QUIROGA: a MEXICAN MtrNICIPIO BRAND 



179 



and with brown sugar, and sweetened breads in a 

 variety of forms which went by such fanciful names 

 as espinazos, gendarmes, conchas, cuernos, etc. The 

 materials used daily in the larger bakeries consisted 

 of one 44-kg. sack of locally milled wheat flour, 

 3.5 kg. of lard, 10 kg. of white sugar, 5 kg. of 

 piloncillo or brown sugar, 250 gm. of bicarbonate 

 of soda, and 250 gm. of table salt. No eggs were 

 used in the bakeries excepting in the one reposterki. 

 The smaller bakeries sold their products directly 

 to customers, while the larger establishments hired 

 boys and men to deliver their output to the stores 

 in Quiroga and to the ranchos. For delivery the 

 baked goods (colloquially known as/rwfa del homo; 

 i. e., fruit of the oven) are placed in a large basket 

 which is covered with a cloth and then is carried 

 on the head. In 1945 practically all of the baked 

 goods, whether plain rolls or sugared buns, sold for 

 bi to 10^ apiece. We were unable to obtain figures 

 on wages and other costs, nor could we find out the 

 actual production of the different bakeries. Con- 

 sequently we carmot evaluate the baking industry. 

 It is certain, however, that the production and con- 

 sumption of wheat breadstuffs is increasing in 

 Quiroga. Although the gremio de panaderos is 

 extinct as a craft guild, it is still organized for 

 religious purposes. Furthermore, the bakers were 

 sufficiently well organized along economic lines 

 that in June of 1945 they carried out the first strike 

 in the history of Quiroga. This 3-day strike (re- 

 fusal to bake for the community) was in protest 

 against the high price of sugar, and closely followed 

 the first modern attempt at price control in 

 Michoac^n (the publication on June 11, 1945, by 

 the State government, of a list of maximum prices 

 for various commodities). 



FLOUR MILLING 



The single largest industrial establishment in 

 Quiroga is in the hands of the Tori-es family. This 

 establishment consists of the only wheat mill in 

 the municipality, one of the two molinos de nix- 

 tamal in Quu'oga, one of the three largest chair 

 factories, and the local office for the electricity 

 which is brought in from the Bartolinas plant near 

 Tacdmbaro. The wheat mill and the molino de 

 nixtamal are the most important food-processing 

 establishments in the northern part of the Pdtz- 

 cuaro Basin. The wheat mill contains one Midget 

 Marven mill of 4 pairs of cylinders (6 by 20 inches) 

 with a capacity of 40 barrels (of 88 kg. each) every 



24 hours; 1 cleaning machine and 2 machines for 

 further cleaning and polishing the wheat kernels; 

 1 Great Western baTico with 2 pairs of cylinders (6 

 by 16 inches); 1 Todd Improved torno; 1 mixer; 

 1 Mitchell blancher; 1 Jewel packer; and 1 Koer- 

 ting motor with pulleys, belts, and other acces- 

 sories. Although estimates of production are often 

 made in barrels, aU of the flour produced is sold in 

 bags of 10 kg. and 44 kg. The bags are purchased 

 from a company in Puebla, and carry the trade- 

 mark of the local mill "El Luchador." The wheat 

 milled is mainly from the municipalities of Quiroga 

 and Tzintzuntzan, although some comes in from 

 other municipalities. In 1944 and 1945 some 

 wheat was imported from the United States. The 

 mill in Quiroga has to compete with mills in 

 Chapultepec, Pdtzcuaro, Tacimbaro, Morelia, 

 Villa Jimenez, and elsewhere in northern Mi- 

 choac^n. Nearly all of the wheat milled is the 

 general type known locally as trigo Colorado. The 

 mill operates two 8-hour shifts a day, and produces 

 about 50 sacks of 44 kg. or the equivalent of 25 

 barrels of flour a day. Appro.ximately 12,000 

 sacks, or 528,000 kg. of flour, are miUed each year, 

 since the mill operates about 240 days each year 

 (25 days a month for 9.5 months of the year). 

 Apparently it takes from 120 to 130 kg. of wheat to 

 make 44 kg. of flour. In 1945 the miU purchased 

 local wheat for $56.50 a carga of 161 kg., and im- 

 ported wheat from the United States at $62 a carga. 

 The chief markets are in the municipality of Qui- 

 roga and in Morelia. However, wheat flour from 

 the Santa Lucia mill in Morelia also is sold in Qui- 

 roga. In 1945 a 44-kg. sack of flour wholesaled in 

 Quiroga for $23; in 1944 the price was $18 to $20; 

 and before the war the wholesale price was between 

 $10 and $15. The local merchants retailed this 

 flour at 55?i to 60^ a kg. for a gross profit of 2.7i!i to 

 7.7fiperkg. 



MOLINOS DE NIXT.\M.\L 



The Torres establishment contains the leading 

 molino de nixtamal which is powered by electricity 

 and grinds about 750 kg. a day of dough or masa. 

 The Fuentes molino de nixtamal, with two grinders, 

 is powered by a 30-hp. engine (fueled by gas pobre 

 produced from charcoal) and grinds about 400 

 kg. of masa a day. The combined production of 

 1,150 kilos of masa probably represents between 

 40 and 45 percent of the masa ground each day in 

 Quiroga. The remainder is ground principally 



