247 



A. vestita, while two of the others appear to be un described. They all 

 yield a strong fiber which is made into ropes. 



Herbarium specimens, leaves, fiber, and living specimens were 

 obtained of these species. 



The following agaves collected by the writer are reported to furnish 

 fiber. As some of them have not been determined specifically, the col- 

 lection number and also the locality are given, with the hope that it 

 may lead some one to procure more material. 



Name 



A gave sp. nov 



Agave lechuyvtlla Torr 



Agave rigida clrmgata Baker. 



Agave sp 



Agave americana L — 



Agave geminifiora Ker-Gawl 



Agave vestita Watson 



Agave vivipara (?) L 



Agave sp. ( ?) 



Agave sp 



Number. 



Locality. 



1713 



Southeast Sinaloa. 



1199 



Chihuahua, near El 1'aso. 



1307 



La Paz, Lowe;- California. 



2755 



Bolanos, etc. 



214G 



Mountains of Tuple, etc. 



lti25 



In Sinaloa, Tepir, etc. 



3767 



Zacatecas, etc. 



3537 



In Sinaloa, etc. 



2200 



Sierra Madre. 



2400 



Do. 



The following species are those recently sent in by Dr. Palmer and 

 Mr. Nelson : 



Name. 



Collector. 



Agave falcata Eugelm - | Mr. Nelson 



Agave univittata Haw ( '° 



Agave lopkantha Schiede ao 



Agave cochlear in Jacobi °-° 



Agavcheteracantha(l) Zucc Dr. Palmer. 



Agave heteracantha (?) Zucc 



.do 



Locality. 



Tanianlipas, etc. 



Do. 



Do. 



Do. 

 Saltillo. 

 San Luis Potosi. 



When the Descriptive Catalogue of Useful Fiber Plants of the World 

 was published by the Department of Agriculture in 1897, only ten spe- 

 cies were sufficiently well known to be described. These are given 

 below. Only three of them are identical with plants in my list. 

 Undoubtedly a score or more species are used locally in Mexico for 

 their fiber. 



Agave americana. 

 Agave aurea. 

 Agave decipiens. 

 Agave heteracantha. 

 Agave mexieana. 



Agave morrisii. 

 Agave potatorum. 

 Agave rigida elongata. 

 Agave rigida sisalana. 

 Agave vivipara. 



Although I saw no fibers in process of being extracted from the 

 leaves, 1 saw plenty of the raw fiber and plants from which leaves had 

 been cut for their fiber. Some of the methods used were extremely 

 crude. For iustance,in southeastern Sinaloa I was told that the leaves 

 were first cooked and then allowed to stand in water for several days, 



