THE TAJIN TOTONAC PART 1 — KELLY AND PALERM 



121 



These figures for the first crop of the cooperative 

 show a somewhat lower yield than that calculated 

 for the two succeeding ones (table 11), presum- 

 ably because the winter crop of 1946 was gen- 

 erally poor. 



The same accounts provide the one demonstra- 

 ble case of the amount of labor expended on a 

 Totonac milpa. Each member of the group re- 

 ceived $2.00 pesos for each day he worked. A to- 

 tal of 408 man-days was spent during the year, 

 including clearing, burning, planting, replanting, 

 cultivating, harvesting, and shelling. Presum- 

 ably marketing also is included, for over half the 

 crop was sold in Papantla. 



It must be remembered that the above figure 

 includes labor, not only for the first crop of corn, 

 but also for a preliminary crop of beans. In 

 short, the labor probably is somewhat less than it 

 would be for two full crops of corn, but con- 

 siderably more than it would be for one. Even 

 if we halve the figure 46 and calculate 204 man- 

 days per crop of corn, it is evident that the To- 

 tonac lavish relatively more attention on their 

 milpas than do the Maya. For one group of the 

 latter, it is calculated that a field of nearly 4 hec- 

 tares 4r is tilled with an expenditure of 190 days 

 of labor (Steggerda, p. 127). In short, the field 

 is very much larger than the one Totonac planting 

 for which we have data, while the labor involved 

 is considerably less. We may say, on the basis of 

 our one field, that labor, undercalculated, amounts 

 to 88.7 days per hectare, whereas among the Maya, 

 it comes to 48 days. 48 



We have no specific figures for the amount of 

 labor expended on the average family milpa in 

 Taj in. The Totonac do not appear to toil unduly, 

 but they do not stint the time spent on their fields. 

 In addition to outside assistance — in felling trees, 

 perhaps in hacking the rubbish to uniform level, 

 invariably in planting, in part of the cultivating, 

 and not infrequently in harvesting — a man culti- 

 vates his field almost daily, during the growing 



40 This will offset any possible charge that, since the field was 

 cooperative, there was a surplus of labor. As a matter of fact, 

 some members of the cooperative felt that the field had received 

 insufficient attention. 



" Maya plantings are reckoned by the mecate, which is 20 m. 

 square and which therefore contains 400 square meters. The 

 average Maya planting consists of 99 and a fraction mecates 

 (Steggerda, pp. 91, 113), which we calculate at 3.97 hectares. 



48 Moreover, the Maya figure includes the time spent in con- 

 structing the corncrib (Steggerda, p. 126), whereas ours does not. 



season, usually with the assistance of assorted 

 members of the family. If 88.7 days per crop 

 for each hectare is at all reliable — and we think 

 it somewhat low — then the average family field 

 of 1.5 hectares would require about 133 man-days 

 of labor for each crop, or 266 man-days a year. 

 The seasonal distribution of agricultural activities 

 is treated in Part 2, under the heading Work. 



Although the accounts of the cooperative are 

 not entirely clear, something can be said of the 

 results of the first harvest in terms of cash. Of 

 the original 13 members of the group, 12 advanced 

 $5.00 pesos apiece to pay the rent ; the thirteenth 

 was Don Abundio, who was excused because of ill 

 health and because he was to function as book- 

 keeper. A summary of his accounts follows : 



Disbursements : 



Rent of land (advanced by members, who Pesos 



later were reimbursed) $60. 00 



Bean seed (16 kg.) 22.00 



Labor (408 days @ $2.00) 816.00 



Overpayment to various members, appar- 

 ently through error 30. 50 



Unspecified disbursement 5. 50 



Profit ($18.75 to each of the 11 members 



who remained with the group) 206.25 



Unaccounted for 60. 90 



Total $1,201.15 



Proceeds : 



Sale of beans (75 kg. @ $1.00) $75. 00 



Sale of maize (to members and others)— 1,010.65 

 Additional sale of maize to members, im- 

 plied in final settlements 115. 50 



Total $1, 201. 15 



Shelled corn was divided into three categories: 

 good (bueno), that is, suitable for human con- 

 sumption; half-eaten (by weevils) (bueno- 

 picaclo), suitable for hogs; and eaten (picado), 

 used only for fowl. For each lot, there were two 

 prices, one to members and one to nonmembers. 

 Prices per almud of 12 liters were as follows : 



To members To outsiders ' 



Good $3. 00 $3. 75 



Half-eaten 2.00 3.00 



Eaten LOO 2.00 



1 The corn hauled to Papantla was sold by weight. It brought 



46 centavos a kilogram, which informants reckon as roughly 

 equivalent to lf47.00 or $48.00 pesos a fanrga. In the notebook 

 of the cooperative, sales were recorded in fanegas. 



The bulk of the crop was sold before weevils 

 made serious inroads. Presumably all the maize 

 sold in Papantla was "good." Of that disposed 



