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Maori Agriculture

Planting the Crop

Planting the Crop

There are four stars, says a native correspondent of the north, that were closely observed by the men of yore in connection with the cultivation of the kumara. Those stars are Matariki (the Pleiades), Tautoru (three bright stars in Belt of Orion), Puanga (Rigel), and Whakaahu. Should the signs at the rising of these stars foretell a propitious season, then the seed tubers were planted in September, but if these stars betokened a backward season then the planting was postponed for a month. Another says-Atutahi (Canopus) is a famous star; it nevers enters the Mangoroa (Milky Way), but remains isolated. In the month when the kumara is planted that star appears towards the south, and its movements marked the time for planting.

In his work on the natives of North Borneo, Mr. Ling Roth tells that "the Kayans, and many other races in Borneo, fix the time of the year for planting paddy by observing the position of the page 145stars…. In the case of the reckoning by the stars they consider that when the Pleiades appears just above the horizon as daylight breaks that the right time of the year for sowing has arrived."

An old folk tale tells us that one Mahuru, who dwelt at Hawaiki (the former home of the Maori) sent the wharauroa (cuckoo) to New Zealand as a messenger to tell the Maori people when to plant the kumara crop, but the bird arrived somewhat too early in the season, hence the crops were a failure. When this bird is heard crying—"Koia! Koia! Koia!" (Dig! Dig! Dig!), then it is known that it calls the Maori to his planting. The star Poutu-te-rangi also gives warning of the time to commence planting. Mahuru is a term applied to Spring, the personified form thereof. This myth may have originated in a mistake having been made in the time of planting the kumara when it was introduced here. When the Maori from Polynesia came to cultivate this tuber here, he would soon discover the fact that the colder climate of this land called for much more care and caution in such cultivation than he had been accustomed to observe in Polynesia. He would recognise the cuckoo on its arrival here as a bird that winters in the isles of the Pacific, and, as Archdeacon H. Williams has shown, its name of wharau-roa seems to show that the Maori recognised it as a long flight bird. The word wharau is met with throughout Polynesia; it carries the meaning of "to travel," and "to voyage"; and the cuckoo referred to is the far travelled one, the bird that crosses wide seas. The cuckoo begins to reach the shores of the northern part of our North Island fairly early in September and gradually works its way southward.

We are told by natives that the kumara was planted on certain days only, or as he puts it, certain nights, each night having its own name, and these names betoken phases of the waxing and waning of the moon. Thus the nights named Oue, Ari, Rakau-nui, Rakau-matohi, Takirau and Orongonui are phases of the moon during which the tuber was planted. These are the fourth, eleventh, seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth, and twenty-eighth nights, of the moon or lunar month. If planted at any other time a poor crop would result, though the growth of the plants might be vigorous. At least so sayeth the Maori. A Kahungunu native of the East Coast of the North Island states that his people commenced planting on the Ari night (eleventh), and that the work had to be completed before the full moon (Rakau-nui).

A Hokianga native stated that his people recognised the lucky nights of the moon for planting and fishing as the first, the second, page 146also Nos. 5, 6, 9, 10, 13, 17, 19, 25, 26, 28. Apparently there was little uniformity among the various tribes.

The following notes on planting were collected by the late Mr. John White:—Kumara are planted at the time when the moon is due north, at sunset, or twilight, the planting may be continued for three days. Some tribes planted the tubers only during spring tides, that is for a period of three days at that period.

The time for planting crops differed somewhat according to the region and the season, but the three planting months were September, October and November, known as Tapere-wai, Tatau-urutahi and Tatau-uruora to the Takitumu tribes, though several different series of month names were used.

Seed tubers for planting purposes are known as huri, tinaku, kopura, and purapura. The latter term is usually employed in connection with the introduced potato (Solanum).

The belief was that, if not planted at the proper time, the crop would assuredly decay in the stores when harvested.

The seed tubers were usually planted in lines running east and west, and were placed in the ahuahu, or little mounds, with the sprout end facing east, but as the season advanced the seed was placed so as to face a little further north, until, at the close of the planting season, or koanga, the seed was placed facing north. This was done with the idea of "following the sun," and ensuring the vitality and vigorous growth of the plants.

In the district of the Kahungunu tribe a peculiar ceremony was performed on the day prior to the commencement of planting the sweet potato crop. The object was to obtain the mana necessary to the production of a good crop, that is to obtain the favour and help of the gods. During the performance of this rite a captive miromiro bird was released to act as a messenger to the gods, or as a symbolical act denoting welfare, &c. (Kia pera tonu te toitu o te ora o te kai me te ora o te manu i rere ra)—that the abiding vigour of the crop might be even as the welfare of the bird just escaped from the hands of death. A ceremonial feast marked the occasion, as another marked the completion of the planting.

During the time when the tubers were being planted no person was allowed to cook food, and none of the workers were allowed to partake of any food until the day's task was completed. They would, however, partake of a good meal late on the preceding page 147evening. At dawn the chief, or some leading man, would procure a branch of tipau (Myrsine Urvillei) and stick it in the ground on the eastern side of the field to be planted. This branch seems to have represented Rongo and to have been looked upon as a mauri. The baskets of seed tubers were then taken to the field and ranged in a row along the eastern side, which is the whakaupoko or "head" of the field. Another act consisted of the chief person going over the field and touching each mound (puke or ahuahu) with his right hand. Should any members of the community have died since the previous planting season, then the surviving elders, if any, of the dead, would arrange themselves in single rank on the eastern side of the field, and recite the appropriate ritual while the seed was being planted. These may have been but local usages.

In Brown's New Zealand and its Aborigines, published in 1845, we are told that those planting or gathering the kumara were not allowed while performing those operations, and for three days afterwards, to leave the field, or touch with their hands the food they ate. Were these ceremonies not attended to, it is supposed the kumara would not grow. This also may have been a local usage, but was far from being universal.

Should any person presume to pass along a track or stream near the head end of a field while the planting was being done, he would either be slain or he would be plundered of his property. Nor would any person be allowed to pass along a stream or path on that side of the field when the crop was being harvested.

The seed is placed so that the eye or sprout end lies somewhat higher than the other end in the earth. When a seed tuber is to be divided, a cut is made with the thumb nail, and the tuber torn or broken through. The word toihi describes this act. The Maori did not cut seed tubers with a sharp instrument, as we do, but broke or tore them across, an act described by the word toihi in the above account. The kumara field was tapu from the planting of the seed until the crop was lifted.

Shortland provides the following note illustrating the peculiar beliefs of the Maori concerning tapu:—"When a male child is born to a chief, all his tribe rejoice. The mother is separated from the inhabitants of the settlement, to prevent her coming in contact with persons engaged in cultivating the kumara, lest anything belonging to the mother should be accidentally touched by them, lest the kumara should be affected by her state of tapu." The writer does not explain that the kumara crop and the planters page 148thereof were also tapu, or how it was that one tapu object, or person, could have a harmful effect on another. The fact is that the two conditions differed widely. The tapu of the crop and planter emanates from the gods, a sacerdotal or spiritual form of tapu, while that pertaining to the woman was such a condition as is described in the Scriptures by the term "unclean," and which would have a disastrous effect on the former phase of tapu.

The head or upper end of a cultivated field, as stated above, is called the upoko or whakaupoko or waha. The lower end is styled the remu, whakaremu or taremu. The names moa, tahuna, tawaha, taupa, karawa, rauwaka, wakawaka and waiwaha are applied to a land, or division, a strip or bed of such a field, divisions of the field separated by narrow paths or rows of stones, while kāwa is a small bed or plot. A native gave the name of takaahi to the narrow path between two plots, but no corroboration of this has been received. It is somewhat doubtful. These paths were as a rule somewhat below the level of the cultivated lands. They were called mataihi, pukiore and awa.

The method of planting kumara known as kokau is a careless, slipshod and unsatisfactory way of doing the work. Only one insertion of the ko is made, and the seed is thrust into the hole made by forcing the ko down. By this method the work is done quickly, but the soil is not sufficiently loosened, and the resulting plant will not bear a good crop of tubers. Those that are produced will be whiroki, stunted in growth, not well developed. Two or three insertions of the ko should be made to loosen the earth by forcing it upward, and a third or fourth hole made wherein to place the seed. Another method, the pauru has not been explained.

The plantation or cultivation ground as a whole is called a māra, mahinga, or ngakinga. A new cultivation is termed a tamata. An old, abandoned cultivation ground, or one lying fallow, is patohe. The terms titohea and huiki denote land exhausted by cultivation. The planting season is called the koanga. Williams gives awe-kapara, a curious form, as having a similar meaning. Tawaha seems to describe a plot planted to one crop, as a tawaha kumara. Paenga denotes the borders of any cultivation, and waenga the planted area itself, though the word merely means "the midst" or middle. Curiously enough the Maori often employs this term without including the word mara as in "E haere ana ahau ki waenga."(I am going in to the midst-mara is understood.) See Fig. 44 (p. 154). The terms ko, ahurei and whakatopatopa all denote planting kumara. The words tou, whakato and ono page 149mean "to plant," but have not so restricted an application. Tiri has a double application in regard to planting; it is used as meaning "to plant," and also to denote distribution, as of seed tubers in kumara planting. The planting out of young shoots of kumara, to result in new plants, is called whakateretere. Huaranga means "to transplant." Williams gives marere as a name applied to the first tuber planted, the same being ever a ceremonial act, and also to a tapu ceremonial fire or steam oven used in connection with the ceremony. Kumara were always planted apart from other crops, probably on account of the superior status of this esculent.

As to the manner in which the ko was used, we have several accounts to give. A Tuhoe correspondent says that, in such work as planting the kumara, or sweet potato, everything was done to the time set by the fuglemen. The ko was thrust into the ground several times in order to loosen the earth and the seed was then planted and covered. Each man had his own basket of seed tubers, and all worked in a long line, but in echelon. After a series of puke were planted, the whole line of workers, at a given signal, took one pace to the rear, each man carrying with him his own ko and basket of huri, or seed tubers. The workers were drilled to do this work to time, and in a remarkably methodical manner, hence the extreme regularity of the growth of the crop in straight lines. This fact has been noted by early voyagers and writers on the Maori. In many places the digging and planting were two distinct operations.

Archdeacon Walsh, in his paper entitled On the Cultivation and Treatment of the Kumara,* says—"When the soil was worked up fine and made perfectly clean it was formed up into little round hills called tupuke, about 9 in. high and 20 in. to 24 in. in diameter, set quite close together. The party who undertook this operation commenced in one corner and worked back diagonally across the patch, each man having a row to himself; and as every hill was made to touch the two hills in the next row the whole plantation presented a fairly accurate quincunx pattern. Mr. Colenso, apparently, though perhaps unconsciously, quoting from Capt. Cook's Journal, states that a line or cord was used to insure regularity. No one, however, seems to have actually seen the line employed, and any old Maoris I have consulted are positive that it was never the custom to do so. The appearance of regularity arose from the uniformity of size and shape of the hillocks and from the orderly manner in which the work was carried on, as well as from the page 150neatness and finish which characterised it. This neat appearance is borne witness to by many old writers."

The words tupuke, tukari, ahu and tuahu are all employed to describe the formation of the little hillocks in which the tubers are planted.

Tikitu, of Ngati-Awa says that, in preparing a puke a man forced his ko into the ground three times at different places, thus ∵ and by forcing the handle of his implement outward and downward so loosened and lifted the soil. In stiff soils this loosened earth would then need pulverising ere the seed could be planted.

An account of planting methods collected by Archdeacon Williams from Ngati-Porou of the East Coast describes the echelon formation of the workers, but states that they advanced as they worked, while other accounts say that they retired or worked backward. It is possible that two different methods were employed among different tribes, but the working backward would be the best method when it was desired to plant the tubers in perfectly straight lines. Unless lineing or boneing rods were used this method would be necessary, for the bulk of evidence is against the use of a cord.

The method of planting as explained to Archdeacon Williams was that all was done under the supervision of a director, and in proper sequence. Of the row of workers the end man, at the side of the field, planted the first tuber. At a given signal he then took a pace forward and placed a tuber in the next puke ahead, while the next man planted one at the end of the next row. The next signal called these two to take another pace forward and plant another tuber, while the third man commenced on the third row, and so the diagonal line advanced. This seems to refer to planters, not to diggers, though the latter may have adopted the the same procedure.

This brings us to the question of how the Maori succeeded in planting the tubers in such a regular manner. Did he or did he not use a line in aligning the mounds; this is a disputed point. Banks wrote as follows:—"The first of these (the kumara) were planted in small hills, some in rows, others in quincunx, all laid most regularly in line." Now this remark by no means states that a line or cord was used in setting the tubers, but we find that Hawkesworth alters the above to: "some ranged in rows, and others in quincunx, all laid by a line, with the greatest regularity." This is quite a different statement and tends to show that a line page 151was used. Again, Colenso wrote as follows:—"The extreme regularity of their planting, the kumara and taro being generally set about two feet apart, in true quincunx order, with no deviation from a straight line when viewed in any direction (to effect this they carefully use a line or cord for every row of kumara in making up the little hillocks into which the seed tuber was afterwards warily set with its sprouting end towards the north)…."

Cook's account of the plantation seen on the East Coast is as follows:—"They excel in tillage…: when we first came to Tegadoo, a district between Poverty Bay and East Cape, their crops were just covered, and had not yet begun to sprout; the mould was as smooth as in a garden, and every root had its small hillock ranged in regular quincunx by lines, which with the pegs were still remaining in the field." This seems like clear proof that a line was used in at least that district. It may have been used when marking the positions for the puke, to be removed ere the digging and planting began, or it may have been used to mark the first row only.

Karaka Tarawhiti of Huntly, Waikato, tells us that a line was employed in planting or laying off three lines of puke only, one on each side of the plot, and one down the centre, but that no cord was used in forming the intermediate rows. In this case the three lines were evidently used as guides. Hari Wahanui of Otorohanga states that a cord was stretched in order to line the puke. He makes also a curious statement:—"When the kumara is being planted the planters must face Hawaiki, the place where the sun rises. Males alone perform this task, never women, in order that the lord of the kumara, that is Rongo, may be retained." This looks as though the actual planters of the tubers worked forward from the taremu of the field, though, in order to keep facing east or north, they would have to work backwards when following the diggers, as the latter formed their second series of mounds back to the taremu. The placing of Hawaiki in the east looks like a lapsus calami, or was the last Hawaiki referred to.

In a second communication Hari states that a cord was used to strike a line, the ground being marked by such a guide, after which the cord seems to have been removed prior to the commencement of digging operations. He also says that both the digging and the planting were commenced at the remu (or taremu) of the field, and that the digging was completed ere the planting was commenced. This latter may have been but a local usage. A division (wakawaka) of the field would be page 152apportioned to each whanau or family group; the bounds of such divisions being marked with stones. A division forty feet wide and three or four chains long would be a large one. The mounds in which the tubers were planted were about eighteen inches in diameter, and were formed close together.

A sketch forwarded by Hari seems to show that straight lines were marked on the ground by means of stretching a cord across the field, such lines being about two feet apart apparently. This process was repeated at right angles, so that the field was entirely marked off into squares of two feet by means of these scored lines. The diggers then loosened the soil within these squares and the loosened earth was pulverised and formed into small shapely mounds in which the seed tubers were placed. It is just possible that this was a local usage, but I am very doubtful about it.

Hakaraia Pahewa of Te Kaha and Te Manihera Waititi of Whangaparaoa both declare that no form of lining cord was used in their districts. Williams' Maori Dictionary gives 'Arorangi, a line of sticks to guide kumara planters.'

Hurae Puketapu, of Te Wairoa, H.B., asserts that no cord was used, that the diggers formed a line in echelon and worked towards the whakaupoko or head of the field. The forward man at the end of the rank dug the first puke. As he advanced, the others, one after another, at the proper intervals, commenced work on their rows. The first to commence was responsible for the preservation of a direct line and correctly spaced puke. With the exercise of ordinary care the others would keep correct alignment.

Aporo Paerata, of Te Karaka, Poverty Bay, states that, in his district, the kumara is not planted in quincunx order, but that it was formerly planted in a different manner. A rude sketch forwarded by him seems to show the quincunx order as the ancient method. He also says that no old varieties of the kumara are now (1919) cultivated in that district, but only the waina, a variety introduced by Europeans.

There is some more evidence to present concerning the use of a lining cord and the formation of the rank of workers when digging. It will be seen that no universal methods existed regarding these matters. The same remark applies to the question as to whether or not the persons who dug the soil would also take part in the planting, and to that of the employment of women in planting operations. The Rev. T. G. Hammond page 153states that he has seen women going over a field and making a hole in each prepared puke in which to place the seed, that some women were employed as planters (apparently not as diggers) because they possessed ringa mana, any seed planted by them would assuredly germinate and possess vigour in growth. In planting the tubers the person faced the sun, held up the kumara at about the height of his head, then lowered his hand and placed the seed in the hole prepared in the little mound of earth. But one seed tuber was placed in each mound.

Archdeacon Walsh states that the workers worked back diagonally across the patch. It is evident, from the evidence of Mohi Turei, Te Manihera Waititi, and others, that the diggers worked straight across the field, i.e., the rows of puke or planting hillocks ran straight across, but that the row or rank of workers was diagonal, thus the man who worked the first row started work first and finished first. According to Te Manihera's explanation the diggers worked backward in making the first series of rows, but forward in making the second series, i.e., in Fig. 43. Illustrates the Quincunx Method of Planting the Kumara. Sketch by Miss E. Richardson page 154 returning to the taremu or base, so that either statement is correct; they worked both ways. It does not appear, however, that the actual planters worked in the same manner.

It has been made clear that the echelon formation of the kaiko, or diggers, was a common usage, though not universal. As to its purport it seems highly probable that it would be employed wherever the quincunx method of planting was followed, and for the following reason:—We are distinctly told by several authorities that the first row of mounds formed was used by the diggers of other rows to align their work by. See diagram p. 153. Now, in the quincunx mode, the first row operator would have to complete two mounds, and move on to his third, ere the digger of row No. 2 could align his own work, for he would have to form his first puke exactly opposite the centre of the space between mounds 1 and 2 of the first row. In like manner digger No. 3 would have to wait until No. 2 had passed on to his third mound ere he could align his first. Thus each digger had to keep two mounds behind his predecessor. See Fig. 43, p. 153.

These explanations show how confusion has entered into different narratives. In large fields there would be a division of labour and a close adherence to orthodox routine. Small Fig. 44. The Mara Kumara. Diagram illustrating description of a mara kumara. page 155 communities planting small patches would assuredly conduct operations in a very different manner. Karaka Tarawhiti of Huntly makes the somewhat startling statement that women only were employed in planting the kumara. This may have been so among his folk, but in many districts men only performed this task.

Hari Wahanui of Otorohanga says that women were not employed in planting operations because of the danger of defilement of tapu, and its natural result, the affronting of Rongo. Te Whatahoro of Wairarapa says that women were not employed in kumara cultivation; his remarks are as follows:—"The upoko (head) of the field faced the sunrise. The spaces between the the rows of mounds are the maruaroa. At the very first appearance of the sun the work of planting was commenced by men, women were not allowed to take part in it, nor were they allowed to even enter the field. Men only might form the mounds and plant the seed. The head of the cultivated field never faced the south, north, or west, in no instance did it do so. The workers did not partake of food until the labours of the day were over, and then only when they returned to the village. This procedure continued until the work was completed. In planting the seed kumara, the tuber was placed so that the head of it faced the east, and was somewhat higher than the other end. The puke [hillocks] of the tutira [row] were so spaced that their bases were about four inches apart, so as to allow of the flow of storm water between them. The [east and west] maruaroa spaces serve a like purpose, also as a pathway for those attending to the crops. The free passage of storm waters prevents the hillocks becoming waterlogged. The distributing of the seed and the planting were performed by different persons, but by men only. No women were allowed to take part in any operation, even to gathering the harvest. Only when the product is stored in the rua taranga [store pit] to serve as food supplies, are women allowed to handle them, for cooking purposes. The rua whakaahu is a store-pit for seed kumara: women are not allowed to enter it, lest defilement occur. My own eyes have seen these things I describe." Here we note the belief in the life principle of the kumara and the care taken lest it be defiled, to result in the loss of fertility. An East Coast authority gives pongaihu as the local term for the space between the rows of mounds.

The following remarks are taken from that highly entertaining work, Where the White Man Treads, by W.B.:—

page 156

"When the land was weeded and prepared, and the seed sorted and stacked ready in baskets, the tohunga, that impostor without whose blatant necromancy the Maori groped helpless, having consulted his omens, offered up invocations to the manes of the season, and deciding the time propitious, rose at daylight and strode through the village with a bundle of fernstalks, and stopping at every house, speared a stalk at the doorway, and cried:—'Arise, come forth to the planting.' The inmates, expecting the signal, would at once come out, the man grasping his ko, and the woman her basket of food, and, shouldering her basket of seed from the stack, they formed up in Indian file, and the procession marched out to the field. Here the men, guided by stakes, drove their ko into the soil on the spot where the plant was to grow, loosened the earth, and went on; while the women followed and placed the seed carefully, sprout end upwards, in the centre of the hillock. All this went on with the utmost regularity and order, so that from whatever side the field was viewed the rows were straight and in line. Thus, with much state and cryptic observance, was the seedling laid in the womb of the earth, to bring forth in due season a multiplied store of that which the Maori declared with much pride to be his permanent food staff of life. "This writer has lived a long life time among the Waikato and adjacent tribes, and his statements show that in that district the men did the digging and the women the actual planting.

The peculiar beliefs held by the Maori concerning moral uncleanness and its effect upon growing crops are widespread, and in Psyche's Task, J. G. Frazer has collected interesting evidence anent such superstitions, as held by peoples of Asia, Indonesia, and other lands. Such beliefs are extremely prevalent in the Indonesian area. Thus it will be seen that it behoved the individual in Maoriland to be careful in his behaviour, inasmuch as lapses from virtue were held to affect the welfare of the community in a serious manner. Punishment of a somewhat severe nature is said to have been sometimes inflicted upon offenders. These beliefs were not only connected with crops, but entered into many subjects and activities, from shellfish to cooking, from bird snaring to fighting. Most of such hara or offences consisted of a disregarding of the laws of tapu.

The following notes from Tuta Nihoniho pertain to the Waiapu District:—When clearing a piece of land for cropping, all timber, weeds, &c., were burned on the ground, and the ashes page 157scattered over the land to serve as manure, which caused vigorous growth of crop, and hence the saying—"E tama te mata ahi, e!" In these operations, when the ground was cleared, it was not turned over as with us; the earth was loosened and formed into puke, or little mounds at certain intervals, but the space of earth between such mounds was not turned up or loosened, it was simply cleared from weeds and rubbish.

Prior to the planting of the kumara crop an offering was made to the gods in order to ensure a good crop. The generic term for such conciliatory offerings is whakahere, but the specific name for it in the above ceremony was marere. This offering was usually a bird. Among the Ngati-Porou tribe Kahukura, the rainbow god, represented Rongo-marae-roa, the tutelary deity of the kumara. The above rite was performed at the side of the cultivation. A branch of mapou was stuck in the earth at the place where the ceremony was performed. The following ritual was recited:—

"Ko te ko a te waimarie
Penupenu te ko penu
E whakatauweruweru ki te mata o tenei ko
Hua kumu ki te mata o tenei ko [This kumu should be kuru.]
Hua karaka ki te mata o tenei ko
Hua kahika ki te mata o tenei ko
Hua titoki ki te mata o tenei ko, &c."

The usual method of planting the kumara, or sweet potato, was that known as whakarapa. When engaged in wielding the ko, the workers arranged themselves in a row, with proper intervals between them, and performed all actions of their task in time with each other, such time being set and kept by the chanting of the tewha, or working song. The sight of a number of men manipulating their long ko in unison, with the long feather streamers waving, the military precision of their movements accompanied by the weird chanting of the tewha or work song, was a striking one.

In preparing the ground in this manner for planting the kumara, each man prepares one puke at each stand in this manner—He forces his ko into the soil with his right foot, then presses the shaft down and backwards until the point has loosened the soil sufficiently. He then withdraws the tool, places the point thereof a little distance from the hole, turns his body, and, placing his left foot on the footrest, again forces the implement into the soil and loosens it as before. On the completion of this process, the page 158whole line of men take one pace to the rear, and the same actions are repeated, and so on until the ground is all prepared. In another method both thrusts of the ko into the soil are made with the left foot on the teka or footrest. The fugleman chants certain lines of the planting song, and the workers sing the others as they perform their task.

The word pirori was applied to using the ko, this usage referring to the manner in which the implement was turned when loosening the soil in the right and left foot thrusts. After these preparers of the soil came the planters of the seed tubers, each of whom carries a basket full of such seed. The planter makes a hole with his hand in the loosened soil between the two holes left by the ko, which action usually causes earth to fall into and fill up those holes, and then places a tube in the hole he has made and covers it with earth. He does not put the seed in one of the holes formed by the ko, as it would probably sink too deep, and would not be in the right position.

When planting a field with seed kumara, the seed tubers were placed facing or pointing in several different directions, from east to north, so as to follow the sun round. When taking up the crop care was displayed in noting which plants produced the most abundant supply of tubers, and the seed planted next season would be faced in the same direction as had been those that were most prolific.

In some places sloping land is preferred for kumara cultivation, the flat lands being too damp.

The term tiwara is employed to denote wide spacing of seed in planting as the rau-tainui variety of kumara is planted.

Wooden clubs were used to break up clods of earth loosened by the ko, but in many places the soil is of a loose, friable nature, and needs but little reduction.

The small, paddle-shaped, light wooden implements, such as certain specimens in the Dominion Museum were used as cultivating implements for light work, to loosen easy working soil, or to further disintegrate stiffer soils that have been loosened with the ko, and to break clods.

In a large cultivation ground wherein several persons or families had crops, the boundaries between the different plots were sometimes marked by means of stones placed some distance apart along the line.

In the above account our late friend makes it fairly clear that, where permissible, the whole surface of the field was not page 159dug or loosened, but merely the small patches where each puke was formed. Where a persistent growth, such as fern (bracken, Pteris) occupied the ground the more complete work would be necessary, otherwise the fern would be constantly springing up. Moreover this plant seems to have an effect of rendering soil sour and unkindly; fern land needs turning up, and exposure for some time, ere this quality is lost.

It appears somewhat doubtful that two insertions of the ko would loosen soil sufficiently to allow of the formation of a puke with small implements and the hands, unless the ground had previously been worked. In many cases we know that three insertions were made.

A later note from the Waiapu district is to the effect that the kaiko or diggers commenced work at the rear of the field, that is its western side. They worked as a rank parallel with the straight edge of the plot, and did not adopt the echelon formation. They faced the west so as to work backwards in digging, as we do. When all diggers in the rank (kapa) had finished loosening the soil for the puke, then all took a step to the rear and commenced work on another row. It is said that women followed up to form the mounds and plant the seed tubers; they were the kaiono or planters. They kept singing:—

"Ringiringi taku kete, homai nanea
Te paengarua taku kete, homai nanea."

—thus asking for a plentiful return for their seed. These folk assured me that no line was stretched when forming the mounds, which were formed immediately opposite those of the previous row, and not in quincunx style. Thus we see how methods differed, and in some cases differed in the same district.

Another adept, Te Manihera Waititi, of Whanga-paraoa, has obliged us with some further explanations, which make quite clear the method of working, the echelon like advance of the diggers, and their singular countermarching movements on the completion of the first series of rows of puke.

Te Manihera states:—In these parts the waha (front) of the field faces the north, because this is the region in which the sun shines the longest. It is never so laid off as to face the south, that being a cold region. The clans living between Tikirau and the Rau-kokore stream follow this rule; these clans are Te Whanau a Pararaki and Te Whanau a Maru. The clans of Te Kaha also follow this usage; they are Te Whanau a Kahu-rautao, Te Whanau a Kai-aio, and Te Whanau a Te Ehutu.

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The manner of digging the puke is as follows:—See Fig. 45.

Supposing that only three men, represented by A., B. and C., are about to act as kaiko or diggers to prepare the field. The work is commenced by A., whose rarangi puke, or row of moundlets, to be dug by him, extends from A. to D. This row is known as the tahu of the field (so called on account of it being taken as a guide by other diggers in working their mounds so as to have them equi-distant and in a perfectly straight line. This term tahu may be compared to tahu, the ridgepole of a house; and tahu, a main line of genealogical descent). The person who works on this first row is termed the kaiwhakatahu, and the act of doing so is called whakatahu. The diggers face the taremu, that is the south, as they work, thus working backwards; their backs are toward the head of the field, i.e., the north.

The kaiwhakatahu commences his work, while B. and C. await their turns. When A. reaches his third puke then B. commences to form his first one. Then A. moves on to his fourth, and B. to >Fig. 45. Diagram Illustrating Method of Working in Echelon. He whakarapa te tu o te ko. Mounds formed opposite each other. Sketch by Miss E. Richardson page 161 his second, each taking a step backward in doing so. These puke being dug, A. moves to his fifth, B. to his third, and C. commences his first. This mode of carrying on the work is continued until all the diggers, perhaps 20, or 40, are in action, the curious diagonal line working straight across the field to its objectives at D., E., F., &c. By working in this manner, backwards, the puke are formed in perfectly straight lines.

When the diggers have finished their rows at D., E., F., then C. wheels round and commences to work back across the field to the taremu on the fourth line, then B. wheels round from E. and commences to work back on the fifth line, and then A. wheels across the land head to the sixth row. Thus in working back to the bottom of the field, C. becomes the kaiwhakatahu or foremost worker whom the others follow. On reaching the bottom of the field, the same reverse movement takes place, whereupon A. again becomes the leader on line 7, B. follows on line 8, then C. on line 9. This peculiar boustrophedon manner of working in echelon is continued until the whole field is dug, and is described by the term whakarapa.

No line is is used to lay off the tahu or first row, nor is any mark or furrow made to locate the same. Precision in making this row of puke absolutely straight, with mounds equidistant from each other, is obtained only by the keen eye of the adept kaiwhakatahu or leader. Those following him must also be careful to keep their rows straight, at the correct distance from the first line, and to form the puke immediately opposite those of that line.

In digging a puke the operator makes two thrusts of his ko into the ground. He first places the point of the blade of his implement at the right side of the space designed for a puke, leans the shaft over to the right, places his left foot on the teka or "tread," and forces it into the earth. He then presses the shaft downwards so as to loosen the earth and raise it. Withdrawing his tool, he places its point on the left side of the puke space, leans the shaft over to the left, and places his right foot on the tread, proceeding as before.

Other persons follow and break up the clods raised by the ko, using a wooden clod breaker if necessary, and often crumbling the soil with their hands, thus reducing it to a good tilth, a process termed tāpāpā.

Then come the kaiwhakatiri or tangata tiri (seed distributors), who distribute the seed tubers, merely placing them on the puke ready for the planters.

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Then come the kairumaki, or kaiono, the planters, who carefully form the pulverised earth into a small rounded heap, and plant the kopura or seed tubers therein. The forming of these mounds is described by the word ahuahu.

The soil round the young plants, at a later stage, was again loosened and worked by means of wooden implements during the operations known as ngaki.

The spaces between the rows are called pongaihu, or nostrils. (The Maori deemed what may be termed the ventilation of growing crops an important matter. He allowed free passage for sun and air between plants.)

These explanations of Te Mānihera make clear the peculiar mode of progression by means of which the diggers, though preserving an echelon formation, yet worked straight across a field. The method is a strikingly singular one, and gives rise to surmises as to its origin and object. A curious discrepancy is also observed in the arrangement of the rows of mounds. Te Manihera makes no mention of a quincunx arrangement, though we have evidence, as shown above, that such a system was employed on either side of his district, as shown in the descriptions of Capt. Cook and Hakaraia Pahewa. He also makes it quite clear that his folk used no cord or line to lay off the rows. We can only conclude that, as in other matters, certain differences obtained regarding these tasks, as practised in different districts.

Presumably this method of working in echelon would enable diggers to align their mounds better than if they worked abreast as a true kapa or rank.

In a later communication Te Manihera gave the following notes:—When the foremost kaiko (digger) reaches the further side of the field, he ceases work and awaits the arrival of his co-workers. As each one finishes his row he also awaits the others. When the last man has worked out his row and arrived, then all wheel round and take up their stations ready for the return trip, as shown in the diagram. They do not stand in a row as a tutira, or as a kapa, that is parallel to, or at right angles to, the edge of the māra, but stand in echelon formation as it were, forming an oblique line to that edge. This position is described as a whakarapa. In working back to the taremu of the field, the diggers face the way they are going, so that they are working forward instead of backward. Thus, no page 163matter which way they are proceeding, their backs are toward the head of the field and they face the base or taremu.

Another statement is to the effect that the diggers worked from west to east, beginning at the taremu side, and then worked back from east to west, and so on. This would be in a district where the west side of the field was called the taremu, and the east side the upoko.

In his account of agriculture in the Tongan Isles, Cook says:—"In planting the plantains and yams they observe so much exactness that, whichever way you look, the rows present themselves regular and complete."

From the foregoing evidence it seems clear that in some districts, a lining cord was employed, and that in others it was not. Also that boneing rods were sometimes used. The statements about working forward and backward are in some cases dubious. To work backward as we do in digging would be the best method, inasmuch as, in cases where a correct alignment has to be preserved, the worker would have his completed row of puke to align by, in addition to any other aid, such as boneing rods, that might be employed.

The following account of the cultivation of the kumara, and the lifting of the crop was given by a native of the Kahungunu tribe who has passed his life in the Napier and Wai-rarapa districts. The translation here given includes some explanatory data obtained later. The original version will be found in No. 2 of the Addenda.

* See Transactions of the N.Z. Institute, Vol. 35, p. 12.