253 



nearly $92,000, with a value per ton in 1897 of $199.78, and in 1898 of 

 $162.84, the average value for six years being about $178. 



Importation from Mexico of unmanufactured broom root for eleven years. 1 



Year. 



Igg4 .' $:i97 1 894 $07, G i 8 



1885 51.017 1895 - 1 09, S72 



188G 125, 020 1S90 - 39, 8S4 



1887 82.834 1897 73.419 



1890 169 1X98 158.499 



1893 - Wl, 967 



■.' 



1 Foreign Comraeree anil Navigation (if (lie United States for the respective years. A partial sum- 

 mary oeeurs in volume 2 of 189(1, p. 1157. 



MALVACEAE. 



Sida acuta carpinifolia (L. f.) Sebum. 



Branches of a Sida tied together are commonly used all over the west 

 coast as a rude broom for sweeping yards, walks, etc. One which I saw 

 at Aeaponeta was made of 12 to 29 stems 15 dm. (5 feet) long, bound 

 together with strips of palm leaves. 



My botanical specimens (No. 31G0) are composed of these stems. 



CACTACEAE 



On the west coast the Indians gather the fruits of Cereus pecten- 

 aboriginum, trim off the long yellow spines on one side, so that they 

 maybe grasped easily, and use them for hairbrushes (PI. LVII). The 

 accompanying figure (fig. 32), furnished me by Mr. E. A. Goldman, 

 shows one of the trees. Another is shown in Plate LVII J. Dr. 

 Palmer tells me that he first observed these brushes in use among 

 the Papagos Indians, but has since seen them in the houses of many 

 Indians and poor Mexicans in Sonora and Sinaloa. 



FENCE AND HEDGE PLANTS. 



Although barbed wire fences are now becoming very common in 

 western Mexico, there are hundreds of miles of the native fences and 

 hedges still in use. 



EITPHORBIACEAE. 

 Jatropha curcas L. Sangue GRADO. 



This is one of the most common fence plants of the west coast. The 

 fences are made similarly to the Cactus fences; but the branches are 

 much smaller and must be tied together by some vine, the one com- 

 monly used being the bejuco Colorado ( Hippocratea sp.). These branches 

 take root and produce a great mass of foliage. The leaves in size are 

 out of all proportion to those grown on ordinary plants. One of them 

 which I brought home measures 3.5 dm. (14 inches) broad on a petiole 

 2.2 dm. (9 inches) long. 



