

 ber to September), and then repeat the sequence 

 (for lands of intermediate quality); or (3) to plant 

 fall wheat followed by spring maize, rest a year 

 (December-September), and then repeat the 

 rotation (for fairly good lands). This rotating 

 with habas, and the interplanting of kidney beans 

 with the maize, probably provide all of the 

 nitrogen needed. Only on the best lands in the 

 upland basins or joyas and in the lowland fields of 

 the Llano de Tzintzimtzan are crops planted 

 every year on the same fields, and this is made 

 possible by extensive manuring of the fields and 

 by enrichment of the soils through sheetwash and 

 the deposition of silt washed down from the 

 slopes. However, not all of the deposition from 

 sheetwash is beneficial, since some of the adjacent 

 slopes have only sterile tepetate sm'faces. Manur- 

 ing is carried out in two ways: (1) by pasturing 

 livestock on the unliarvested maize stalks (rastrojo) 

 left standing in the fields, and (2) by hauling in 

 many cargas (animal loads) of cattle manure from 

 the corrals {estiercol del corral). The latter form 

 is laborious and expensive, and is done only by 

 the richer and better farmers on the best available 

 lands. 



One might summarize the condition of the cul- 

 tivated soils in the Quiroga area by saying that in 

 texture and acidity and alkahne content they are 

 close to the optimum ; but in general the soils are 

 too thin or shallow; there is frequently a deficiency 

 of moisture in the soil; and usually nitrogen, 

 potassium, lime, gypsum, organic carbon, and 

 certain metals could be added with profit. The 

 utihzation of wood ashes and manure, and rotating 

 or interplanting with legumes, probably take 



