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Garden type and years of previous use . Most gardens in the Yucatan Peninsula legally can be 

 cleared either from Late Secondary Forest or Early Secondary Forest. At Ejido X-Hazil y Anexos, 

 gardens can not be planted in the permanent forest reserve established by the Plan Estatal Forestal. 

 Given a choice, gardeners prefer to clear sites in Late Secondary Forest because the work is easier. 

 Gardens also vary in the number of years that they can be planted consecutively and still produce an 

 acceptable crop. While gardens in the Yucatan Peninsula rarely are planted more than 3 y in a row, 

 regardless of soil fertility or the forest type of the site (Redfield and Villa Rojas, 1962), gardens 

 planted on sites in Late Secondary Forest reportedly can be planted about 3 y in a row, while sites in 

 Early Secondary Forest usually are changed after 1 y. This difference is due, according to Maya 

 gardeners, to increased soil fertility and reduced weed problems (Noguez-Galvez, 1991). 



The results of the present study suggest that gardeners at X-Hazil Sur are changing the types of 

 gardens they plant and the number of times that crops are planted in these fields. According to recent 

 studies in the region, gardeners plant two main types of gardens: One, the chacben garden is planted 

 on newly cleared land in Late Secondary Forest. Two, the hubche garden is planted on Early 

 Secondary Forest lands cultivated the previous year. Usually these gardeners have a single field of 

 each type (Murphy, 1990; Edwards, 1986). 



This use of two garden categories may be confusing as other studies have used additional or 

 different terms. Redfield and Villa Rojas (1962), for example, differentiated between garden types at 

 Chan Kom in 1930-1931 of the basis of the harvest number (e.g., first-, second-, or third-year) and the 

 previous status of the site (e.g., forest or fallow garden). According to this terminology, there were 

 about six types of gardens. Villa Rojas (1987), however, used only three categories based on research 

 at Seiior in 1935-1936. These categories were based solely on the previous status of the site and were 

 named as follows: chacben (planted in virgin lands), zacab (planted in soils used 1-2 y before), and 

 hubche (planted in soils fallowed for 7-8 y). This variety of terms, rather dian suggesting a multitude 

 of garden types, probably represents regional or temporal differences in terminology. 



