QUIROGA: a MEXICAN MUNICIPIO — BRAND 



235 



Plate 16 



a, A wooden plow. 



b, The first plowing (in this case for maize) , in a field near 



Zirandangacho. The plowman is carrying an ox goad. 



c, The second plowing, or cruza, which is crossing the 



furrows of the first plowing at an angle. This field 

 is on the water divide between the Pdtzcuaro Basin 

 and the small undrained basin to the north — in the 

 background. The jumper worn by the man is the 

 only exotic element in the scene. 



Plate 17 



o, The bundles or shocks of wheat are tied with some 

 knotted lengths of wheat straw. This scene is near 

 Zirandangacho. 



b, Winnowing habas near La Tirfmicua. The broadbeans 



were threshed by horses as shown in plate 19. 



c, The cut maize plants or rastrojo are often stored on such 



platforms above the reach of livestock. 



d, The tall slender plant next to Corona Nunez is leosinle — 



a rather common weed in this field near the Cerro 

 Huarapo. The other "corn plants" are genuine 

 maize. 



Plate 18 



a, Harvesting or piscando maize in a lowland field. The 



ears are ripped and broken out of their husks with 

 the aid of a husking tool, and then are dropped in 

 the iitle harvesting bag. The weedy tangle in the 

 cornfields at harvest time is characteristic. Small 

 wild sunflowers are the most obvious weeds in this 

 view. 



b, The wheat is cut with a sickle which usually has small 



saw teeth. This back-breaking method of reaping is 

 practically the only one used locally for wheat. The 

 reaper in the foreground is typically attired from 

 huaraches on his feet to old straw hat. 



Plate 19 



a, Threshing wheat on an earth-bottomed threshing floor 



at the margin of a field on the slopes of the Cerro 

 de la MuiSeca above Quiroga. Mules and horses are 

 being used here, but commonly only horses are em- 

 ployed. 



b, Threshing habas on the slopes of the Cerro Azul above 



the Plan de la Tirimicua. The sacks at the left con- 

 tain winnowed broadbeans. The direction of move- 

 ment of the animals is changed from time to time so 

 that they will not become dizzy. 



Plate 20 



a, b, c, Stages in converting oak wood into charcoal high 

 on the slopes of Tzirate. First (a) large logs are piled; 

 then (b) smaller sticks complete the wood pile; and 

 lastly (c) the pile is nearly covered with earth and a 

 slow smouldering fire is started which chars but does 

 not get enough oxygen to fully burn the wood. 



d, The side of a resinous pine is barked, scraped, and scarred 

 to stimulate the flow of resin. Then slabs or pencas 

 835847—51 16 



of the permeated wood are cut out and split into 

 splinters which are sold as ocote wood for kindling 

 fires, for house illumination, and as torchwood in 

 general. 



e, A log or pole fence of a type common in the wooded 

 highlands. Pine, oak, tejocote, and madrono are most 

 used for fences in the order mentioned. 



/, Cut tules and some bundles or manojos of tule ready to 

 be carried in to Santa Fe for making petates. The 

 scene is that part of the lake shore closest to Quiroga. 



g, A large white zapote by the roadside in Quiroga. 



h, A very large and old avocado tree in the Calle del Agua- 

 cate to which it has given its name. 



i, A large tejocote or hawthorn tree on the Mesa de Santiago. 



Plate 21 



a, Out of each slab or penca is made one rough batea. The 



wastage in the log is evident. 



b, Crude bateas have been adzed out and planed off at this 



foot-of-the-tree {al pie del &rbol) location. The two 

 bateas shown are rejects. The mass of chips and 

 shavings is wasted since such material practically 

 never is taken home or to town to be used as fuel. 



c, The women who applied the maque to the bateas did not 



want their pictures taken, so this is the best picture 

 we have of the process of applying the black and red 

 slips. 



d, This little girl, clad in a one-piece slip, has been grinding 



the earths (the clods in the bateas) used in making 

 the maque. The milling stones are at her feet. 



Plate 22 



a, Bateas (size cuatro) with black maque drying in the sun. 



b, Burnished and lacquered black maque bateas drying on 



a sidewalk. Note the ripple effect left by the adz 

 marks. 



c, Distinctive bateas made by M. Valdovinos and his wife, 



in the Barrio del Calvario. In the back row, from 

 left to right, the sizes are d cuatro, d cuatro, d tres, and 

 d cuatro; in the front, the batea on the left is chucheria 

 size, and the one on the right is d tres. 



d, This type of stall or booth for the sale of local handi- 



craft "curiosities" is known as a puesto, expendio, or 

 venta de curiosidades. Bateas, chairs, and turned- 

 wood items make up most of the stock. 



Plate 23 



a, This display of bateas in the Plaza de los Mdrtires, 



shows several of the decorative styles, including the 

 combination of birds with flowers. The ripple effect 

 has been accentuated by the lighting conditions that 

 obtained. 



b, c, A painted chest {haul or petaca pintado) of a type no 



longer made in Quiroga. This chest belonged to 

 the grandmother of Don Jesiis Gutierrez Barriga 

 (shown in b with his two daughters). The arrange- 

 ment of the potted flowers is characteristic of the 

 inner patios in the homes of the wealthier people of 

 Quiroga. 



