tween posts of the porch roof. Here they remain indefi- 
nitely until the housewife makes or obtains a light cord 
of cabuya (Agave spp.). When she is ready to begin to 
make a broom, the remaining two to four centimeters of 
petiole are cut from the leaves with a machete, but the 
leaf veins (or fibres) are carefully left coherent at their 
Ficure 1. Method of tying bundles of fibres to the cord. 
The center of each bundle is placed against the near side 
of the cord and the upper half of the previous bundle is 
brought down in front, looped around the cord and 
pulled snug. 
bases and are then pulled apart by hand. Why this is not 
done in one action with the machete is not apparent, for 
separating the fibres by hand takes several seemingly 
unnecessary minutes. Perhaps conserving the tough 
bases of the fibres affords the product a longer life. 
The cord is now stretched tautly across a corner of the 
porch at a height of about three feet. While working in 
a sitting position, the woman finds this a convenient 
height for making the broom. Beginning near one end, 
[ 184 ] 
