Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1896-08-27

/ plants until the whole has become fit
for use. After the juice has undergone
( the necessary fermentation Ito assist
which a naked peon jumps up and down
in the vat and this likewise helps to
extract the separation of the still re-
naming fbers from the sap) the sap
then precOlates through the perforated
| bottom Of the vat and is fit for the dis
tilling apparatus. After all the juics
that can be obtained by the above pro-
cess has been obtained, the refuse is
carried into other basins. covered with
abundant water and left to undergo an
other fermentation; this over. the
fibrous mass is put under a press and
the last drop of the spiritual fluid ex-
tracted. This press is of the most
primitive construction, and the last
fermentation lasts about one day. The
fiber thus pressed is then dried and
serves as fuel.
AS far as the alcoholic strength of
the tequila is concerned, the same is
about equal to that of common whisky.
and likewise in its effects. If taken
moderately, however, in case of poor
appetite, a few thimblefuls act as an
excellent tonic, and small dose taken
before retiring at night has quieting
effect. 1t is not advisable for a person
to take much tequila, and he who takes
none at all is still better off
AS the foregoing article deals more
specially with mescal and tequila. the
current ideas on pulque are given. This
drink holds a higher position with the
masses of this country than the more
refined Yintages. 1t is impossible to
separate in thought the average Next
can and pulque. They must stand or
fall together. No drink has a stronger
hold on any nation than this on the
MeXicans. By Mexicans is meant all
classes in Mexico, native and to the
manner born" other than the full
blooded Spaniards. Pulque is not the
drink of the Spaniard or those of Span
ism descent. They use champagne,
claret, sherry and other imported
wines. Among the poems, men, women
and children drink it with the same
freedom that water is used in the
United States. Pulque and jealousy
cause more wounds, bruises and deaths
in Mexico than all the wa1s had on it's
soil.
The pulque plant is indigenous to
this part of Mexico, often growing wild
on the uplands where for months and
years at times no rain falls, and it IS
also largely cultivated in the most
careful manner on the "llanos de
Apam," large area of plains lying in
this state and the adjoining state Ct
Hidalgo, about sixty miles from the
City of Mexico.
In Spain a plant is found, called
'pita, somewhat akin to the pulQue
plant, or Mexican maguey, yet differing
SO much in it's general features that it
may be termed a distinct genus. The
juices of the pita are unused in Spain,
which fact plainly separates it from
the family of plants in Mexico, whose
flow has been used for centuries, al
most supplanting the use of water in
that part of the republic where the
plant is found
The plants are transplanted when 2
or years of age with much care, then
cultivated in fields especially prepared
for the purpose, in number, per acre,
from 800 to $50 plants when by 8
feet, $50 plants to the acre; when II by
II feet, $50. The number per acre is
governed largely by the topography CT
the land and the judgment of the pro-
prietOr.
NnfI hn YN1n h.
"milked," when the liquid is ready to
flow for the use of man, else the super
fluffy of juices will cause the growth
of a large stem from the center of the
plant, shooting up some fifteen or
twenty feet, putting out branches at
the top, which blossom in a cluster Of
yellowish flowers. These branches are
symmetrical and the effect is like a
lofty branched candlestick.
When the pulque is first extracted,
before the process of fermentation sets
in, it is sweet and scentless and in this
state is preferred by the new beginners
of the drink. The old topers scorn the.
drink of that age, calling it ''the baby
drink" The fermentation takes place
in tubs built for the purpose, and to aid
or eXpediate the process a little ''madre
pulque,' or pulque mother, is added,
which hastens the chemical change.
At times it's fermentation is retarded
by cold spell at the watts, which pre-
vents it's carriage into the city for a
day or so.
The stock must be renewed daily,
else it becomes dead and insipid,
though it is said a certain powder has
been discovered which will prolong it's
life through the second day. The liquid
ferments rapidly and strongly and the
casks are left uncorked and the pigs
noses unmuzzled to prevent explosion.
The plant grows eight years before
maturity and the liquid is extracted.
In the growth Of the plant, a central
| bulb is formed for its coming juices.
| This is scooped out, leaving cavity Or
! hole big enough to hold a few quarts.
! This cavity is made in the bottom and
middle of the plant. The juice exudes
into this cavity, and it is taken out
daily by being sucked into a long
necked gourd, on the siphon principle,
by the Indian laboiers, then poured
into the tubs (taken to the fields and
finally removed to the vats
Each plant is supposed to yield from
125 to $50 gallons of liquid within it's
producing life, which is about rour
months. The plants are wholly indie