er 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
water 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 (_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 si