As the mountain fields need special protection, it is customary to build near them little elevated houses in which the workers may rest, and in which the watchers can live during the time the grain must be guarded. If the plots are near to a village, such a house seldom consists of more than a rude framework of poles, which support a grass roof, and to which a bamboo floor is lashed, two or three feet above the ground; but if the fields are at a distance, these structures are provided with sides, and are raised high on strong logs. Such high, well built houses are necessary, both to protect the occupants from surprise attacks of enemies, and to afford shelter against driving winds or rains. It is not an uncommon occurrence for a whole family to go to one of these isolated mountain dwellings and reside for a considerable period, particularly when the rice is approaching maturity.
These upland fields produce much smaller crops than do the wet lands, and as they are quickly exhausted, it is not customary to plant them to rice for more than two seasons. At the end of this time, they Page 387may be used for camotes (Convolvulus batatas), sugar-cane, or cotton, but in the majority of cases they are allowed to lie unused for several seasons, when the grass or undergrowth is again removed and the fields replanted.
The wet fields produce by far the greater part of the rice, and it is about them that most of the agricultural labors center. In the broad valleys, low embankments, of sufficient height to maintain the water at a depth of two or three inches, separate the fields. The lower plots are often of considerable length and width, some covering as much as an acre of ground, but as they begin to ascend the slopes, the walls rise higher, and the fields become narrower until they may be only a few feet in width. In the rugged mountain districts, the terraces often begin just above the flood water of the stream. At this point, a stone wall, four or five feet in height, is erected, and back of this the mountain side is cut away and filled in until it forms a step or terrace. Back of this another wall is raised, and the process is repeated until at last the terraces extend for two or three hundred feet up the mountain side (Plate [XLIX]). When the field is first made, top soil, enriched with vegetable growth, is laid on the surface, often to a depth of several inches, but from this time on no fertilizer, other than the decaying straw of the previous crop, is added, although the field is used continuously for many years.
Water is conducted to many of the fields by means of ditches, usually by diverting the flow of some of the numerous springs or streams but in a few instances, stone dams have been thrown across the rivers and the water carried for considerable distances by flumes and ditches. The highest terraces are first inundated to the desired depth, and then openings are made in the side walls—so as to allow the lower fields to be flooded. This method of irrigation provides for the maximum use of the water, and also supplies a constant current which prevents the formation of stagnant pools.
Some of the fields are situated too far up the mountain side to be reached by ditches, and in such cases the growth of the rice is entirely dependent on the rainfall; however, in normal years, the precipitation is sufficient to mature the crop.
At the beginning of the rainy season, some of the seed rice is sprouted in specially prepared beds in the villages. In such cases a small plot is surrounded with low dirt walls, the soil is enriched with manure, water is added, and the whole is worked until it becomes a thin mud, on which the rice is thickly sown. Around this bed, a bamboo frame is erected to keep out pigs and chickens, while from time to time Page 388water is poured on the growing shoots. The more common method of sprouting, however, is to select a piece of land, which will receive the full benefit of the rainfall and to break this with a plow drawn by a carabao.
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 (palī-id),[3] 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.[4] 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.[5]
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 Page 390the Tinguian belt, although their use is now fairly common among the Ilocano.