MILPA AGRICULTURE COOK. 313 
America, corresponding to the native traditions of tribal wander- 
ings for many centuries before the arrival of Europeans. Though 
the dated inscriptions that archeologists have deciphered on the 
statues and monuments of Central America go back only a little be- 
yond the Christian era, the Mayas had an exact system of chronology 
with a starting point about 4,500 years before the Spanish conquest. 
LIMITS OF POPULATION UNDER THE MILPA SYSTEM. 
Only a small, scattered population can secure permanent support 
from the milpa system of agriculture. As any particular piece of 
land can be expected to produce crops of corn only at intervals of 
several years, each family requires a large acreage. Among the coffee 
planters of eastern Guatemala, in a forested mountain country with 
many fertile valleys, the carrying capacity of the land for Indian 
laborers is estimated on the basis of 100 to 200 acres per family. In 
a partially denuded or improverished country even five hundred or a 
thousand acres per family might be required for a permanent food 
supply. 
The natives of West Africa always prefer to cut the " big bush," 
knowing that the forest soil is more fertile. " Young bush " is cut 
when older growth is not accessible. The zone of grass-covered " old 
fields " around an African village is continually widened, and when 
there is no more forest within reach the village is moved to an un- 
occupied district, if such can be found. The grassy " fields " persist 
long after the other signs of human habitation have disappeared. 
The same preference for the new clearings in old forest is found 
among the natives of lowland districts in Central America, but in 
the mountains of eastern Guatemala the first crop of maize after an 
old forest has been cut may not be as large as the next crop on the 
same land, when it is cleared again after the first period of secondary 
growth. In the rainy climate of the mountain districts it may not be 
easy to get a " good burn " sufficient to kill the tree roots and clear 
ground thoroughly. In some seasons the brush remains too wet to 
bum and then there is danger of famine. Not to lose a possible 
chance that dry weather may come late in the season the Indians 
plant their milpas and burn them afterward, if possible. In moist 
ground the seeds or young seedlings are not killed by the fire sweep- 
ing over them, but usually only a partial crop is secured by this ex- 
pedient, even where the maize is cared for by weeding and cutting 
out the tree sprouts. In wet years the coffee planters find it neces- 
sary to import maize from New Orleans to feed the native popula- 
tion, though the Indians still suffer because the tortillas made from 
the foreign grain are bitter and unwholesome, quite different from 
the excellent native product. booy/t»ii''i .aav/oJ adJ -loi 
