Director' s Anniial Report. 47 



Hau fibre is not equal in strength to hemp, or even good jute, but 

 its tenacity is greatly increased b}^ moisture. It may easily be 

 obtained by beating, maceration and washing. 



Hibiscus sabdariffa is in general cultivation in India and has 

 been introduced to these Islands. Its fibre is known as Rosella 

 hemp, and samples prepared at the Museum were found to be soft, 

 fine and pliant, and slightly superior in strength to those of hau. 

 The fruit of this plant ripens freely in Honolulu and makes a 

 delicious sauce, resembling cranberry in appearance, color and 

 flavor. Its leaves are said to be used in India for salads. Neither 

 of these plants is likely to repay culture for fibre in Hawaii. 

 Hibiscus csculens, see Okra. 



MAGUEY. 



Endogen. Structural Fibre. Amaryllidacea;. Agave afueri- 

 caiia ; A. viexicaiia . 



Various species of Agaves occurring in Mexico and Central 

 America of use as fibre-producers have received the generic native 

 name of Maguey, the produ(5ls of the two above named being per- 

 haps the best knowm. It is important to distinguish these fibres 

 from the more valuable pita, the product of Furcraea gigantea, 

 with which they are popularl}' but erroneously associated. Agave 

 amcj'icana, the American aloe, or century plant, is often grown in 

 gardens for its decorative effect, but its true fibrous qualities are 

 greatly impaired by a too generous soil, which a rigorous habitat 

 fully develops. A. mexicana yields the intoxicating beverages 

 pulque and mescal, the former of which is prepared in Mexico 

 in the following manner. When the leaves commence to become 

 yellow a small aperture is made at the base of the leaf into which 

 a tubular gourd is inserted from which the air is exhausted and the 

 sap removed by sucftion. The flufd is then emptied into sheep or 

 pig skins and fermented in vats, where it assumes an opaque white 

 color. Its taste is at first unpalatable to white people, although 

 they are said to overcome their distaste in time. Watt estimates, 

 in 1889, that 50,000,000 bottles of pulque were annually consumed 

 in the city of Mexico, and that 20,000 mules and donkeys laden 

 with this beverage entered the cit}^ monthly. Squier describes the 

 preparation of pulque in a different manner, and, writing in 1863, 

 says that the central stalk, just before florescence, is cut away and a 



