THE TAJIN TOTONAC PART 1 KELLY AND PALE.RM 



125 



Those within reach are grasped in the hand and 

 the stem twisted off. Those high on the vine are 

 removed by means of a long stick, split at the tip, 

 with a small wooden crosspiece forcing open the 

 cleft. In this fork the base of the pod is caught 

 and twisted free, care being taken that the pod 

 itself is not damaged. 



Theoretically, the vanilla bean should ripen on 

 the vine until December, and early cutting pro- 

 duces an inferior crop. Municipal authorities in 

 Papantla set November 15 as the date prior to 

 which it is illegal to sell green vanilla. However, 

 as a matter of self-defense, the Totonac are 

 obliged to cut earlier. They say philosophically 

 that it is "better to cut green than to have the 

 vanilla stolen," and most cut about the middle of 

 October. 



Newly cut pods are not placed in the sun to 

 dry until 5 or 6 days have passed; otherwise the 

 drying is not successful. Moreover, vanilla is left 

 only an hour or so a day in the sun; if exposed 

 more, the color is altered and sale value lost. The 

 chore of drying is prolonged for months and 

 sometimes is extremely difficult because there is 

 no sun. 



Most Totonac sell their vanilla green, either to 

 small-scale buyers or direct to the big merchants 

 in Papantla, who attend to the drying. However, 

 if the pod has started to turn yellow, generally it 

 is retained, to be dried in Tajin and, later, to be 

 sold for a better price. Although few Totonac 

 cure their vanilla, Pedro Perez has rigged up in 

 his house a drying frame, which consists of two 

 substantial poles set in the ground near the wall ; 

 above, they are tied to the frame of the building. 

 The poles support six narrow shelves, of split 

 bamboo, on which the beans are spread (fig. 14) . 



marketing; theft 



All Tajin vanilla, green or dry, is marketed 

 through Papantla, which clears even that grown 

 as far distant as Tuxpan. It may pass, however, 

 through several hands before it reaches the capi- 

 talistic vanilla merchants in Papantla. As will 

 be seen below, a shockingly large percentage of 

 the crop is stolen. Individuals known as paco- 

 tilleros (those who make small bales, or pacas) 

 buy the stolen green vanilla; they generally sell 

 to intermediaries, who then resell in Papantla. 

 Local storekeepers also buy vanilla for resale and, 



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Figure 14. — Frame for drying vanilla. Two upright 

 poles are set in the ground, against the interior of the 

 house wall; above, they are tied to the frame of the 

 building. Two lengths of split bamboo, concave side 

 upward, form narrow shelves. They are supported by 

 strips of wood, cut from commercial boxes, and nailed 

 in place; on the upper surface of the shelf, another nar- 

 row strip holds the bamboos in position. Not to scale. 



in addition, a good many small-scale intermediary 

 buyers come to Tajin in the fall and arrange in ad- 

 vance to buy the crop. They may leave a deposit, 

 to demonstrate good faith, then return on a set date 

 to collect the pods. In the fall, these small-scale 

 buyers, and the agents of the big dealers in Pa- 

 pantla, infest the trails, trying to persuade passers- 

 by to sell to them. Vanilla marketing is discussed 

 further in Part 2, in the chapter devoted to 

 Commerce. 



Years ago vanilla was sold in lots of a hundred 

 pods, at $10.00 to $12.00 pesos the hundred. Later 

 it was sold by the pound (libra) , in rolls of 3 to 5 

 pounds each ; 100 beans are said to make 5 pounds. 



