132 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY PUBLICATION NO. 13 



Production depends largely upon the season 

 and upon the condition of the cane. For exam- 

 ple, following a spell of hot, dry weather, a given 

 cauldron of juice may yield only 10 mancuernas 

 instead of the usual 25. By and large, it is said 

 that one destajo of land planted to cane produces 

 annually between 2,000 and 2,400 mancuernas of 

 sugar. 



Local sugar is of good quality — well flavored, 

 light-colored, clean, and of uniform texture. It 

 is infinitely superior to the general run of brown 

 sugar marketed in Mexico City at twice the price 

 and characterized chiefly by its brunette character 

 und its profusion of odd bits of refuse. 



BORROAVED EQUIPMENT 



The processing of sugarcane requires special 

 equipment not owned by every household. The 

 metal mill and the copper cauldron, cone, and 

 colander are commercial products, generally pur- 

 chased in Papantla. The wooden mill, on the 

 contrary, generally is made in Taj in by a spe- 

 cialized craftsman. Other items of equipment — 

 mallet, gourd colander, stirring stick, scraper, 

 and mold — present no major technical problems, 

 and each individual usually makes his own. 



Some cane planters have no equipment whatso- 

 ever and arrange to use that of a friend or rela- 

 tive. Some relatives make no formal charge, but 

 subsequently the borrower liquidates the debt by 

 offering his services in some chore. Generally, 

 however, payment is in sugar or cash. 



The price is settled by individual agreement. 

 Often the charge is 2 mancuernas (that is, 4 cakes) 

 of sugar for each item of equipment — the mill; 

 the animal; and the oven and cauldron — a total 

 of 6 mancuernas. Some charge 3 mancuernas a 

 day for the mill, plus 3 more for the use of the 

 oven, cauldron, colander, scraper, and mold. 

 Others exact a flat rate of 4 mancuernas for each 

 cauldron of cane juice which is prepared. Pay- 

 ment is made with mancuernas of the size pro- 

 duced by the borrowed mold, and if one prefers 

 to pay in cash, he substitutes $1.00 peso for each 

 mancuerna, although this is about double the mar- 

 ket value. When the animal for traction is rented 

 separately, the owner may charge $2.00 pesos for 

 each cauldron of cane juice which is crushed. 



BEANS AND OTHER LEGUMES 

 PHASEOLUS AND VIGNA 



In many parts of Mexico, beans are a staple 

 food, and, in most households, at least in the 

 western states, cooked beans are available literally 

 any hour of the day or night, This is not the 

 case in Taj in, where beans are on the fringes, if 

 not within the limits, of a luxury food. 



Half a dozen different kinds of beans are recog- 

 nized by informants. Of these, the kidney and 

 the limas are native to the New World, while the 

 others generally are considered Old World. The 

 latter include the rice bean and two variants of 

 Vigna; the latter, strictly speaking, are not beans, 

 but are closely allied. 



Informants regard one kidney and both forms 

 of Vigna as native. Concerning other kidney 

 beans, opinion is divided ; and of limas, some dis- 

 tinguish a native form and one allegedly intro- 

 duced from the highlands. Also attributed to 

 the highlands is the rice bean, which usually is 

 considered by botanists as a native of Asia and 

 which is cultivated "sparingly" in China and In- 

 dia (Bailey 3: 2575). 



In a number of cases, there is considerable con- 

 fusion in both Totonac and Spanish terminology. 

 Totonac names generally are descriptive, and a 

 term given by the informant may depend on what 

 special quality of the bean he happens to have in 

 mind. Furthermore, a vine which does not dry 

 after the first crop, but which continues bearing, 

 is known by a generic term, aklatamanastapu. It 

 so happens that this characterizes several of the 

 beans, although we did not realize for some time 

 why evidently distinct beans were given the same 

 Totonac name. In the 1948 season, Roberto Wil- 

 liams was assigned the chore of disentangling the 

 situation, and, largely through his systematic in- 

 terrogation of several informants, many of the 

 difficulties were resolved. 



For most of the beans grown locally, we have 

 both pressed specimens and seed samples; the 

 former were submitted to Dr. H. E. Moore, Jr., and 

 the latter to Dr. Hugh C. Cutler. In the discus- 

 sion below, it may be understood that their deter- 

 minations agree, except when specifically noted 

 otherwise. 



