TUNA AND ITS USES. 99 



device of plant protection in penetration and harrassing qualities. 

 The Mexicans themselves gather the fruit by means of a pole having 

 a knife at the end, and handle them with a pair of rude tongs made by 

 bending a withe on itself when rubbing them in the sand or with a grass 

 brush to remove the insidious bristles. Goats especially like tunas, 

 and during the season it is customary to see them with bleeding 

 mouths and beards dyed in the juice of the fruit. 



It would be interesting to join a picnic of tuna gatherers and take 

 note of their method of reaping the twia harvest. They carry with 

 them the fewest belongings, consisting mainly of earthen pots in which 

 the fruit is to be boiled, and the inevitable beans, blankets and 

 machetes. Arriving at the tuna orchard they camp, and the younger 

 generation sally forth to collect the figs. 



In the bank of an arroya the old folks dig a fire hole near the edge 

 with an opening in the bank below through which the fuel is fed. On 

 the top of the fire hole the cooking-pot is set. 



Fuel is near at hand in the shape of dried stalks and dead leaves 

 of the tuna. If a shelter is needed, only a short time is required to 

 set up a primitive house of the tuna stems, for which purpose they 

 supply the customary material in various portions of Mexico. 



When the gatherers return, the tunas are put to boil, and at the 

 completion of this process the marmalade is spread out to dry in the 

 sun, to be worked a little later into masses called queso de tuna — '•'tuna 

 cheese." This strange delicacy, resembling apple leather barring the 

 seeds, one finds in the markets in the form of great loaves or small 

 cakes. At the same place one may find crystallized tunas, sold as a 

 sweet, and preserved tunas, the latter belonging to the era of canned 

 things. 



But our Mexican family has not yet exhausted the possibilities of 

 the tuna. The young leaves make an excellent salad, or they may be 

 cooked in the manner of string beans, and with meat they form a de- 

 licious stew. If one is thirsty let him seek the jar of coloiicJic covered 

 with an opuntia leaf, and containing beer made from the fermented 

 fruit of the tuna. The Mexicans also prepare a concentrated tuna 

 colonche, from which beer may be made at any time, but one must add 

 alcohol, they say, to give it strength. 



It will be seen that the great advantage of tuna is that the plant, 

 like the agave, grows where nothing else can be raised, and hence 

 there are no problems of cultivation and irrigation. As an example of 

 the openhandness of nature in Mexico, an enterprising ranchman near 

 San Luis Potosi made $5,000 profit in one year from tuna and maguey 

 on land of not the slightest value for agricultural purposes. 



Without doubt the tuna is destined to become an article of com- 



