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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 1 1 



be cut and any deadwood may be cut or gathered, 

 but theoretically by law permission must be ob- 

 tained before cutting a live tree. Very little 

 attention is paid locally to the forest laws of the 

 State and the Nation. Most of the firewood is 

 pine {ocote, pino), oak {encino, roble), and madrono. 

 The wood is cut (and split if necessary) into pieces 

 2 Spanish feet in length and varying from about 

 5 to 10 cm. in diameter. A carga or burroload 

 consists of 40 pares or 80 sticks. The wood is 

 sold in Quiroga at $1 a carga for oak and madrono 

 wood and 80^ to SSji a carga for pine. Most of 

 the firewood is produced locally, but a little pine- 

 wood is brought in by truck from the Patzcuaro 

 area. The wood is retailed at a shght profit in a 

 number of private houses and in most of the small 

 stores. The usual equipment of a lenador is an 

 ax and a burro — his own or rented. It is impossi- 

 ble to compute daily earnings since this varies 

 greatly according to the distance that must be 

 covered to the nearest available tree, the size and 

 species of the tree or shrub, and whether it is 

 seasoned deadwood or green. 



There were no charcoal burnei's or carboneros 

 listed in 1940 and but three in 1945. Compara- 

 tively little charcoal is consumed in Quiroga, and 

 much of the charcoal produced locally is taken to 

 Morelia^ — by truck and by burro. What was said 

 about wood cutters also applies to charcoal 

 burners, and the number is considerably larger 

 than that indicated by three full-time followers of 

 this occupation. The equipment is the same as 

 for wood cutting plus sacks in which to bring the 

 charcoal to town. There are two formal charcoal 

 stores or yards (carbonerlas or expendios de carbon) , 

 and charcoal also is handled by a number of the 

 grocery stores. Oak and madrono are the favored 

 woods for charcoal burning. 



There is very little cutting of trees for lumber. 

 What is cut is chiefly to supply the rafters (vigas), 

 planks (tablas), and shakes (tejamaniles) needed 

 for some particular edifice. Since planks and 

 shakes are little used in most buildings, the chief 

 form of lumber is vigas. We saw no lumbering 

 while we were in Quiroga. Much of the pine 

 lumber utilized by the carpenters in Quiroga comes 

 from the Pdtzcuaro and Tac^mbaro areas by 

 truck. There are no professional timbermen in 

 Quiroga. 



WOOD FOR BATEAS 



Of considerable importance, and once of very 

 great importance, is the cutting of wood for bateas 

 (painted trays). Formerly bateas were made of 

 basswood or cirimo (Tilia spp.), of which there 

 are three species in the area, but centuries of 

 cutting this tree have nearly annihilated it, and 

 now there are only a few individuals in some of 

 the more remote canyons. During the nineteenth 

 century, and possibly earlier, the batelleros (men 

 who cut the trees and make the rough bateas) began 

 to use pine instead of basswood, and now all 

 bateas are made from pine wood. There are at 

 least eight species of pine in the area, of which 

 four are commonly cut for bateas (Pinus michoa- 

 cana Martinez, P. montezumae Lamb., P. leio- 

 phylla Schlecht. & Cham., and P. pseudostrobus 

 Lindl.). The fkst two species are the most 

 common and the largest of the pines in the Qui- 

 roga area. Cutting of pines for bateas and for 

 other purposes has removed all pines from the 

 immediate vicinity of Quiroga, and now the 

 batellero must go several miles into the highland 

 woods to find a suitable pine (large enough, and 

 with a minimum of knots and pitch). If the 

 batellero cuts a pine on Government property or 

 on the ejido, he must obtain governmental per- 

 raission and pay a tax. Should he cut on private 

 property, where the best pines are at present, he 

 must pay from $5 to $15 a tree. There is a con- 

 siderable amount of illegal cutting, both on public 

 and on private property. The typical batellero 

 is equipped with an ax, two curved short-handled 

 adzes (azuelas) made in Quiroga or Patzcuaro, a 

 plane or cepillo, and a compds (calipers). After 

 locating a suitable tree and making arrangements 

 for cutting it (with the owner or forestry agent) 

 the batellero and possibly one or two companions 

 equip themselves with food for 3 to 6 days and 

 make camp at the tree. One man can cut an 

 average tree in one day, using only an ax. From 

 the appearance of the stumps in the area, all 

 trees are "beavered," and we saw no evidence 

 of the use of saws. The average tree (costing 

 from $10 to $15) will yield 12 to 18 dozen bateas 

 of the more common sizes, which range from about 

 25 to 45 cm. in diameter. Formerly bateas were 

 made which were more than a meter in diameter, 

 but now it is almost impossible to find a tree large 



