THE TAJIN TOTONAC PART 1 KELLY AND PALERM 



129 



lend a hand, he either is paid in cash or is given 

 a share of the sugar. 



The cut cane sprouts anew, and replanting is not 

 necessary for 2 or 3 years. 



PROCESSING 



Both men and women haul cane to the mill 

 (trapiche). Men use a head tump; a few women 

 follow suit, but most carry a bundle of stalks on 

 the head. If the family has a donkey or is able 

 to rent one, the pack saddle is fitted with a pair of 

 forked sticks which hang low on each side. Into 

 the crotch of these the cane is stacked, and a small 

 boy escorts the cargo to the mill. About a hun- 

 dred stalks, 57 each a yard (vara) long, comprise 

 a load (carga). 



If a planter has a hectare of cane, it is advan- 

 tageous for him to own a mill. An incomplete 

 count indicates that at least 29 families in Tajin 

 are so equipped; 11 mills are of wood, 20 of iron; 

 two families have both kinds. 



The iron mill (pi. 8, b) is a commercial prod- 

 uct, usually, if not always, manufactured in the 

 United States and sold in Papantla for $1,200 to 

 $1,300 pesos. The mill proper consists of a series 

 of upright cylinders between which the cane is 

 crushed. The large central one is known as the 

 nursemaid (nana), the smaller ones, as the chil- 

 dren (hips). This contraption is mounted in 

 the open air, on a frame of four substantial up- 

 rights set in the ground and connected by cross- 

 pieces. On top, a long pole is attached to the 

 large central cylinder. It is arched slightly 

 downward, and to one end of it a horse or mule 

 is hitched. The animal walks or is driven in a 

 circle about the mill, thus providing traction which 

 turns tlie central cylinder; and this, in turn, re- 

 volves the smaller ones. Formerly, it is said, a 

 pair of yoked oxen turned the sugar mill, and Basi- 

 lio Hernandez still has an aged wooden yoke, 

 used in his father's day for hooking oxen to the 

 mill. 



Generally, cane which is hauled to the crusher 

 is laid across two parallel sticks, so that it does 

 not rest directly on the ground. From this stack, 

 stalks are removed as needed. A substantial post, 



57 According to the thickness of the stalk, 45 or 50 canes — 

 the later usualy expressed as 25 pairs — form a tercio; and 2 

 tercios make a load. 



which serves as a chopping block, is set vertically 

 in the ground adjacent to the mill, sufficiently low 

 so that the pole to which the animal is hitched 

 will clear it. A cane is laid across the top of the 

 block and the joints cracked with a sharp blow 

 from a heavy wooden mallet (lit Alan). The 

 latter is similar in form to our old-fashioned 

 wooden potato mashers (fig. 15, c) and is of 

 sapote, moral, or pimienta wood (No. 191, 324, 

 30). If the cane is not thus broken, the animal 

 turning the mill soon tires. 



One man manipulates the metal mill. He 

 cracks the cane and feeds it into the mouth of the 

 crusher and the dry stalks are ejected on the far 

 side. If the canes are thin, two or three may be 

 inserted at the same time. The juice drops into 

 a receptacle on the ground beneath. Formerly, 

 this was an oval, wooden, dugout tub, with a lug 

 at either end. Today, a 5-gallon tin most often is 

 used. If the receptacle is a clay pot, its rounded 

 base rests in a ring made of dry, crushed cane, 

 wrapped with liana. 



The wooden mill (pi. 8, c, d) works on the same 

 principle, but the crushers are of wood instead of 

 iron. There are three upright cogged cylinders 

 each cut to receive the teeth of the adjacent one. 

 The central cylinder has an upward extension, 

 through which is passed the pole to which the 

 animal is hitched. As the central cylinder re- 

 volves, the two flanking ones follow suit. The 

 supporting frame of the wooden mill has two up- 

 rights instead of four. 



Although its sugar has a better flavor, the 

 wooden mill is less effective. Two individuals 

 work it, one on each side. One feeds the cane 

 into the machine, between the central and right- 

 hand cylinder; it emerges on the far side, where 

 the other operator returns it to the mill, between 

 the central cylinder and the one on his right. This 

 time, the stalk is twisted sharply to assist in ex- 

 tracting the juice. On the contrary, the iron mill 

 requires only one operator, and the cane is crushed 

 in a single passage through the machine. 



In Tajin wooden trapiches are made by Pedro 

 Perez, Francisco Villanueva Mata, and perhaps 

 one or two others. They charge $100 pesos for 

 labor alone, the owner providing the wood. The 

 cogged cylinders are of sapote, ebano, or moral 

 (Nos. 191, 152, 324). A man from nearby Plan 

 de Hidalgo comes occasionally to Tajin to drum 



