62 FOOD FOR THE TROPICS 



The leaves are used as thatch, and the leafstalks for the 

 frame and floor of huts. 



Maguey 



{Agave salmania, or atrovirens) 



Twenty-two species of Maguey are enumerated by Blasquez 

 as yielding " aquamiel," and of this number six produce 

 the finest quality. In Mexico the great district for this 

 plant is the plains of Apam, where there are six hundred 

 square leagues covered with it. 



As soon as the leaves begin to turn yelloAV, a small 

 concave opening is scooped out in the core of the plant 

 by means of a keen-edged knife ; this aperture is gently 

 scraped round, care being taken that no incision be made 

 into the leaves around it, as this would give a bad taste 

 to the juice. This opening produces a sediment called 

 *' raspa," through which the juice (aquamiel) exudes from 

 the grooves of the plant. The juice is extracted by means 

 of a bottle-gourd (the air in which is exhausted by suction), 

 which is thrust into the core of the plant, the aperture 

 at one end being stopped with the finger ; as soon as this 

 is full the contents are emptied into a kind of sheepskin 

 bag. The average quantity yielded by a plant is roughly 

 estimated at 100 arrobas. The Mexicans know the exact 

 time at which the stem or central shoot, destined to produce 

 the flower, is about to appear, and they anticipate it by 

 making an incision and extracting the whole heart or 

 central portion of the stem, leaving nothing but the thick 

 outside rind, thus forming a natural basin about 2 feet deep 



