248 



after which the pulpy part of the leaves is removed hy rubbing them 

 with a stick. On the table land the end is accomplished by driving 

 iron spikes 8 or 9 inches long into a block of wood and drawing the 

 leaves over this instrument until all the connecting tissue is removed. 



At Bolanos still a different method is employed. The leaves are first 

 trimmed of their marginal spines and then placed flat on a board, 

 which is about 8 inches wide and set at an angle of about 15 degrees, 

 one end resting on the ground and the other about reaching to a man's 

 waist. The leaf is then scraped with a rude knife, first from one end 

 and then from the other. After a while the leaf is turned over and 

 the same process repeated until all the connecting tissue is removed. 



Mr. Nelson describes the manner of taking the ixtle fiber at Mate- 

 hnala as follows: 



A Hhort block of yucca wood is laid on the ground close to a tree and the pointed 

 end of a long triangular blade of iron, with a wooden handle, is thrust into the 

 base of tho tree trunk and held across the block of yucca wood. The workman 

 then strips the edges from the agave leaves to rid them of the bordering spines and, 

 holding the butt in tho right hand, lays the leaf on the wooden block and, pressing 

 down the iron, draws the leaf through, thus scraping out most of the pulpy matter. 

 Then a small wooden grasper with a knob itt one end has the free ends of the fiber 

 wrapped about it in a '-'half hitch," and by grasping this the workman can draw 

 the leaf under the iron in a reverse direction, thus cleaning the leaf in two motions. 

 The fiber is laid at full length on the ground and tho process repeated until tho sup- 

 ply of leaves is exhausted. Men clean from 10 to 15 pounds of liber a day, for which 

 they receive 2 cents a pound at Miquihuana and 21 cents at Jaumave. 



The scraper, called "tallador," referred to above has a wooden han- 

 dle 12.5 cm. (5 inches) long and a triangular blade 22.5 cm. (0 inches) 

 long, with a hooked point which can be thrust into the trunk of a tree. 

 The block, generally of yucca wood, used as a base on which the leaves 

 are cleaned with the tallador, is about 5 dm. (20 inches) by 6 cm. (24 

 inches) by 5 cm. (2 inches). This block of wood is made firm by means 

 of small pegs driven into the ground on each side. When the cleaning 

 is done in the open a peculiar peg, with a special notch for the point of 

 the tallador, is driven into the ground near the block of wood. The 

 grasper used for seizing the end of the half-cleaned fiber is of wood, 

 about 10 cm. (4 inches) long and somewhat larger at one end. At the 

 smaller end there is a knob, which prevents the fiber from slipping off 

 the grasper. 



EXPLANATION OK PLATES. 



Plate XLVIL— Cogollo (central leaves) of a lechuguilla plant ; lig. '2, rootetock, naed for soap; fig. 

 3, burro, useil to break off the cogollo; fig. 4, old lechuguilla plant. 



Plate XLVIII — Fig. 1, estoca banco, consisting of n block of yucca wood; fig, 2, tallador j fig. 3, 

 boliyo. 



1'latk XLIX.— Fig. 1, boliyo; fig. 2, tallador; lig. :s, retranca; fig. 4, banco did ide: fig. 5, estoca 

 banco. 



The following list represents the specimens of fibers and fiber prod- 

 ucts which I brought back from Mexico. They are deposited in the 

 Ethnobotanic collection of the National Museum and in the National 

 Herbarium. 



