No. 15Vft. 



THE PULQUE OF MEXICO— HOUGH. 



581 



indications — the maculation appearing a year or more before the 

 plant is read}^ to bloom. The workman, having selected the matur- 

 ing plants, performs upon them the operation of cci'par. He attacks 

 the chevaux-de-frise of the great agave by cutting the outer leaves 

 with a pointed knife or a ma- 

 chete, taking out long slices 

 and bending them over and 

 away. One leaf near the 

 ground he truncates, leaving 

 the stump for a step, and he 

 clears off the spines where 

 they are in the way. ^Mien 

 the cone of close- folded 

 leaves in the 

 center is un- 

 m asked, ho 

 drives in h i s 

 knife at the 

 base a n d 

 strips off the 

 n e w w li i t e 

 leaves , por- 

 tions of which 

 ho impales on 

 the adjoining 



terminal thorns to act as handera, or indicators. The 

 plant is now left for a year, when a cavity is scooped 

 out in its heart for the collection of saj). Descriptions 

 of this operation usually fail to mention the year of in- 

 cubation following CO par, and give the impression that 

 the collection of sap is begun at once. (Fig. 4.) 



The dexterity of the workmen in preparing the plants 

 with the aid of a medium size knife is remarkable. In 

 Durango a stout oak palanca, or lever (see fig. 2), 54 

 inches long, is used to pry away the leaves in order to 

 get at the heart of the plant, and the machete (see fig. 

 5) is used to cut the leaves. The lever probably points 

 to a period before the introduction of the iron machete 



Fig. 5.— Machete. c 



Handle OF HORN (such an implement being necessary to manage the 

 RIVETED TO IRON f^iHy-armed plant) . Generallv, the old leaves standing 



blade. '^ 1- ' . ' 1 1 IL 



against the prevailing wind are left untouched, to fur- 

 nish a screen against the dust which might otherwise blow into the 

 cavity when the sap collects. Two or three hours after the cavity 

 has been prepared, it fills up with a clear sweet liquid having some- 

 what the taste of milk from a young cocoanut. This fluid is called 



•(.—Large agave plant prepared for init 

 TioN. Near City ok Mexico. 



