62 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — ^PUBLICATION NO. 1 2 



grass for pasturing cattle (see p. 77). The 15 

 other farms comprise a total area of 213.5 di- 

 qiielres or 1,275 acres. Of these 1,275 acres, only 

 236 were in cultivation at the time the farms were 

 visited, although this occurred during the princi- 

 pal growing season, in January and February. 

 There were 573 acres in pasture, of which 540 acres 

 were on one farm ; 30 acres were in timber. The 

 remaining 436 acres either were waste land or were 

 lying fallow. 



Most produce is consumed on the farm or within 

 the community. The two principal money crops 

 at present are potatoes and onions, although some 

 maize and beans also are sold."^ Although the 

 growing of onions as a money crop apparently 

 is increasing, some farmers are giving up this crop 

 in favor of maize and potatoes. "You must have 

 rain at just the right time," said a farmer, "to set 

 out the young plants, and you don't always get it. 

 Wlien it does rain, you need a lot of help so as to 

 finish before the ground dries. Then, by the time 

 you've harvested the crop, the price has usually 

 dropped. You have to sell right away, though, 

 for if you don't, the onions will dry out so much 

 you'll lose more in weight than you gain in price." 



Coffee and cotton, the principal crops now 

 grown in the State of Sao Paulo, were also once 

 grown in this community. No cotton, however, 

 is at present in production and only a few coffee 

 trees are left. In 1905, 3,220 arroias (52 tons) of 

 coffee were reported produced in the community ; 

 and in 1933, 1,360 arroias (24 tons). In 1924, 

 cotton production was given as 6,200 arrobas 

 (396.8 bales) and reported to be at that time "ex- 

 panding rapidly;" in 1933, however, only 90 arro- 

 has (5.8 bales) were reported produced. A severe 

 freeze some years ago is said to have destroyed 

 most of the coffee trees. A local farmer who once 

 had 8,000 trees said, "These hills aren't good for 

 coffee; it gets too cold in the winter." It is also 

 likely that soil exhaustion from extensive crop- 

 ping contributed to the decline of this crop. The 

 disappearance of cotton cultivation seems to have 

 been due to a combination of circumstances, in- 

 cluding unfavorable weather for cotton growing, 

 low prices, and a severe attack by a cotton pest, 

 the curuquere, all of which occurred in the same 



year. "There used to be a lot of cotton grown 

 around here," said a farmer, "but after that year 

 when all of us lost the whole crop, we stopped 

 planting it. Xo one even wants to hear cotton 

 mentioned any more." 



The shift from agriculture to cattle raising and 

 dairying which has proceeded rather rapidly in 

 recent years in certain other areas of the State of 

 Sao Paulo, especially in the so-called "Norte" ^^^ re- 

 gion, is just beginning in this community. (See 

 p. 77.) 



The principal labor used in planting and culti- 

 vating is human labor. Most farms are quite small 

 and the work usually is done by the farmer and 

 his family, although some help may be hired, es- 

 pecially to prepare new land or at harvest time. 

 On occasion, men, women, and children all work 

 in the fields; the major portion of the labor, how- 

 ever, as has been indicated, is performed by men. 

 Work is rarely done on Sunday. Quite often Sat- 

 urda}' afternoon is also reserved for going to the 

 village to make needed purchases, although, when 

 the farmer is especially busy, at planting and 

 harvest time, this may be postponed until Sunday. 



The horse, the mule, and the burro also are used 

 occasionally for traction, especially to pull the 

 plow, the riscador, and the harrow. These imple- 

 ments, however, as has been indicated, are by no 

 means as much used as the hoe. Although the 

 first plow is said to have appeared in the com- 

 munity early in the present century, and most 

 farmers now own this implement, one rai-ely sees 

 the plow being used. It is said to be used most to 

 prepare land for potatoes and maize. There are 

 no tractors in the community. The disk, the 

 planter, and the cultivator are unknown. Other 

 implements used are described elsewhere.^^' 



Harvesting also is entirely by hand. There are 

 no mowers, reapers, binders, pickers, diggers, 

 buskers, or threshers powered either by animal 

 traction or motor vehicle. Produce may be car- 

 ried into the house or shed for storing, or to the 

 village to be sold, in jacds, or huge baskets,"* se- 

 cured to either side of a horse, mule, or burro. 



>!"' An increasing export is raw milk wliich is being marketed 

 in larger quantities each year. See Beginnings of Cattle 

 Raising and Dairying, p. 77. 



™ Literally "the North," aUhongh the area is in fact the east- 

 ern tip of the state. It is called the Norte because the bandcir- 

 antes who left Sao Paulo for Minas Gerais traveled to this area 

 in a generally northward direction. 



"' See Tools and Other Equipment, p. 50. 



las gge Tools and Other Equipment, p. 55. 



