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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY PUBLICATION NO. 13 



/• A form of hibiscus (semilla de culebra, Hibiscus 

 abelmoschus L., No. 33), used to treat snake bite and 

 rabies, is cultivated by prudent families, so that it may 

 be handy in case of emergency. 



MISCELLANEOUS CULTIVATES 



In this miscellaneous category we have placed 

 sesame and the physic nut, both grown for their 

 oil; cacao (no longer cultivated) ; coffee; tobacco; 

 pineapple; a fruit of the milkweed family; and 

 assorted garden vegetables not included elsewhere. 



SESAME 



Seasame (ajonjoli; no Totonac name) is not 

 planted in a separate plot, but along the edges of 

 the maize field. Seed may be scattered broadcast, 

 or it may be planted in a shallow hole made with 

 the dibble. Between 12 and 15 seeds are dropped 

 into the cavity and the soil knocked over them 

 with the tip of the digging stick. When planted 

 thus, 5 or 6 paces are left between each cluster. 

 Care is taken not to plant among the maize; 

 "sesame grows more rapidly and chokes the corn; 

 it kills it." 



Of 38 families, 2 have no milpa and no place 

 to plant ; of the remaining 36, only 5 grow sesame. 

 The quantity of seed planted is slight, varying 

 from 0.5 to 3 litros. Most grow for personal con- 

 sumption, but any excess — 6 to 10 litros — is sold 

 in Papantla, where the price is said to be $0.30 

 or $0.40 pesos a kilogram. 



One disillusioned planter remarks that he tried 

 sesame but that it dried "for want of water." 

 Most seem to feel that it does well locally, and 

 Pedro Perez comments that "one could become 

 rich, selling only sesame." He adds cheerfully 

 that no one attempts to do so. As a matter of fact, 

 it is not impossible that sesame might be worked 

 into a pretty fair cash crop in Taj in — provided 

 the danger of its cutting into maize production 

 could be avoided. 



PHYSIC JsTUT 



Another plant grown exclusively for its oil is 

 the physic nut (pinon, Jatropha curcas L., No. 

 192). It is said not to occur wild. Although not 

 planted on large scale, most families have a few 

 shrubs in the clearing about the house. Elsewhere 

 this euphorbia generally is known as a purge, but 



in Tajin, its laxative properties are not recognized, 

 and it is considered a food. 



Planting takes place in January (for example, 

 Kings' Day, January 6) and harvest, "about All 

 Souls' Day." Either seed or cuttings will grow, 

 but as usual, the Totonac prefer the latter. In 

 1947, a small harvest was predicted "because the 

 wind frightened the blossoms." Both woodpeck- 

 ers and squirrels are said to consume the seed with 

 relish. Three or four, sometimes five, seeds are 

 produced in a "ball." The outer covering is re- 

 moved and the seed is dried, shelled, toasted, and 

 ground on the milling stone. The pulp and oil 

 are added to a variety of dishes. 



CACAO 



Although cacao is reported for the Papantla 

 area about the middle of the sixteenth century 

 (Suma, No. 449), its cultivation evidently lan- 

 guished during colonial times. None is grown at 

 present in Tajin, but Lorenzo Xochigua remem- 

 bers having seen some plants when he visited the 

 Tuxpan area. 



COFFEE 



Coffee {cafe, Goffea arabiea L., No. 161) is 

 raised locally, and a number of families have 

 small plantings for home consumption; none is 

 sold. Ideally, coffee is planted in rows, although 

 this seems to be theory rather than fact; about 

 two houses, owing to volunteer growth, the shrubs 

 have formed a veritable thicket. The entire 

 fruit is placed in the sun to dry and, in time, the 

 hull falls off. The thin inner skin is removed in 

 the course of grinding the bean on the milling 

 stone. 



TOBACCO 



It is said that tobacco (tabaco, probably Nico- 

 tiana tabacum L., No. 277) was grown formerly, 

 "but it does not grow well here; it does better 

 about Comalteco and Gutierrez Zamora." How- 

 ever, tobacco once was sufficiently plentiful at 

 Tajin to receive official recognition, and a 1785 

 report (Gazeta de Mexico, p. 349) reports that 

 effort is being made "to exterminate the plantings 

 of tobacco." 



PINEAPPLE 



At least one family has a few rachitic plants of 

 pineapple (ma-^a^a, ma-^at) in the house clear- 

 ing. Either the stock is poor, the terrain not 



