597 



through the garden. Diagramatically it may be represented 

 thus : — 



/9 



B 



Plan of Garden. 



A. Stile over fence. 

 A B. Main path. 

 a, h, c, d, e, f, g. Boundaries of plots. 



The planting of the gardens begins in the A vara kivonai 

 season, at the onset of the heavy rains. No special gardens 

 are made for taro, yams, and bananas. (^8) There is only one 

 name for garden — Maddva in the Mailu dialect, Ici'pa in that 

 of the mainland. Bananas and taro are planted in one place, 

 yams and sugar-cane in another, the bana^nas and taro being 

 planted first and the others afterwards. The garden, and the 

 taro in particular, had to be watched carefully and weeded. 

 The yams, and especially the newly introduced sweet potatoes, 

 do not require such care, and this is the reason for the great 

 popularity of the latter among the natives. 



The clearing and fencing is done by men; the planting 

 by both sexes. But all subsequent work, such as weeding, etc., 

 is done by women exclusively. One result of this distribution 

 of work is that an unmarried man does not have a garden. 



A new garden is made every year, and the taro and yams 

 are harvested during the first year. During the next year 

 or two bananas and sugar-cane are gathered. The banana 

 bunches are wrapped in leaves when they begin to ripen to 

 protect them against flying foxes and birds. After three 

 years the fence decays, the garden is open to wild pigs and 

 marsupials, and the natives make little more use of it. 



If the ground has proved fertile and the crops have been 

 a success the natives make the next year's garden near by ; 

 but if the soil has proved to be unsatisfactory or ''unlucky" it 

 is made at some distance in the scrub. I was not able to find 



(48) In the Central Division each of the Koita, Motu, and 

 Sinaiufholo clans makes two, or even three enclosures, and special 

 gardens, designated by special names, are apportioned for bananas, 

 taro, and yams. 



