AMERICAN ALOE. 



595 



hient of winter, when the plants may either be 

 protected in their situations from the frost by 

 plenty of litter or mats; or they may be removed 

 into pots, and placed under cover. It is even 

 found that if the plants are taken up, cleared of 

 their stalks and fibrous roots, the wounds made 

 in doing this healed by exposure in a dry place; 

 and afterwards the roots deposited in layers in a 

 mass of sand, and then placed in a cellar, or 

 otherwise excluded from frost, they will retain 

 their vegetative power through the winter, and 

 grow vigorously when replanted in the open air 

 in spring. Or, according to another method, 

 a stock of rooted cuttings may be thickly planted 

 in pots, and preserved in the house during the 

 winter, and in spring planted out separately. 



American Alok* ("agave Americana). Natural 

 family bromeliacece ; hexandria, monogynia, of 

 Linnaeus. This is a celebrated and splendid 

 plant, a native of South America. It is a suc- 

 culent plant, without stem, the leaves being 

 radical, spiny, and toothed. The flower rises 

 to several feet in height, bearing a number of 

 large and splendid flowers. There is a variety 

 with striped foliage, and occasionally these stripes 

 are of different shades, of white, yellow, and 

 red. It has been completely acclimated in Sicily, 

 Calabria, Spain, Portugal, and the West India 

 islands, where it grows wild in abundance, form- 

 ing hedges. It is also much used in France, 

 Germany, and Britain, grown in vases to adorn 

 apartments, or the conservatory. It was at one 

 time a prevailing idea, that this plant only 

 flowered once in a hundred j'ears; this is now 

 found to be a popular error. In cold climates, 

 and with ordinary culture, there are certainly 

 long intervals between the times of its inflor- 

 escence; but when it obtains sufficient heat, and 

 receives a culture similar to that of the pine 

 apple, it is found to flower much more frequently. 

 In Jamaica, the leaves have been used as a sub- 

 stitute for soap. For this purpose they are cut 

 off and passed through the rollers of a mill, with 

 their points foremost. The juice which flows 

 out is conducted into wide shallow receivers, 

 through a coarse cloth or strainer, and is then 

 exposed to the sun till the watery part is eva- 

 porated, and the remainder is reduced to a thick 

 consistence. It is then made up into balls with 

 wood ash ley; and in this state will lather with 

 salt water as well as with fresh. A soap may 

 also be prepared by pounding the leaves in a 

 wooden mortar, and then expressing the juice, 

 which is then to be evaporated to a proper con- 

 sistence in the sun, or by boiling. One gallon 

 of juice thus prepared, will yield about one 

 pound of a soft extract. The juice in both these 

 ways, must be carefully strained; and the extract 

 must never be combined with tallow, or other 



* See rkite XII. 



greasy materials. The leaves are also used for 

 scouring pewter, and other kitchen utensils, and 

 floors. The inward spongy substance of the 

 decayed stalk is employed as tinder. The fibres 

 of the leaves, separated by bruising and macer- 

 ating in water, and afterwards beating them, 

 may be spun into a strong, useful thread. There 

 are several species of the agave, all of which 

 very closely resemble each other. 



Adam's Needle (yucca).* Natural family, 

 liliace(B ; hexandria, mmiogynia, of Linnasus. 

 There are several species of this genus, all re- 

 markable for the splendour of their flowers; the 

 most majestic are the j/. gloriosa, superba, and 

 angusUfolia. In general appearance, the plants 

 resemble the aloe tribe. The gloriosa, when in 

 blossom, presents a flower stalk from six to eight 

 feet in height, and covered with hundreds of 

 large white depending flowers, which blow in 

 succession, affording one of the most splendid 

 examples of an ornamental plant that can be 

 conceived. They are natives of America, and 

 have been acclimated to this country. They 

 grow slowly, however, in the open air, and do 

 not flower often. They are, however, of easy 

 culture in the conservatory, and are propagated 

 by new shoots, which spring up from the root. 

 Gloriosa (Superba and Simplex). These 

 plants are so named from the splendour of the 

 flower. They belong to the same natural family 

 as the yucca, and are natives of the East Indies. 

 They require great management in order to 

 flower freely. According to Sweet, when the 

 stalks and foliage have decayed in the autumn, 

 and left the tuberous root like a well ripened 

 potato in a dormant state, the pot containing it 

 must be removed from the hot-bed to a dry 

 situation, at some distance from the fire; all the 

 warmth at this time necessary being merely 

 what is sufficient to keep the earth in the pot 

 free from damp, and to prevent the waterings of 

 the house or other moisture, from falling on the 

 earth in the pot; it should be covered by invert- 

 ing upon it another pot of the same size, or if 

 larger, it will hang over its edges, and more 

 effectually exclude the wet. If the roots are 

 small, two or three may be placed together in 

 the same pot, whilst in their dormant state; but 

 if they are thus shifted, the mould must be well 

 shaken down in the pot, in order to prevent the 

 access of air to them. The old mould in which 

 they grew, must also be used; for fresh earth or 

 sand, would stimulate them to move too early. 

 About the second week in March the roots must 

 be replanted, putting one or two, according to 

 their size, into pots measuring six inches over. 

 The best compost for them is fresh loam, mixed 

 with an equal quantity of peat mould, of good 

 quality. The roots are to be covered about two 



* Sec Plate XII. 



