Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
He remembered all that he had heard said of the regadoresdeveneno;
that the spray entered into the lungs and the brain; that everyone
ended up with tuberculosis; that in the hospital, the doctors had
opened up several veneneros and had found even their intestines to be
blue-green. Even the strongest of men wasted away in a matter of
months.
74
Puttinghisfearsaside,Martíndecidestogiveitatry.Onhisfirstday,he
is assigned towork with Don Braulio, ''a tall, thin man, with pale skin and
the face of one suffering from tuberculosis.''
75
As the two unrolled their
hose, Don Braulio gives Martín some pointers: ''When the veneno starts,
we can't waste any because if the foreman sees us he'll fire us on the spot.''
He added, ''the work is not as hard as ditching or weeding, you'll just go
alongdraggingthehose.I'llhelpguideyou.Thenozzlemanistheonewho
has to trouble himself more. You have to spray one plant at a time until
all the leaves are well coated.''
76
After explaining to Martín the difference
between Sigatoka and Panama disease, Don Braulio observed ironically,
''we're all sick here, somewith Sigatoka, others withmatamuerta,malaria
and tuberculosis. Some will get better if they get away in time; but some
of us are practically dead and buried! You see me? I'm no longer a man.
I'm a shadow, nothing more.''
AmayaAmador'sfictionalaccountofBordeauxsprayingsuggeststhat
exposure to the fungicide produced both acute and chronic affects on the
workers:
Taking the nozzle, don Braulio ...begantospraytheplantswiththe
blue liquid. The spray arced above the tallest leaves before falling upon
them like rain, covering the leaves with a blue ashen dew. Martín
sensed a caustic odor that provoked sneezing and a nauseous feeling.
''When one begins,'' the nozzle man explained with a cough, ''you
lose your appetite; you get a nasty cough....Buthumans are strange
creatures, they adjust to everything. Some exceptionally strong workers
endure years in this work, but others leave after just a couple of weeks,
spitting blood.''
77
He then advises Martín to place a handkerchief around his mouth but for
Don Braulio such protective measures are futile. Later in the novel, on a
particularly cold and rainy day, Don Braulio dies in the field. The heavy-
handed symbolism of the fallen venenero is reinforced by the words of a
fellow worker: ''The plantation ate him up! He died with the spray nozzle
