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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 12 



During the past 6 years, a Government agron- 

 omist has been stationed at Boa Vista to assist 

 farmers in the region of which the community 

 under study is a part. "He's a good friend of 

 ours," said a villager, "because he knows farmers 

 here are hard workers." The actual acceptance 

 into the community of any new farming technique 

 as a result of the agronomist's recommendation is, 

 however, doubtful. Present techniques all seem 

 to be traditional, handed on from fathers and 

 grandfathers. Farmers tend to be convinced that 

 they themselves are better informed on such mat- 

 ters than is the agronomist, an attitude reflected 

 in the somewhat extreme remark of a young 

 farmer: "Those fellows know only about books; 

 they haven't any practical experience. "When you 

 sliow them an onion and you say, 'Look, see how 

 fine the beans are !', they say, 'Yes, aren't the beans 

 fine !' You take them to see your manioc and they 

 want to know why it isn't bearing fruit. They 

 don't even know the tubers grow under the 

 ground." The agronomist tends to be looked 

 upon, not as a useful instructor on improved tech- 

 niques of farming, but as a link with a paternalis- 

 tic government which may supply the more 

 pressing of the farmers' needs. "The agronomist 

 came here once a long time ago," said a villager, 

 "but he didn't come back because he didn't have the 

 support of his bosses, and he can't do it alone. It's 

 like telling a sick man what he should take without 

 giving him any medicine. The agronomist knew 

 what needed to be done but he had no money and 

 he couldn't get any from the government." "To 

 my way of thinking," remarked a farmer, "it 

 should be like this: In each municipio there 

 should be an agronomist who knows farming well. 

 When a farmer sends in a request for something 

 like seeds, fertilizer, insecticides, or credit, the 

 agi'onomist should go to the farm and see if the 

 farmer really needs what he's asking for, and if 

 he should have as much as he asks. If the agrono- 

 mist agrees with the farmer, the government 

 thould then furnish him what is needed. That's 

 the way it should be." 



With the assistance of village officials, the 

 agronomist, on instructions from a politician in 

 Sao Paulo, recently arranged a meeting on a Sun- 

 day with local farmers "to discuss matters of gen- 

 eral interest to all." At the appointed time, there 

 ^er« 52 farmers present, all of whom were from 



small farms averaging around 24 acres. A ques- 

 tionnaire was presented, to be filled out by each 

 man present. Illiterate farmers were assisted by 

 friends who could read and write. All showed 

 interest in this new experience but doubts were 

 general regarding the positive results to come 

 from it. There was much laughing and looking 

 askance at the agronomist. The questionnaire 

 called for a choice as to which item in each of two 

 sets the farmer considered himself in greatest 

 need: (1) Tools, fertilizer, seed, insecticide, trans- 

 port, or medicines for livestock; (2) credit, price 

 guarantees, lower interest rates, or farm laborei's. 

 When the questionnaires were turned in, all but 

 three of the replies were to the effect that all items 

 on both lists were needed. After considerable in- 

 sistence on the part of the agi'onomist, however, 

 the farmers selected only one item from each list, 

 the principal ones checked being, price guaran- 

 tees, seeds and insecticides, in that order. 



srrios Airo fazendas 



All but four farms in tlae community are known 

 locally as sitios; the four farms are called fazen- 

 das. The distinction seems to lie in the fact, first 

 of all, that the fazendas are much larger; all of 

 the sitios are relatively small holdings. More im- 

 portantly, however, each sitio is worked by the 

 owner (or renter) and his family, while the fazen- 

 das are worked by hired help who ordinarily live 

 on the property, together with their families, if 

 married. 



Of the four fazendas, one belongs to the State 

 government. Two others are owned bj' absentee 

 landlords, each of whom lives in Sao Paulo and 

 delegates the care of his property to an adminis- 

 trador who oversees the work on the fazenda and 

 arranges contracts with men and their families to 

 live and work upon it. In the fourth case, the 

 owner himself resides on the property and over- 

 sees it. 



The fazenda which belongs to the State govern- 

 ment is the largest of the four. It comprises 620 

 alqueires, or about 3,701 acres. Although cattle 

 are raised on it and a small portion is under culti- 

 vation, it is used principally as a place to care for 

 horses employed at the government station where 

 antitoxin for snake bite is prepared. It has a resi- 

 dent administrator. There are 24 hired hands, all 

 of whom, together with their families, live on the 



