USEFUL, NATIVE PLANTS OF NEW MEXICO STANDLEY. 455 



to reach maturity. Each plant flowers but once, the leaves wither- 

 ing as soon as seed is matured. About each dead plant is usually left 

 a colony of young ones formed from suckers, by which the plant is 

 propagated. The true mescal plant, a native of Mexico, the source 

 of pulque, mescal, tequila, and other drinks, is not rare in cultivation 

 in southern New Mexico, but is not indigenous. 



The native Agaves furnished one of the most important items in 

 the diet of the Apaches and other Indian tribes, who used them for 

 making what is known as mescal. It is from the manufacture of this 

 article that the Mescalero Apaches, whose reservation lies in the 

 White and Sacramento Mountains, receive their name. 



There are two substances to which the term mescal is applied. It 

 is more generally used to define an intoxicating beverage distilled 

 from the fermented juice of* the Agave. Tins drink is consumed in 

 every part of Mexico, but is probably not manufactured to-day in the 

 United States. After the coming of the Spaniards the natives of the 

 Southwest learned to distill the alcoholic drink and it is not impossible 

 that they had even developed the process independently. This, how- 

 ever, is not the mescal to which the Mescalero Apaches owe their 

 designation. 



The Apaches, like others of the southwestern Indians, were wont 

 at certain times of the year to visit the localities where the century 

 plants were most numerous. The favorite season was in early sum- 

 mer when the flower stalks were just starting, but the plants could 

 be used at any time. Pits 10 or 15 feet across and about 3 feet deep 

 were dug and lined with stones, then filled with wood which was fired 

 and kept burning until they were thoroughly heated. The fire was 

 then raked out and the pits filled with the succulent Agave leaves. 

 After being covered with grass or weeds the pits were left for some 

 time, usually about three days, when they were opened and the thor- 

 oughly cooked leaves (mescal) were taken out and eaten. The leaves 

 thus cooked contain much sugar and have an agreeable sweet taste. 

 They consist so largely of fiber that they are unfit to be eaten as a 

 whole, but must be chewed until the digestible part is removed, the 

 fiber being then ejected. Large amounts of mescal were prepared 

 after this method and either eaten at once or partly dried and stored 

 for later consumption. Mescal pits are of common occurrence in 

 New Mexico wherever the Agave grows (pi. 6, B). The Mescaleros 

 still prepare this food, but not such stores as in earlier days. In the 

 markets of Mexico the same article is everywhere offered for sale. 

 The leaves of the species used there are larger and furnish a greater 

 amount of nutritious matter than the northern kinds. 



Another desert plant, more closely related to the Yuccas than to 

 the Agaves, is the sotol (Dasylirion wTieeleri, pi. 11), which was utilized 

 by the Indians in much the same way as the century plant. Of this 



