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=== General points ===

That layer is followed by the one known as the parent soil. It is usually clay and, in general, lighter than the soil above, even though it sometimes has shades of blue. It is very compact and has no productive value.

In general, the people surveyed explained that the sandy flat land in the valleys is the most fertile, easier to work and gives better yields. On the contrary, clay soil is harder, though is better for some crops. Stony soil is the worst as even though many pebbles have been removed, ploughing the land just brings more up to the surface, which makes it hard for both people and animals to work and damages the farm implements. However, that land, in the southern Basque Country, is suitable for growing olive trees and vineyards.

Two uses have been found with respect to the property enclosures. There are places where the custom was to enclose the land, initially using stone walls or hedgerows, which were replaced by posts and wire, and others where the fields were open. Two customs also coexisted. Whether the population was mainly dedicated to livestock or arable farming was influential, as if there were a large number of animals, they had to be kept out of the vegetable garden. There were more or less separations between the properties to mark out the boundaries, in addition to or independently from the boundary stones. Nowadays, most of fields where the livestock graze are enclosed, along with, sometimes, the vegetables gardens to keep the animals out and to stop stealing by unscrupulous people.

We have seen that one of the ways to mark out the property was using stone walls and fences or hedges, even though those enclosures were more likely to be erected to keep the livestock out of the crops. The most common and widespread way of identifying the properties was to mark the boundaries of the land or upland in question, but there were other systems to indicate the different ownership of adjoining land.

Back in the 1920s, Barandiaran noted that it was common in the Basque Country to use stones embedded in the land to mark the boundaries of a private or communal plot<ref>José Miguel de BARANDIARAN. ''El mundo en la mente popular vasca''. Zarauz: 1960, p. 154.</ref>. Even though the concept is the same, we make a distinction between the signs used to demarcate private properties and the so-called jurisdiction boundary stones that marked the limits of adjacent municipal districts.

{{DISPLAYTITLE: II. FARMED LANDS}} {{#bookTitle:Agriculture in the Basque Country|Agricultura_en_vasconia/en}}