The Delaware ledger. (Newark, Del.) 1879-19??, 1884-08-30

what the reindeer is to the Esquimaux
or the rice-plant to the Chinaman. 1t
seems special gift of Nature to supply
all his simple wants; its coarse cloth
making his first, last and only garment,
and its strong rope tying down his
coffin lid. The fiber of the leaf, beaten
and spun, forms a fine and beautiful
thread, glossy as silk in texture, which
resembles linen when woven into fabric.
1t is manufactured into these coarser
cloths, also into paper, bagging, sail
cloth, sacking, etc. The rope made
from it is called MANILA hemp, and is
of uncommon strength and excellence,
by far the best in use. The fiber yield
ed by the maguey leaf, when pressed,
is equal to the best Yucatan heneyquin
and iute, for cordage; and its pulp is
unsurpassed for paper making. Cut
into coarse straws, it forms the brooms
and whitewash brushes of the country;
and as a substitute for bristles it is
made into scrub brooms, dusting
brushes and the tiny brooms which take
the place Of combs among the common
people. Beautiful fancy baskets,
money-bags, purses, satchels and a
thousand other toys, trinkets and orna-
ments are woven from It's fiber. Has
your horse a sprain, your donkey a
bruise, a maguey leaf, pounded and
bound upon the injured member, is a
certain cure. The pointed thorns
which terminate the gigantic leaves are
strong as nails and sharp as needles,
and to this day, as IN primitive times,
they serve for nails, needles and pins.
At present the greatest value of the
maguey comes from the amount of in
toxicating liquor it produces. Two
species Of it are cultivated -one in the
desert portions of the country, from
which mescal (Mexican tangle-foot) is
distilled from the expressed Juice of the
leaves, and the other Is the Towering
maguey, that wonder of the vegetable
world, from which pulque is drawn. In
the district Of Teyuila only no pulque
is made from it, because there its
SPECIAL virtues enable the same plant to
produce the brandy named after the
district in which it grows, and which
is widely used throughout the country.
But the principal maguey product is
pulque, of which it is estimated that
the City Of Mexico alone consumes
over two hundred thousand pints daily.
The government derives a revenue of
81, 900 day in duties on pulque brought
to the capital from the plains Of Apam.
The maguey can be made to yield an
excellent quality of molasses, by clarl.
flying the sweet decOction of the bulb.
The tradition that the Towering maguey
or century plant blooms but once in 100
years is quite true. 1t is not often
that we see the superb flour upon its
colossal stem, for the plant that blooms
is useless beauty. The moment that
the experienced Indian becomes aware
that his maguey is about to blossom, he
cuts into the heart and covers 1t over
with the side leaves of the plant, when
all the juice which nature intended for
the great stem of the flower runs into
the basin thus formed.
The juice of the maguey in its un-
fermentel state is called aqua niel-
honey water. 1t is gathered from the
oantra1 hocin fnrpnad oo obnva p,o,,-
toned, by Looping off the side leaves
and cutting into the heartily curious
process. Into the end of long gourd
cows horn is inserted, bored at the
point. Through this horn and into the
gourd the juice is reached by applying
the mouth to the hole in the opposite
side Of the gourd. The basin yields
from four to eight quarts day, accord
ing to the size and thriftiness of the
plant, for a period of three months,
after which the plant dies and is re-
placed by new one, which the prOvi-
dent owner has been raising from
shoots. But even in death its useful
ness is not over, for then its valuable
fbers may be utilized and its leaves
pounded into paper pulp. From the
gourd-shell the juice is emptied into a
pig-skin, which still retains the perfect
form of the animal-legs, tail, all
intact but the head. When this unique
bottle holds the honey-water, all that
now remains to make frst-class pulque
of it is to put into 1T little of the
same material that has already been
sourced and which acts like yeast. In
two or three hours fermentation has
taken place, and then the favorite
beverage is ready for drinking. Every
Mexican estate cultivates more or less
maguey. The mighty plants answer
for hedges, and mark the boundaries of
lots and lands, two rows-with their
enormous leaves and bayonet-like
thorns making an impenetrable fence.
Not only are the hedge rows thus
prohtably utilized, but rocky, dry
lands, which even the rattlesnake dis
dams to inhabit, will grow maguey,
yielding an abundance Of juice, the
more astonishing since none can tell
whence it derives any moisture.
Neither heat nor cold, drought nor in
undations, effect it, but, like the un.
failing fountains in the desert, it fur
nishes the poorest Indian with the
beverage most pleasing to his taste, |
uy;4hn,E r,onay aud u,ithput ,,rica
Very little pulque Is sold at wholesale,
as all Mexican estates which make
business of cultivating maguey main-
tain shops in town, from which the
liquid product is sold by glass or gallon.
A certain aristocrat of this city (Mexico)
who rides in his carriage and is reckon
ed among the magnates of the land,
has five of these pulque shops, from
which he Ia sal Il tn 1ariUa a ravanua nf