﻿54 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  visitors 
  had 
  little 
  use 
  for 
  those 
  of 
  stone 
  here, 
  as 
  they 
  came 
  for 
  hunting 
  

   and 
  fishing, 
  and 
  not 
  to 
  till 
  the 
  soil. 
  The 
  Iroquois, 
  who 
  were 
  an 
  

   agricultural 
  people, 
  used 
  stone 
  as 
  little 
  as 
  possible, 
  and 
  made 
  their 
  

   hoes 
  and 
  digging 
  tools 
  of 
  wood 
  or 
  bone; 
  mostly 
  the 
  former. 
  In 
  

   Bruyas' 
  Mohawk 
  lexicon, 
  about 
  two 
  centuries 
  old, 
  onarate 
  is 
  the 
  

   wooden 
  hoe, 
  but 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  word 
  for 
  spade, 
  which 
  they 
  would 
  only 
  

   use 
  in 
  digging 
  post-holes, 
  or 
  pits 
  for 
  caches, 
  where 
  the 
  hoe 
  would 
  be 
  

   quite 
  as 
  serviceable. 
  In 
  the 
  early 
  book 
  called 
  New 
  England 
  prospect, 
  

   it 
  is 
  said 
  that 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  women's 
  work 
  was 
  ' 
  their 
  planting 
  of 
  corne, 
  

   wherein 
  they 
  exceede 
  our 
  English 
  husband-men, 
  keeping 
  it 
  so 
  clear 
  

   with 
  their 
  clamme 
  shell-hooes, 
  as 
  if 
  it 
  were 
  a 
  garden 
  rather 
  than 
  a 
  

   corne-field.' 
  Loskiel 
  said 
  of 
  the 
  cultivation 
  of 
  corn 
  ' 
  They 
  used 
  

   formerly 
  the 
  shoulder 
  blade 
  of 
  a 
  deer, 
  or 
  a 
  tortoise-shell, 
  sharpened 
  

   upon 
  a 
  stone, 
  and 
  fastened 
  to 
  a 
  thick 
  stick, 
  instead 
  of 
  a 
  hoe.' 
  In 
  

   Van 
  der 
  Donck's 
  New 
  Netherlands 
  are 
  interesting 
  notes 
  on 
  points 
  

   connected 
  with 
  indian 
  agriculture, 
  although 
  their 
  implements 
  are 
  not 
  

   described. 
  ^ 
  They 
  say 
  that 
  their 
  corn 
  and 
  beans 
  were 
  received 
  from 
  

   the 
  southern 
  indians, 
  who 
  received 
  their 
  seed 
  from 
  a 
  people 
  who 
  

   resided 
  still 
  further 
  south, 
  which 
  may 
  well 
  be 
  true. 
  . 
  . 
  The 
  

   maize 
  may 
  have 
  been 
  among 
  the 
  indians 
  in 
  the 
  warm 
  climate 
  long 
  

   ago; 
  however, 
  our 
  indians 
  say 
  that 
  they 
  did 
  eat 
  roots 
  and 
  the 
  bark 
  

   of 
  trees 
  instead 
  of 
  bread, 
  before 
  the 
  introduction 
  of 
  indian 
  corn, 
  or 
  

   maize.' 
  They 
  had 
  beans 
  before 
  the 
  whites 
  came, 
  and 
  * 
  have 
  a 
  peculiar 
  

   way 
  of 
  planting 
  them, 
  which 
  our 
  people 
  have 
  learned 
  to 
  practise: 
  

   when 
  the 
  Turkish 
  wheat, 
  or 
  as 
  it 
  is 
  called, 
  maize, 
  is 
  half 
  a 
  foot 
  above 
  

   the 
  ground, 
  they 
  plant 
  the 
  beans 
  around 
  it, 
  and 
  let 
  them 
  grow 
  to- 
  

   gether. 
  The 
  coarse 
  stalk 
  serves 
  as 
  a 
  bean 
  prop, 
  and 
  the 
  beans 
  run 
  

   upon 
  it.' 
  The 
  Onondagas 
  have 
  a 
  pretty 
  story 
  about 
  this. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  fall 
  they 
  burned 
  over 
  the 
  places 
  which 
  they 
  wished 
  to 
  plant 
  

   the 
  next 
  spring. 
  There 
  are 
  many 
  accounts 
  of 
  the 
  large 
  caches 
  in 
  

   which 
  they 
  kept 
  their 
  corn, 
  and 
  these 
  are 
  yet 
  found 
  in 
  many 
  places, 
  

   while 
  the 
  corn 
  itself 
  is 
  often 
  plowed 
  up. 
  One 
  piece 
  of 
  woodland 
  in 
  

   Montgomery 
  county 
  is 
  full 
  of 
  the 
  open 
  pits, 
  but 
  the 
  Iroquois 
  also 
  

   stored 
  corn 
  in 
  boxes 
  made 
  of 
  bark, 
  and 
  sometimes 
  had 
  vast 
  amounts 
  

   of 
  this. 
  The 
  cache 
  method, 
  however, 
  was 
  very 
  common, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  

   pits 
  both 
  corn 
  and 
  beans 
  were 
  stored. 
  In 
  his 
  early 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  

  

  