e stalk near the head with the left hand, while
the cutting blade is used with the right.

Both men and women may engage in cutting the rice, but as the latter
are much the more dexterous workers, this task is generally assigned
to them (Plate LIV). The grain is cut so as to leave stalks about
ten inches in length; these are laid in the free hand until a bunch
of considerable size has accumulated, when they are bound together
with strips of bark. [197] At the end of the day these bundles
are carried to the drying yards, where they remain until the whole
crop is harvested. A drying yard is a plot of ground surrounded by
a bamboo fence of such a height that it is impossible for fowls and
the like to gain entrance. When all the bundles are thoroughly dried,
they are placed in the granary, and from that time on the handling
of the rice is given over to the women.

The granaries, or store-houses, of the Tinguian and Ilocano are
identical (Plate LV), but, barring the Apayao, are different from any
of the surrounding groups, except when their influence may have spread
this peculiar type to a limited degree. It is worthy of note, however,
that the granaries of some Sumatran groups are of similar design and
construction. Such a store-house is raised high above the ground on
four hard-wood poles; the framework is of bamboo, and the sides flare
sharply from the floor to the grass roof. Within the framework is a
closely woven matting of flattened bamboo, which is nearly water-tight;
but to secure still further protection from moisture, and also to
allow for free circulation of air, a rack is built in such a way that
the rice is kept several inches from the outside walls. Just below
the floor, each post supports a close-fitting pottery jar--without
top or bottom--or a broad disk of wood, which effectually prevents
the entrance of rodents.

To thrash the grain, the woman places a bundle on a piece of carabao
hide, and, as she rolls it beneath her feet, she pounds it with a long
wooden pestle (_hala_) until all the kernels are beaten loose from
the straw. [198] It is then placed in a wooden mortar (_luson_)
of hourglass form or with straight sides, where it is again beaten
until the outside husks are loosened, and the grain is somewhat broken
(Plate LVI). Winnowing is accomplished by tossing the contents of the
mortar in shallow traps (_igau_), so that the chaff is blown away,
while the grain falls back into the winnower (Plate L