Table of contents
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LANDSCAPE
I. AGRICULTURAL LANDSCAPE
Agricultural landscape of Álava
Agricultural landscape of Navarre
Agricultural landscape of Bizkaia
Agricultural landscape of Gipuzkoa
Landscapes of the Northern Basque Country: three aspects
II. FARMED LANDS
Land types, quality and crops
General points
Types of land
Ploughing the land
First ploughing
- On common land
- On private property
Crops
Irrigation
Names and description of the farmed land
Spanish names and descriptions
Basque names and descriptions
Sizes of the plots
Land consolidation
Situation and separation between fields
Stone walls
Predominantly open fields
Existing enclosures
Marking of boundaries
Natural boundaries
Local roads
Meeting places. Social contact areas
Appendix: Jurisdiction boundary stones
CROPS
III. CROP DISTRIBUTION AND ROTATION. FARMING YEAR
General points
Growth periods and days
Influence of the moon
Crop distribution in the different types of fields
Crop rotation
Farming year
Álava Mediterranean watershed
Navarre Mediterranean watershed
Atlantic watershed
Cycle of each crop
Seeds
Selecting the seeds
Obtaining and preserving seeds
Preparing seeds for sowing
Preparing seedbeds or sowings
Appendix: Sayings to do with agriculture
IV. PREPARATION OF THE CULTIVATED LAND
First ploughing of a piece of land
Ploughing scrubland or woodland
Ploughing pastureland
Modern techniques
Arable land
Preparing the fallow land
Preparation of the cultivated land
- Mediterranean side of the watershed
- Atlantic side of the watershed
Fertilising
Manure
- Mediterranean watershed
- Atlantic watershed
Mineral and synthetic fertilisers
- Mediterranean watershed
- Atlantic watershed
Compost and organic fertilisers
Use of ash
Liming
Lime production
Agricultural use of lime
V. SOWING AND CARING FOR THE CROPS
Sowing and planting
Crop diversity
Crops for human consumption
Cereals
- Wheat
- Mediterranean watershed
- Atlantic watershed
- Corn
Pulses and beans
- Beans
- Broad beans
- Peas
- Chickpeas, lentils and aizkol
Underground vegetables
- Roots: carrot, parsley and beetroot
- Stems
- Potatoes
- Asparagus
- Leaves
- Leek
- Onions
- Garlic
Above ground vegetables
- Leaves
- Lettuce
- Cabbages
- Chard
- Endive, chicory, spinach, celery, cardoon and borage
- Parsley
- Flowers: cauliflowers and artichokes
- Fruit
- Peppers and chilli
- Tomatoes
- Cucumbers, pumpkins and courgettes
- Melons and watermelons
- Aubergines
Medicinal plants
Drugs
- Tobacco
- Growing tobacco in Gipuzkoa
- Seedbeds
- Growers
- Growing tobacco in Navarra
- Marihuana
Crops for livestock
Cereals
- Oats
- Barley
- Rye
- Corn
Legumes
Small fruit
Forage vegetables
- Turnips
- Beetroot
- Pumpkins
- Carrots
Industrial crops
Sugar beet
Potato
Vegetables
Other crops
Mushrooms
Ornamental plant crops
Caring for the crops
Weeding
- Cereals
- Pulses and beans
- Potatoes
- Vegetables
Use of pesticides
Fertilising cereals
Irrigation
VI. CROP HARVESTING AND PRESERVATION
Harvesting crops for human consumption
Evolution of reaping and threshing cereals
- Álava Mediterranean watershed: reaping, hauling, threshing, tossing, storing grain and straw; harvesting today and baling
- Navarre Mediterranean watershed: reaping, hauling, threshing, tossing, storing grain and straw; harvesting today and baling
- Atlantic watershed: reaping, threshing, tossing; storage
- Harvesting cereal today
Corn
Pulses and beans
- Beans and pods
- Broad beans
- Peas
- Chickpeas and lentils
Underground vegetables
- Potatoes
- Asparagus
- Leeks; onions and garlic
Above ground vegetables
Crops for livestock
Cereals
Forage vegetables
- Turnips
- Beetroot
- Pumpkins
- Potatoes
Storing
Flour mills
Introduction
Mill types
Mills in the surveyed populations
- Álava
- Bizkaia
- Gipuzkoa
- Navarre
Decline of the mills
Components of a flour mill
Milling
Milling year
Communal and neighbourhood mills
VII. GRASS AND OTHER FORAGE
Grass in the traditional culture
Meadow creation and upkeep
- Enclosing, ploughing and cultivation
- Upkeep
Use
- Grazing
- Green reaping
- Hay making
- Reaping
- Drying
- Collecting and transporting
- Storage
- Consumption
- Haystacks
Start of the changes
Changes in the 1960s
Silage
Mechanical harvesting
First tractors
Baling
Progressive mechanisation
Mechanisation of grass harvesting
Changes in livestock farming associated with mechanisation
Increased grass production
Latest modifications to cattle feeding
Changes linked to the livestock crisis
Growing grass on the Mediterranean side of the watershed
Other forage
Atlantic side of the watershed
Mediterranean side of the watershed
VIII. CULTURE OF FLAX AND HEMP
Traditional flax crop
Flax in the farmed landscape
Cropland
Types of flax and sowing season
Production process
Pulling up and softening
Threshing flax seeds
Soaking flax
Treating the strands
Breaking
Scrutching in the scrutcher
Heckling
Distaff
Teasing
Spinning
Spinning wheel
Spindle
Skeining
Bleaching
Winding
Making the fabric
Hemp
Esparto grass
FRUIT TREES. OLIVES AND VINES
IX. CULTURE OF FRUIT TREES
Introduction
Culture of fruit trees
Mediterranean watershed
Atlantic watershed
Planting and acquiring trees
Grafting
Care
Harvesting, storing and use of the fruit
X. CULTURE OF OLIVE TREES AND VINES
The olive tree
Olive-growing areas
Planting
Varieties that are planted
Care
- Pruning
- Time of year
- Tools
- Ways of pruning
- Use of the pruned olive-tree branches
- Tilling and digging
- Time of year
- Horse-driven and manual work
- Mechanised work
- Fertilising and irrigation
- Time of year for fertilising
- Types of fertilisers
- Ways of fertilising
- Irrigation
- Pests and treatments
- Winter
- Spring
- Summer
Transplanting
Vines
Historical background
Traditional vine growing on the Mediterranean watershed
- Varieties
- Tilling
- Planting
- Pruning
- Grafting
- Primary-shoot thinning
- Fertilising
- Secondary-shoot thinning
- Fruit set
- Pests
- Other tasks
Vine growing today on the Mediterranean watershed
- Preparing the land
- Soil analysis
- Pulling up the old vines and replanting
- Vine varieties
- Planting tasks
- Planting procedures followed
- Caring for the plants
- Grafting
- Pruning
- Fertilising and irrigation
- Tilling and digging
- Use of herbicides
- Treatments
- Pests
Vine growing on the Atlantic watershed. Txakolina
- Traditional vine growing
- Trained vines
- Tasks to care for the vines
XI. PRODUCTION OF OIL, WINE, TXAKOLIN AND CIDER
Oil
Harvesting the olives
- Time of year
- Method
Cleaning the olives
Making olive oil
- Time of year
- Delivering and weighing the olives. Their storage
- Crushing
- The hopper
- The auger
- The crusher
- The beaters
- The tank
- The press
- The stoning room
- The oil vats
- The waste holding tanks
- Distribution of the oil
- Other applications: soap and a medicated paste made of wax and oil
Refurbishment of the La Equidad olive oil press, Moreda (A)
Classification of the olive oil presses
- Manual olive oil presses
- Hydraulic olive oil presses
- Olive oil presses with petrol engine
- Electric olive oil presses
Appendices: Moreda (A) traditional olive oil presses
Retén de la Iglesia olive oil press
Tomás Laguardia olive oil press
Wine
Traditional grape harvest on the Mediterranean watershed
- Wine making
- Traditional wine-making at home
- New procedures
- Wine making in cave-winery
- Changes to the wines
- Garapitero or wine duty collector
The grape harvest today on the Mediterranean watershed
- Wine making in industrial wineries
- Types of reds
- Whole grape or carbonic maceration system
- Bordeaux system. Sorting, destemming and crushing method
Other beverages
Txakolin
Grape harvest
Pressing: the wine press
Contemporary changes
Regulatory boards and denominations of origin
Cider
Historical background
Apples and their growing
Apple diseases and pests
Cider making
- Pre-treatment
- Crushing
- Maceration
- Pressing
- Fermentation and storage
- Bottling
Changes to the cider
- Acidity
- Cloudiness
- Forming of mould
- Decolouring or blackening
- Other changes to the cider
Cultural and festive events associated with cider
Drinks from cider
Appendix 1: Regulations of a cooperative winery
Appendix 2: Barrel manufacturing
FARM TOOLS AND IMPLEMENTS
XII. TRADITIONAL FARMING EQUIPMENT
Implements for working the land
Spades
Hoes and their types
- Hay hooks
- Hand hoes. Rake
- Large hoe
Pull-type implements to work the land
The plough
The plough in the Northern Basque Country
- Nabarra
- Goldea
- Goldenabarra
- Adareta
- Urdamuturra
- Golde itzulkorra
- Swivel plough
The plough in the Southern Basque Country
- Gipuzkoa and Bizkaia
- Nabarra or knife to cut the ground
- Exa
- Golde txikia. Golde nagusia or swivel plough
- Álava and Navarre
Tools to break up clods
Implements to break up and smooth the soil
Rakes. Zaranda
Aerator, are handia
Arralda. Hesia. Trapa. Narria. Digging implements
Alperra, roller
Implements to make furrows
Cultivator
Markoa, marker
Spike ploughs
Itailak
Nabasaia. Lauhortza
Tragaz
Plané
Makatza
Disk plough
Reaping instruments
Sickle
- Names
- Zoqueta hand protector
Scythe
- Names
Instruments to sharpen scythes and sickles
Sharpening stone
Instruments to sharpen different implements
Instruments to collect crops and grass
Pitchfork
Large pitchfork. Hayfork
Iron pitchfork
Metal pitchfork with curved spikes
Sacking
Small rake. Rake
Manual baler
Hook
Clearing instruments
Aihotza, pruning hook
Sickle
Belagoia
Instruments to work with manure
Instruments to thresh wheat and corn
Mayal, trailua, txibita
Wheat threshing stones
Threshers
Instruments for winnowing wheat
Threshing board
Winnowing blade
Sieve, sifter
Winnowing fork machine
Corn thresher
Shelling legumes
Instruments to cut wood
Axe
- Double-bladed axe
- Sharpening
- Wedge
Saw. Handsaw
- Mitre saw
- Felling trees using a mitre saw
- Arpana. Saw for timber
- Sawhorse
Utensils for harvesting fruit
Pole, haga, kakoa
Pincers
Utensils for looking after the vines
Iron bar with a sharp point, iron bar
Sickle. Gardening machete
Hook. Billhook
Harvesting and pruning shears
Transport tools
Transporting on shoulders
- Antzadila. Velorto.
- Kakola
- Sábanos. Maniriak
Transport instruments
- Baskets: saskia, zarea, zarana. Carpancho, cunacho, large baskets. Hampers and esparto grass baskets. Otarria, otzarea
- Hand biers
- Handcart
Appendix: Timber rafts
XIII. MEASUREMENT UNITS
Introduction
The human body as a yardstick
Length measurements
Length measurement instruments
Surface measurements
Weight measurements
Weighing instruments
Capacity measurements and instruments for aggregates
Capacity measurements for liquids
Measurements related to the sale of timber and the grass transporting
Changes
Equivalents
WORKFORCE
XIV. WORKFORCE AND POWER USED IN AGRICULTURE
Human power
Shared work of the family
More typical work of the men
Women's involvement
Tasks of the elderly
Paid help
Children's work
Neighbours helping each other
Contracting temporary workers
Taking on day labourers in the public square
Casual workers
Transitions
Work garments
Men's clothing
Women's clothing
Footwear
Animal power
Cattle
Horses
Donkeys and Asses
Nowadays
Appendix: Work conditions of the day labourers and day's wages in past centuries in Viana (N)
XV. ANIMAL TRANSPORT. THE CART, GURDIA
The cart. The hay wagon
Northern Basque Country: Sara, Donoztiri, Uhartehiri, Garazi, Liginaga
Navarre: Bera, Urdiain, Améscoa, Aoiz, Valle de Arce and Oroz-Betelu, Viana, San Martín de Unx, Obanos, Muez and Ugar, Valle de Roncal, Valtierra, Cárcar
Álava: Valderejo, Bernedo, Moreda, Abezia, Apodaka, Treviño and La Puebla de Arganzón, Berganzo, Pipaón and Ribera Alta, Argandoña
Gipuzkoa: Berastegi, Beasain, Hondarribia, Elgoibar, Telleriarte, Zerain
Bizkaia: Gautegiz Arteaga, Abadiño, Amorebieta-Etxano, Bedarona, Urduliz, Valle de Carranza
The rustic sled
Northern Basque Country
Navarre
Álava
Gipuzkoa
Bizkaia
The yoke
Way of yoking the oxen
Complements of the yoke
- Tethering
- Hood
- Borders
- Cart rope
Horse yokes
Horse and ass harnesses and implements
- Pack saddle, saddlecloth and blanket
- Headgear and blinkers
- Draft collar. Leather draft collar
- Draw reins
Transport implements
- Hooks
- Biers
- Saddlebags. Astotzarak
- Other items
XVI. MECHANISATION OF AGRICULTURE
Introduction
Mechanisation in a locality of Álava
The plough and its evolution
Industrialisation of the farm implements
The appearance of the tractor
Implements used during the farming year
Preparing the land
Sowing
Care of the crops
Harvesting
Mediterranean watershed
Atlantic watershed
Mechanisation today
Mediterranean watershed
Atlantic watershed
Machines in society and collective property
AGRICULTURAL TRADE AND LAND OWNERSHIP
XVII. OWN USE AND AGRICULTURAL TRADE
Buying seeds and plants
Nowadays
Buying fertilisers
Manufacturing implements
Buying implements
Repairing implements
Markets and agricultural fairs
Direct selling
Special fairs
Services providers by peddlers
Butchery services
Livestock fairs
Preparing products, contracts and terms of payment
XVIII. OWNERSHIP SYSTEM. COMMUNAL PROPERTY AND PRIVATE PROPERTY
Communal property and its use
Common property and its use
Other uses of common upland
Tierras de Misericordia and Arca de Misericordia (Ecclesiastic and Secular Land and Wheat Bank in Time of Hardship)
Owners who directly farmed their land
Owners who farmed by means of tenants
Price of the rent and how it was set
Payment in kind or in cash
- Terms of payment
- Payment times
Situation today
Overlapping of common and private property
Time of ruin
Privately-owned trees on common land