The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1893-02-18
THE AGAVE PLANT.
A Source Of Sustenance to the
People of Mexico.
From 1t IL Made Kind or Liquor and
Pulatablo Dish-It Also Has
Scmo Medicinal Prop
critics.

soil and almost rainlcSS climate must Inc
conceded, but the greatest gift she has
bestowed on the poor natives who have
to get their living OFF the land is un
doubleday the agavc, or, us it is some
times called, magucy plant Three hun
drcd and siXty-tivc days of never-cndinr
sunshine arc Il great attraction to tour
lists and invalids, but to the farmer they
are fatal and Mexico is still SUFFERING
from drought that has lasted nearly
four years, says the New York Herald.
The magucy, for by that name it is
generally called IN Mexico, is what
is commonly known rs the century
plant in this country. The differ
encc is that it is the real century plant,
while ours is not. In appearance it is
much the same as the caucus that
adorns many of our northern gardens
and piazzas in the summer, only IL is
larger and coarscr. The leaves fire.
qucntly grow to II length of ten or
twelve feet, or even more, and bear
very sharp thorns.
1t takes the magucy about seven
years to blossom. When it docs bloom
stalk from ten to twenty feet tall
shoots up from the center of the cluster
of leaves and puts forth large flowers,
which vary from Il bright rcd color to n
deep purple. Just as it is about to
flower the plant has reached the proper
stage for the use it is most frequently
pat to-thc making of pulquc (pro-
nounccd pool-kcy).
To get the pulquc the leaves and
stalk are cut off Il little above the
ground, and the trunk formed by the
joining of the roots, which is often
foot in diameter, is followed out. In
this bowl, as it were, the sap which
was intended to nourish the flower ac-
cumulatcs and is drawn out every dav.
Dipping is the commonest way of get
ting the sap out of the hollow, though
suction pumps are sometimes used on
the big plantations now, and the prim-
tive way was to draw it through a
pipe with the mouth and then blow it
into handy receptacle
After it is taken from the plant the
sap must stand twentyfour hours to
fcrmcnt, and twentyfour hours after
the fermentation it spoils. Both French
anG American companies have tried
time and again to find some way of
perScrving pulquc SO it could be cx-
ported, but us yet mono have succeeded.
P'slquc is shipped from the planta-
ton. in barrels and pigslins, and some
idea of the amount of it that is drunk
can be formed from the fact that forty
car loads of it are taken to the City of
Mexico alone every morning. All but
very little of this is consumed the day
it IS received, and what is left over
spGtls, and is either thrown away or
SOLD for half price as sour pulquc"
The 'cantiSnas," or barrooms, where
pulquc is sold. generally supply that
drink alone They are very small,
dry and i'll smelling, in which they re-
scmblc the crowd that hangs around
them. The liquor-if it can be called
sucr-is brought around in barrels. on
cars drawn by solitary and forlorn
Locking donlicys, as soon as the puloue
train arrives and is sold by the greasy
pigsliin.
Its taste is similar to mixturc of cod
liver oil and buttermilll that has gone
wrG&g. 1t is the color of skim milk
and strings like molasscs, but is not
so thick. But when one becomes used
to il. rs he does after six or seven
drinks, it is not half so bad.
Phtquc has very gentle but cffcctual
medicinal properties, and physicians
have claimed that it will cure Bright's
disease If taken in time. At the can
tinas" it is sold in glasses of three
sizes, the largest about the same as
big schooner" and costs one, two and
three cents a glass.
Excessive pulquc drinking has a stu
pcfying effect, and the idea that it is
wildly Intoxicating is all wrong. In its
distilled form it is called tequila or mes
cal and is very fiery. This liquor is sim
liar i'll appearance to gin and is violent
~ Intoxicating. 1t has been at the bot
tom of many a so-callcd "Grcascr up
rising"
The plantations on which maguey is
raised for pu,quc making are often
many acres in extent, and the plants
are set in rows like corn. After Il plant
has been tapped" il dies and is pulled
up, Il young plant being put in its
place. The magucy grows best in pc
,uliar, sandy soil, and there are several
distinct 'pulquc regions"
The leaf Of the magucy is not only
edible, but makes very fine dish when
properly treated. The native Mexicans
dig pits and, taking the tcndcrcst
leaves, bake them in holes over 4 smol-
dcring fire, as charcoal is roasted. When
they are lust right they are taken out,
the tough outer covering, which has
hardened into a shell, is peeled off, and
the pith is very tender and tastes good
deal like roast corn.
The last use this cactus is put to is
the most remarkable one in climate
such as Mexico, as ice never forms of it.
self except on the uninhabitablc tops of
the highest mountains. Mexico City is
supplied by ice factories, but, of course,