In the Valley of Toluca, a "fanega" of land was the equivalent of 120 quahuitl. The fanega and its divisions were the norm for measuring land in the late-colonial Toluca Valley. So, when we see 120 quahuitl it was a probable translation of the fanega, being an unusual number in the indigenous system. The fanega, as a land measure, referred to the measures of seed that could be planted in a given parcel. Caterina Pizzigoni, ed., Testaments of Toluca (Stanford: Stanford University Press and UCLA Latin American Center Publications, 2007), 26. Códice Sierra includes several examples of fanegas in its pictorial component, and attestations of the term in the text ("hanega" etc.). The illustrations show a scoop-shaped container with a handle on one end, and seed brimming over at the top. For 1593, the entry shows "castilla tlauhlli caztolli hanega," 30 pesos worth, apparently a reference to wheat seed. Códice Sierra, online version published by the La Fragua museum and the BUAP, http://www.lafragua.buap.mx:8180/xm-dist/show_base_B.jsp, página 56. nichuiquilia ce quixtiano ytoca medina media fanega trigo = I owe to a Spaniard named Medina a half fanega of wheat (Saltillo, 1682) Leslie S. Offutt, "Levels of Acculturation in Northeastern New Spain; San Esteban Testaments of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries," Estudios de cultura náhuatl 22 (1992), 409–443, see page 434–435. calaqui trigo 8 anegas = it holds 8 fanegas of wheat [seed?]; this was some land described as being near ditches; a gobernador sold it to a Spaniard for 32 pesos, in the form of a mule worth 30 pesos and 2 pesos cash (Tulancingo, December 9, 1640) James Lockhart collection, notes in the file "Land and Economy." For this example he cites the Tulancingo Collection in Special Collections at UCLA's research library, Folder 14. English translation proposed by Stephanie Wood. a "media" may refer to a half fanega: "calaqui se media tlauli" (it holds a half [fanega] of maize [seed]) (Calimaya, 1738) James Lockhart collection, notes in the file "Land and Economy." For this example he cites the Ayer Collection, Ms. 1477B (4). English translation proposed by Stephanie Wood. In his book, Haciendas and Ranchos, David Brading figures a "fanega de sembradura," with variants, could be anywhere from a sixth to a twelfth of a caballería, or about 8 to 16 acres (pp. 66–67). He cautions, too, that "Any presumption of great precision in these matters is a delusion." (p. 67) Conventionally, the fanega was 8.813 acres and a rectangle of 276 by 184 varas. Charles Gibson, Aztecs under Spanish Rule, agrees with Brading (p. 309). Gibson also gives a "cuartillo" to be 1/48 fanega (0.18 acre) and an "almud" 1/12 fanega (0.73 acre). James Lockhart collection, notes in the file "Land and Economy." A "fanega de sembradura" typically rented for 15 pesos per year (Ayapango, 1733). A lease for maize/wheat land, to cover a nine year period, went for 12 pesos per year per fanega. (Amecameca, 1726) James Lockhart collection, notes in the file "Land and Economy." For this example he cites AGN (Mexico) Tierras, 2254, exp. 2. A fanega was renting out for 10 pesos a year in Amecameca in 1764. The whole ranch consisted of 5.5 fanegas. So, it would have leased or rented for 55 pesos annually. James Lockhart collection, notes in the file "Land and Economy." For this example he cites AGN (Mexico) Tierras, 2555, exp. 3. In Santiago Quauhtlaapan (a sujeto of the cabecera of Cuauhtitlan, jurisdiction of Tepozotlan), in a testament from 1639, we see a reference to lands of the community, only cultivated since 1636, and therefore not producing much yet -- only 140 fanegas of maize (tlaolli), to be sold at 2 pesos per carga. The result would be 300 pesos in 1639 that had to be paid for the organ in the church. In 1637 only forty fanegas were produced, and this was distributed among those in the pueblo who were in need. In 1638 the harvest was 140 fanegas, which sold at one peso per fanega, which went to purchase materials and pay the masons and carpenters who were building the choir room in the church; it also paid for the fiesta of the Conception and some other things. Vidas y bienes olvidados: Testamentos en náhuatl y castellano del siglo XVII, vol. 3, Teresa Rojas Rabiela, et al, eds. (México: CIESAS, 2002), 214–215. in tlaolli hanegas in totlacallaquil yn ticchivazque (Huejotzingo, 1560) Beyond the Codices, eds. Arthur J.O. Anderson, Frances Berdan, and James Lockhart (Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center, 1976), Doc. 29. media ahneca oc çecpa techcuillia (Cuernavaca, circa 1610) Frances Karttunen and James Lockhart, Nahuatl in the Middle Years: Language Contact Phenomena in Texts of the Colonial Period, Linguistics 85 (Los Angeles, University of California Publications, 1976), Doc. 4. tlayoli hanegas (San Martín Hidalgo, Jalisco, 1653) Beyond the Codices, eds. Arthur J.O. Anderson, Frances Berdan, and James Lockhart (Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center, 1976), Doc. 28. onquisenlli medianega senbra[...]n (Centlalpan, Chalco, 1736) Frances Karttunen and James Lockhart, Nahuatl in the Middle Years: Language Contact Phenomena in Texts of the Colonial Period, Linguistics 85 (Los Angeles, University of California Publications, 1976), Doc. 10. medianega senbradura = half a fanega of seeded ground (Centlalpan, near Tlamanalco, 1736) James Lockhart, personal collection, notes in a folder called "Land and Economy." Refers to his book, Nahuatl in the Middle years, pp. 118–120.