Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1893-02-15
WINTERS CONVERSATIONS.
"For yet a while, a little while,
Involved in wintry gloom,
And lol another sprlng shall smile
A fnu efl.rr Al hlnnrn y

Aspsfng eternal bloom"
Resting from the long work and play.
spells of the summer, trees and plants,
apparently idle, are weaving new turrs
and buds for next years blossoming.
Nature never dies; only her loud-
sounding life grows silent gathering
her forces for battle with the impatient
winters.
The tender children of the Flower
goddess wage brave war against their
ancient enemy; the sun warns them
by day, the warm breezes aid them and
they creep coZ1ly under shelter, and,
down under the snow and frosty earth,
unfold their lowliest flowers. How
long, while the fields are yet uncovered
with snow, the green rosettes OF this
ties lie spread under our feet; golden
rod and sumach aud hardy garden
novers often hang upon their stalks
till late November; the Christmas Rose,
the Hellebore, opens its bright eyes
Tor the holiday season, the leahess
hazel bushes are adorned with silky
catkins and, down at the bottom OF
ponds and rivers, thousands of tiny
plants are busy doing their work;
green, shining leaves of FIR and spruce
and holly, pale not at snow falls and
biting north winds, and, on the rug
ged rocks, still the lichens and n osses
slins that he who loves Natures mys-
leries may stop and watch their curious
leaves and fruiting. So, even IN mid
Hinter, a green thread Of life seems to
hold together the seasons. like string
Of jewels, and the mind may look
hopefully forward to the coming Spring
Fastening to clothe the bare skeletons
of the trees once more with green
caves and smiling flowers.
TIE JENEQUEN OR sISAL HEMP.
II,
In our last paper we described four
81 the seven varieties of Sisal Hemp cul-
ivsted in Mexico for domestic and
commercial purposes.
The fifth variety is the bQbci, which
Is Of quick and lu1uriant growth but
With small sized leaves. Its fibre Is of
excellent quality,
The sixth on our list, the oftanlcf,
which may be translated, "hog egave,
aAs short, narrow leaves, is poor in
abre and held IN low esteem.
The cRiun, or caJum, concludes the
list. 1t ls found growing spontaneous
y through the belt which borders upon
the mangrOve region. Its botanical
Iftinities place the cajun rather in the
genus Fourcroya than with the Agaves
II has large, thin, uniform leaves of an
agreeable green, four to five feet long
with margin armed with sharp curved
spine. In order to obtain the fibre of
the c0jttTl, the leaves have to be cell
.ected near the heart of the plant, when
they are cut and parched over light
are, by which process the fibre becomes
strengthened so that they are prefer
able for thatching purposes.
The word jsneqyea seems TO belong
20 tie fibre in its manufactured state
rather than to the plant.
The development of the Towering
Jcape from the centre of the plant is a
warming that the life of the plont is ter.
minated; this scape sometimes aitains
a height of twelve TO fifteen feet as may
be seen by the picture of the cqjlnl.
The young shoots, however, grow rap
idly so that new fields may be contin-
aslly kept in cultivation.
These are other hhrous plants found
N Mexico and Yucstan but no so valu-
able as these we have described.