The Tinguian: Social, Religious, and Economic Life of a Philippine TribeCole, Fay-Cooper
Religion
The Tinguian: Social, Religious, and Economic Life of a Philippine Tribe
Cole, Fay-Cooper
Tinguian (Philippine people)
When the seed beds have been planted, the people go to the fields,
repair the embankments, and admit the water. The straw remaining
from the previous crop is allowed to rot, for a time, and then the
ground is gone over with a bamboo harrow (_pali-id_), [189] as shown
in Fig. 15, No. 3, to remove weeds, branches, and the like. Wherever
it is possible, the soil is broken with a plow, _alado_ (Plate L),
but in fields to which animals cannot be taken, the ground is turned by
means of sharpened sticks, or poles tipped with iron, which are driven
into the soil and forced forward, thus pushing the earth above them
into the water. [190] As will be seen from the accompanying drawing
(Fig. 15, Nos. 2-2a), the plow is constructed entirely of wood except
for the iron share, and conforms closely to that used in Java, Celebes,
Sumatra, Burma, and Annam. [191]
Within a few days after the plowing, the soil is further broken by
dragging it with a harrow, made by driving wooden pegs into a heavy
board, or into large bamboo tubes (Fig. 15, No. 4). A worker stands
on this, and is dragged about the field, leveling it, and at the same
time pulling out sticks, roots, and any other matter of sufficient
bulk to interfere with the planting.
Two types of sleds (Fig. 15, Nos. 5-6) are used in connection
with the rice culture, as well as in general transportation. The
first consists of rude wooden runners on which a bamboo flooring is
laid. The second has narrow runners, which are hewn with considerable
care, while sides of flattened bamboo convert the sled into an open
box. The first type (_pasagad_) is used principally during the wet
season for the transportation of plows, harrows, and the like, the
wide runners slipping through the mud without becoming mired. The use
of the latter (_kalison_) is restricted to the dry-season, when it
is of particular advantage in moving the rice. Wheeled vehicles are
not employed in any part of the Tinguian belt, although their use is
now fairly common among the Ilocano.
It requires a month or six weeks to make ready the fields, and in the
meantime the rice in the seed beds has grown to a height of twelve
or fourteen inches. The shoots are then pulled up by the roots, are
tied into bundles, and the tops are cut off (Plate LI). The bundles
are distributed about the fields at convenient distances, and the
workers then transplant the young rice--three or four together--in the
soft ooze, using the thumb and fore-finger of the right hand for that
purpose (Plate LII). The preparation of the field is looked after by
the men and boys, and oftentimes they aid in transplanting, but the
latter is considered to be women's work, and is generally left to them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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