QUIROGA: a MEXICAN MUNICIPIO BRAND 



159 



enough for such bafeas. The various names, 

 shapes, and sizes of bateas are discussed in the 

 section on the preparation of the finished prod- 

 uct. After the tree has been felled slabs or chunks 

 (known as tejas and pencas) large enough for the 

 desired bateas are chopped and split off from the 

 trunk. Due to lack of skill with an ax a con- 

 siderable amount of wastewood is left between 

 each slab. After all the slabs of economic sizes 

 have been removed the badly mangled trunk 

 commonly is left to rot. Between the chips from 

 the elaboration of the bateas and the "skeleton," 

 probably more than half of the tree goes to waste. 

 The next step is to use the compass to mark the 

 desired size on a slab and then with the ax bark 

 the slab and round it roughly. The concavity 

 of the batea or bowl is made with the adz, and 

 the rim and exterior are smoothed with the car- 

 penter's plane and occasionally with a file. The 

 adz marks on the interior give a rippled effect 

 which immediately distinguishes a Quiroga "lac- 

 quered" batea from one made in any other part 

 of Ale.xico. BateUeros round off, adz out and 

 smooth from 6 to 10 bateas of the larger sizes a 

 day, and average about a dozen a day of the 

 smaller sizes. This means that one man will 

 spend from 2 weeks to a month on an average 

 tree. Members of his family may replenish his 

 supply of food, or he may go to his home whenever 

 necessary. However, usually there are several 

 batelleros working together on the same tree, since 

 the slabs should be converted into rough bateas 

 {bateas crudas or bateas en bianco) before they 

 have had much chance to dry. Whenever a large 

 tree is felled, each penca is worked into a rough 

 batea before another penca is cut out. Although 

 most of the bateas are brought down to Quiroga 

 en bianco, tied on the back of a burro, some men 

 pack the pencas to their homes where they can 

 work in greater comfort; and this also makes 

 available the chips and shavings for fuel. The 

 yoimger married men are more apt to do this than 

 the older batelleros. A dozen of the smaller 6a- 

 teas en bianco bring from $4.50 to $6.50, and a 

 dozen of the larger sizes sell for from $7 to $9. 

 Quite often a member of the batellero's family 

 applies the maquea or shp before the bateas are 

 sold to a painter. Varying with the skill of the 

 batallero and the quality of the tree, net income 

 per day (after subtracting the cost of the tree 

 and assuming that the batellero owns a pack ani- 



mal) runs from $1.50 to $6.75, with the average 

 being between $.3.50 and $5. Practically all of 

 the batelleros are descendants of Indians and live 

 in the Calvario district. Consequently most of 

 the batelleros are ejidatarios and divide their time 

 between making bateas and farming their parcels. 

 In 1940 there were 24 professional batelleros listed, 

 and in 1945 there were 51 in 40 households. The 

 presumptive increase is not real since many of 

 the individuals listed in 1940 merely as ejidatarios 

 or campesinos were batelleros at the same time. 

 Although some of the landless batelleros make 

 bateas the year around, there is general slacken- 

 ing from May into September during las aguas 

 which is the most active farming season of the 

 year, and again in November and December into 

 the first part of January which is the period of 

 harvesting maize and habas and in wliich there 

 are a number of important festivals. Estimates 

 of batea production are given with the discussion 

 of the finished bateas. 



There are few other utilizations of trees in the 

 Quiroga area. Although three of the pine species 

 are good sources of turpentine (Pinus leiophylla, 

 P. montezumae, and P. pseudostrobvs) we observed 

 no turpentine gathering in 1945 and 1946. Some 

 turpentine is collected occasionally, and we saw a 

 number of abandoned turpentine "cups" (small 

 terra-cotta pots which are affixed to the trunk be- 

 low an incision) in the highland forests. A httle 

 resinous torchwood {ocote, cueramu) is cut, but 

 there are so few good pitch pines {Pinus teocote 

 Schlecht. & Cham.) in the area that most of the 

 ocote is brought from the P^tzcuaro area. When 

 ocote for kindling and illumination purposes is 

 made locally, one of the more resinous pines is 

 selected, a section of the trunlc is barked and 

 scarred, and the resin is allowed to concentrate. 

 After a few days, a thin slab is cut out of the ex- 

 posed section, and this is split into slivers. The fir 

 {Abies religiosa (H. B. K.) Schlecht. & Cham.) is 

 used slightly for lumber and oleoresin, and its 

 branches are used to decorate churches and shrines 

 on certain festivals. The alder {Alnus oblongijolia 

 Torr.), known locally as tepamu and aile, is cut 

 for firewood, and its branches are used for decor- 

 ation and in the making of booths or ramadas. 

 The 12 or more species of oaks {Quercus spp.) are 

 the chief source of wood for plows and yokes and 

 for handles of axes, mattocks, etc., as well as fence 

 posts, gate bars or trancas, and the firewood and 



