Vol. Vir. No. 166. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



287 



THE 'PULQUE MAGUEY' OF MEXICO. 



Under the title ' The Century Plant and some 

 other Plants of the Dry Country,' Professor William 

 Trelease, of the Missouri Botanic Gardens contributed 

 a highly interesting paper to the Popular Science 

 Moatldy of March 1907, dealing i with the various 

 Agaves found in Mexico and their characteristics and 

 uses. This paper include.'! a lengthy account of Aijarc 

 atrovirens, or the ' puhjue maguey ' from which the 

 national alcoholic drink of Mexico is produced. The 

 •details given below as to the methods followed in the 

 manufacture of pulque, and the extent of the trade in 

 this product are e.xtracted from Dr. Trelease's article — 



South of the City of ^Mexico, centreing about the little 

 town of Apaiii, the species of Agave is almost exclusively the 

 dark-green giant ^. i.ifrorii-cits, though, a.s with extensively 

 cultivated plants elscwliere, it is grown in numerous horti- 

 cultural varieties which look much alike to the botanist, but 

 are distinguished by the planter. Over thirty such forms 

 are said to be planted in the plains of Apam. 



A.s one passes to the colder regions of the iK)rth or 

 descend.s from the tableland into the hot country, still other 

 and different looking species of the .same type replace 

 A. atroiiii-ens, which, however, far outnumbers and surpasses 

 them all in its aggregate imiiortance. These plantations of 

 A. atroi'irenx are the basis of the pulque industry of 

 Mexico — at once a large item in its agricultural wealth and 

 one of the greatest curses of its labouring population. 



The present traffic in pulque is lai^ge. Something over 

 5,000.000 barrels of it are used in the Mexican republic every 

 year, of which quantity about half is consumed in the 

 capital city, and much of tlie remaindef in Puebla and the 

 other large cities of the central plateau Cheap as it is 

 (for it sells for from one to 3c. of 'Mexican money for 

 a large glass) its aggregate value amounts to several nnllion 

 dollars per year. Special train.s are run into the city of 

 Mexico every morning for its delivery, As is done with the 

 milk supply of American cities. In the'. Apam district, the 

 plantations are chiefly found on the large haciendas or estates. 



The ' i>ulquc maguey ' is a large plant, and its rosette of 

 thick leaves, though apjiearing to lie next the ground, is 

 really spaced along a stout trunk as large as a small liarrel. 

 The whole, charged with sap, weighs several tons. If left to 

 t.self, as it is in gardens on the liiviera where it is called 

 A. Sa/miuna, like the century plant A'jarc nmeriranii it 

 produces a gigantic scape, topped witli a candelabrum of 

 flower.s, when somewhere in the neighbourhood of fifteen 

 years old. This is never i)ermitted on the large plantations, 

 for the plant possesses its juaxinium value when it has 

 reached vegetative maturity and the scape is about to develop. 

 At the critical moment, known from the appearance of the 

 central bud, this i.s cut out and a shallow cavity is made in 

 the crown of the trunk, which is covered by a stone, pieces 

 of maguey leaves, or other protection. Into the cavity so 

 formed the sap exudes. It is removed two or three times 

 a day, the surfat-e being scraped and the cavity sliwhtly 

 enlarged each tjine, until at last nothing but a thin shell of 

 the trunk remains, the leaves meantime having given up 



their content of fluid and dried to their hard framework as 



happens naturally dining the flowering period of all the 

 larger Agaves, when the re.serve of sap is drawn into the 

 rapidly growing scape and flowers. 



For a period of three months ()r more a good plant 

 yields a gallon or two of sap daily, and it's total value may be 

 not far from iJlO on an average, from which it will be seen 



that a large maguey plantation rejiresents a considerable 

 item in the assets of a landed pro)irietor of the plains of 

 Apam. 



The fluid which collects in the hollowed trunk of a cut 

 maguey plant, and is gathered in the manner described, i.s 

 called 'agua miel', or honey-water, because of its sweetness : 

 it or 10 per cent, of its weight is sugar, and this furiuslie»; 

 the basis for the alcoholic fermentation which i.s the chief 

 factor in its conversion into pulque. The ' agua nnel ' of the 

 Apam district is thin, clear, and colourless, and possesses 

 a rather pleasant taste. 



The fermentation practices in pulque making are still 

 mostly primitive. I have had a ^Mexican gentleman tell me 

 that although when the agua miel was gathered and fermented 

 with due cleanliness he considered it a delicious drink, he 

 would not think of touching puhjue as offered, for in.stance, at 

 the railway station in Apam. The vats used in the fermentation 

 are of ox-hide stretched on frames, and they are usually 

 3 or 4 feet wide, and nearly as deep. Fermentation is begun 

 by the introduction of a starter or 'motherof pulque, obtained 

 by prelindnary fermentation, and is carried on either without, 

 or at most v/ith little, artihcial control of temperature, ar.d 

 under conditions of pcsitive or negative cleanliness which 

 differ with the various haciendas. 



When marketed, the imlque is a white, decidedly viscous 

 flni<l rontaiidng about 8 per cent, of alcohol ; fermentation 

 has not been sfilely alcoholic, however, and its flavour is in 

 part due to changes wrought by bactei'ia of .several kinds 

 which are introduced with the starter in company with the 

 yeast. Continuation of the action of these collateral ferments 

 causes the beverage t<j spoil in a day or two under ordinary 

 conditions. 



AVhere the maguey, though capable of cultivation, yields 

 a lesser or inferior product, agua miel is often more appreciat- 

 ed in its unferniented state. As hawked around the streets 

 of Monterey, foi- instance, in porous earthenware rece]jtacle.s, 

 it is a cool, yellowish fluid, that is very refreshing on a hot 

 day, and the linqiid, yellowish, cidery, foamy product of its 

 fermentation in the north is frequently more to the taste of 

 the foreigner than the white, viscous, odoriferous pulque of 

 the Apam district — which alone plea.ses the adept. 



Considerable medicinal virtue has been claimed for 

 pulipte, and some efforts have been made to specially prepare, 

 bottle, and pasteurize it for medicinal or even table use; but, 

 except in the region of its production, where it is the common 

 beverage, the bulk of it is used as an intoxicant, pure and 

 simple. From it is also produced a rather small quantity of 

 distilled licpior — 'mezcal de pulque.' 



Mezcal is a term applied comprehensively to the liquor 

 obtained bj' distillation from the fermented juices of agaves. 

 Four or five nnllion gallons of it a year are produced, and 

 its value may amount t© some §2,000,000. The centre for 

 the manufacture of this beverage is to the west of Guadala- 

 jara, and the town of Tequila, situated there, has given its 

 name to the higher grade of liquor, which is clear, smoky, 

 rather smooth, and with a characteristic essential flavour ; it 

 usually contains forty or fifty per cent, of alcohol, and like 

 pulque, possesses certain medicinal projjerties. 



Mezcal is sold cheaply. It is to be found everywhere 

 and contributes largely to the demoralization of the native 

 labourers, who often drink it to excess. 



To supply the distilleries at Tequila, a considerable 

 acreage is planted to mezcal agaves. Those chiefly used for 

 the purpose belong to a well-marked, narrow leaved species 

 which a few years ago received the appropriate and distinc- 

 tive name A. Tcimilana. 



