VEGETABLE SUBSTITUTES FOR SOAP 



ground. Late in the spring, a slender flower stalk 

 puts up and at the height of four or five feet breaks 

 into a widely spreading panicle of white, lily-like 

 but small blossoms, that open a few at a time at 

 evening, shine like stars through the night and 

 wither away the next morning. To the economist 

 the most interesting part of the plant is subter- 

 ranean. This is a bottle-shaiped bulb, rather deep 

 set in the ground, and thickly clad in a coat of 

 coarse, brown fibre. When this fibre is stripped off, 

 a moist heart is disclosed an inch or two in diameter 

 and about twice as long. Crush this, rub it up 

 briskly in water, and a lather results as in the case 

 of Yucca and quite as efficacious for cleansing. In- 

 deed, the absence of alkali — an absence that is ^ 

 characteristic of the amoles — makes the suds es- 

 pecially valuable for washing delicate fabrics. Some 

 users of this California amole prefer first to rub 

 the crushed bulb directly upon the material to be 

 washed, just as one would do with a cake of soap, 

 and then manipulate the article in the clear water. 

 The lather is said to be also useful for removing 

 dandruff. However that may be, it unquestionably 

 makes an excellent shampoo and leaves the hair soft 

 and glossy. The bulbs may be used either fresh or 

 after having been kept dry for months. Our knowl- 



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