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Show H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. 377 month Panquetza11ztli, which began, as ~ve have already mentioned, iOOK VII. on the third of December, th ey wt:re repaired if neccflary (m). ~ The method they obfcrved in [owing of maize, and which they fl:ill praCtiCe in fome places, is this. The [ower makes a .fi?lall hole ~n the , earth, with a flick or drill probably, the point of which is hardened by fire; into this hole he drops one or two grains of maize from a bafket which hang,s from his lhoulder, and covers them with a little earth by means of his foot; he then paifes forward to a certain diihnce, which is greater or lef£ according to the quality of the foil, opens another hole, and continues fo in a il:rait line unto the end of the field ,. from thence he returns, forming another line parallel to the firll:~ The ~rows of pb.n ts by thefe means are as il:rait as if a line was made ufe of, and at as equal difl:ances from each other as if the fpaces between wen~ meafurcd. This met.hod of Cowing, which is now ufed by a few of the Indians only, though more flow (n), is, however of Come advantage, as· they can more exactly prop0rtion the quantity of feed to the ft:rength of the foil; be.fides, that there is almoil: none of the feed loft which,is fawn. In confequence of this, the crops of the fields which are cultivated in that manner are ufually more plentiful. When the maize fprings up to a certain height, they cover the foot of the plant round with earth, that it may be be'tter nouri!hed, and more able to wlthftand fudden guil:s of wind. In the labours of the field the men were a!lifted by the women. It' WaS the bufinefs of the met:t to dig and hoe the ground, to fGw, to heap the earth about the plants, and to reap ; to· the women it belonged to ilrip off the leaves from the ears, and to clear the grain; to weed and to {hell it was the employment of both. S E CT. XXIX. Tlmihing-lloors and They had places like farm yards, where they fl:rij.1ped ofF the leaves from the ears, and i1lellcd them, and granaries to preferve the gram. Their granaries were built in a fqnare form, and generally f wood. They made ufe of the ojametl for this purpofe, which is a very gr.tuari c ~. lofty tree, with but a few fiender branches, and a thin fmooth bark; the wood of it is extremely pliant, and ditEcuJt to break or rot. Thdc (m) Til is is called a ptnguitl fetter in Jamaica, a:1d the l~' ind1~ard iflands. (11) This manner of fowing is u()t Co flow as nught be Imagmctl, :1s the country people ufcd to this mr.thoJ do it with wonderful quickncfs. VoL. I. ' c c c g rana~ |