Some of the corn is shelled and stored in baskets but most of it is stored on the cob. The different colors are sorted out and the bright ears are stacked like cordwood. The beans must be stored in baskets and jars but the squashes can be piled anywhere. Many of the squashes are peeled and cut into long strips. After the strips have dried they are rolled up in bundles and stored away. In the winter, soaking will restore the flavor of the fresh squash. High up in the back of the cave is a long, narrow crevice containing a dozen large storage rooms and throughout the town there are many more. They have been chinked carefully against rats and mice and each one is lined with dry corn leaves and tassels to protect the grain from dampness. One after another these rooms are filled and the doors are sealed. When the harvest finally ends there are enough beans and corn in storage to last not only until the next harvest, but on through two or three years if coming harvests should fail. By carefully conserving the supplies the people could survive two or three seasons of drouth. That is the possibility for which they must always be prepared, for normal harvests do not come every year. All through the harvest the workers have watched for perfect ears of corn and when found they were put aside. These will be saved for seed and they are stored separately in the safest, driest places. Even though planting time is months away small ceremonies are performed over these precious ears. Although the agricultural products are of first importance to the people of Cliff Palace, there are in addition countless wild products that they must gather and store away. Throughout the autumn, when they are not busy with their harvest, they search the mesas and canyons for these natural foodstuffs. Corn, beans, and squash would be a tiresome diet so meat, nuts, roots, fruit, seeds and berries are needed. This year there is a splendid crop of pinon nuts and the women and children are busy gathering them. The early frosts have opened the cones and the ground under each pinon tree is covered with brown nuts that are scarcely larger than beans. Squirrels, chipmunks and Indians engage in a lively contest for them but there are more than enough for all. They are stored away in baskets to be eaten later in the winter. Usually they are cracked one at a time with the teeth and eaten raw but sometimes they are ground, shell and all, into an oily butter and eaten with corn bread. Pinon nuts are highly prized but they cannot be depended upon regularly. Sometimes several years elapse between crops. In addition to pinon nuts many other plant products are gathered, dried and stored for the winter. Yucca pods, cactus fruits, berries, roots and seeds all have their uses. Medicinal herbs are also gathered as well as plants that will be needed for dying cotton cloth and buckskin. Bundles of drying plants hang on the walls of every house.