When a farmer selects a piece of ground for cultivation he cuts down the trees, with which he makes a fence by laying them around the field. He then ploughs or breaks the ground, sows his wheat or barley, and harrows it in with a bunch of thorns: here the cares of husbandry cease until harvest. The corn is now cut, tied into sheaves, and carried to the thrashing floor, where it is trodden out by a drove of mares, which are driven round at a full gallop, till the straw becomes hard, when it is turned over, and the trampling repeated two or three times, so as to break the straw into pieces of two inches long. At this stage it is supposed that the grain is freed from the ears. The whole is shaken with large forks, made of wood or forked branches of trees; the chaff and grain fall to the ground, and are formed into a heap, which is thrown up into the air with shovels. The wind blows away the chaff, and the grain remains on the floor. It is now put into sacks made of bullocks' hides, placed on the backs of mules, and carried to the owner's house; but not before the tythe or _diesmo_ has been paid, and one bushel, _primicia_, to the parson. The straw is occasionally preserved for the horses in the rainy season; at other times it is burnt or left to rot. For a thrashing floor a piece of ground is selected, and having been swept and cleared, is enclosed with a few poles and canes. It is seldom used twice, and the size is proportioned to the quantity of corn to be trodden out. Maize, sometimes called indian corn, is cultivated in great quantities in this as well as in every other part of South America. Four varieties are to be found here, all of which are very productive and much appreciated. It is sown in lines or rows, two, three, or four plants standing together, at the distance of half a yard from the other clusters. Each stem produces from two to four cobs, and some of them are twelve inches long. The indians prepare the maize for winter, whilst in the green state, by boiling the cobs, from the cores of which are taken the grain, which is dried in the sun and kept for use. It is called _chuchoca_, and when mixed with some of their hashes or stews is very palatable. Another preparation is made by cutting the corn from the core of the green cobs, and bruising it between two stones until it assumes the consistency of paste, to which sugar, butter and spices, or only salt is added. It is then divided into small portions, which are enclosed separately within the inner leaf of the cob or ear and boiled. These cakes are called _umitas_. The dry boiled maize, _mote_, and the toasted, _cancha_, are used by the indians instead of bread. One kind of maize, _curugua_, is much softer when roasted, and furnishes a flour lighter, whiter, and in greater quantity than any other kind. This meal mixed with water and a little sugar is esteemed by all classes of people. If the water be hot the beverage is called _cherchan_, if cold _ulpo_.