44 USEFUL FIBER PLANTS OF THE WORLD. 



"The plant requires about three years to come to perfection, but it is exceedingly 

 hardy, easy of propagation, very prolific, and grows in arid wastes where scarcely 

 any other plant can live. It perishes after inflorescence, and then sends up numer- 

 ous shoots. In Mexico 5,000 to 6,000 plants may be found on an acre. The aver- 

 age number of leaves is 40, each measuring 8 to 10 feet long and 1 foot wide, and 

 yielding 6 to 10 per cent by weight of fiber. The culture of the plant is being 

 extended in America, but not in the proportion which its value deserves. In India 

 it is all but neglected.'' (Spon.) 



A. americana is not found in Florida, save in conservatories or gardens, though 

 an allied form was met with at various localities. Some magnificent cultivated 

 examples were observed iu Fernandina, and others were noticed in St. Augustine, 

 their leaves so large and fleshy that no ordinary machine could work them without 

 first eutting them into strips. Though the plants come to maturity in three years, 

 they do not flower before eight, and sometimes not before twenty years. 



Utility. — Twines and rope; fishing lines, nets, and hammocks; imitation horse- 

 hair cloth, and other coarse fabrics; Fayal lace, and paper. For further details refer 

 to Rept. U. S. Dept. Ag., 1879, p. 545; Fib. Inv. Rept. 5, p. 34; Kew Bull., 1889, p. 

 301; Die. Ec. Prod. Ind., Vol. I, p. 134; Spon Enc, pt. 3, p. 912. 



* Specimens. — W. C. E., United States Government exhibit; from Mexico, Costa 

 Rica, and India; U. S. Nat. Mus. ; Field Col. Mus. ; Mus. U. S. Dept. Ag. 



Agave aurea. 



Lower California and Sonora, Mexico. Recently described by Brandegee. The 

 plant is recognized by the natives as a form of lechuguilla; wild, and cultivated in 

 gardens. 



Specimens of the leaves of this plant were recently received by the Department 

 from Louis F. Kwiat Kowski, of Los Angeles, Cal., who states that the native name 

 of the plant is lechuguilla mescal. "There is also a lechuguilla maguey, and a lechu- 

 guilla blanca. It is claimed that lechuguilla blanca gives the best mescal, while 

 lechuguilla maguey is the most cultivated for the purpose." One of the largest leaves 

 sent weighed, when freshly cut, 2^ pounds. Its length was about 20 inches not 

 including spine, and its greatest width fully 6 inches. 



Structural Fiber. — This correspondent evidently confuses A. aurea with A . hetera- 

 cantha, the lechuguilla which supplies the major part of the tampico or istie fiber 

 of commerce. He says: "The lechuguilla mescal, leaves of which I send the Depart- 

 ment, gives the istle fiber." In the mail with these specimens a leaf of the same 

 species was received from T. Albee Smith, of Baltimore, and probably received by 

 him from the above source, as the leaves are identical. Mr. Smith, who is thoroughly 

 familiar with the commercial liber Agaves of Mexico, says: "I send you a sample 

 leaf and fiber of an Agave I received last Friday from Lower California. They axe 

 the first I have ever seen, of the size and description, with such fiber. I have seen a 

 great many Agave plants having leaves of about this size, but the fiber was worth- 

 less and obtained in very small quantities. My correspondent writes that he has sev- 

 eral million plants that are now available, and he proposes to extract the fiber on a 

 large scale; he has forwarded samples to dealers with good results. I have also for- 

 warded several samples that he has sent me and have received good reports there- 

 from, but I was under the impression that the samples sent me came from the regular 

 lechuguilla until I received the sample leaf." 



This species is an interesting addition to our list of fiber plants that may be employed 

 commercially. The liber compares well with tampico of commerce, and as the leaf 

 is several times larger it can be more economically extracted. Its cultivation would 

 mean a new and profitable industry, as the tampico of commerce is secured only from 

 wild plants. See Agave heieracanlha. 



* Specimens. — Leaves and libers, Mus. U. S. Dept. Ag. ; U. S. Nat. Herb. 



