130 



flower earlier than it does. It is chiefly re- 

 markable for the height to which the stem 

 shoots up when it blooms, from twenty to thirty 

 feet. Cortusus is said to be the first Euro- 

 pean who possessed this plant, in 1561. It 

 flowered in England about the year 1698, and 

 now scarcely a summer passes without one 

 flowering in some of the nurseries about Lon- 

 don. In the course of the year 1805, one of 

 the striped-leaved, (said to be the first which 

 ever flowered in England of that variety) was ex- 

 hibited by Mr. Smith of Dalston. 



In Spain and Portugal, there are hedges of 

 the great Agave. The leaves are said to an- 

 swer all the purposes of soap, and are also 

 good for the scowering of pewter, and other 

 utensils: the inward spongy substance of the 

 dried stalks may be used for tinder ; and the 

 fibres of the leaves, when washed and dried and 

 beaten, will make a strong thread for common 

 purposes. 



A more full description of this beautiful and 

 useful plant, is given in my Anecdotes of Re- 

 markable Trees, page 187. 



