DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 



47 



Employed as a substitute for animal bristles aud for the manufacture of cheap brushes ; 

 length, 18 inches to 2 feet. "The best known fiber plant of northern Mexico and 

 southwestern Texas. In extracting the fiber the parenchyma or pith squeezed out 

 (40 per cent of the leaf) is a valuable substitute for soap, possessing remarkable 

 cleaning and detergent qualities." (Dr. V. Havard.) 



Economic considerations. — Until recently there has been considerable doubt as 

 to the identity of the species of Agave from which the istle of commerce is produced. 

 The common name of the plant is lechuguilla (or "lechigilla"), and the writers upon 

 the subject usually refer to it under this name. In the report of 

 the Mexican Boundary Survey the name Agave lecheguilla appears 

 as the botanical designation of a plant producing a coarse fiber 

 employed in the manufacture of cordage and bagging. Specimens 

 of this fiber, and brushes made from it, were sent to the Kew 

 Mus. fourteen years ago by the late Dr. C. C. Parry, formerly 

 botanist of this Department, and from this and other material 

 the identity of the plant, or plants, producing "tampico hemp" 

 has been established. In Appendix XXI, Eeport of the Chief of 

 Ordnance for 1883, there is a report on brush material and the 

 manufacture of brushes, by Capt. A. L. Varney, in which appears" 

 an account of this fiber, with rude figures. This writer, misled 

 by Squier in his work on Tropical Fibers, makes istle the prod- 

 uct of Bromelia sylvestris. He also produces a letter from Hon. J. 

 McLeod Murphy to the Department of Agriculture, who states 

 that the average length of the leaf is 6 feet. This would indicate 

 that Mr. Murphy has also been mistaken in the identity of the 

 plant, and doubtless, likewise, has referred it to Bromelia sylvestris. 

 The confusion is complicated by Spon (Enc, pt. 3, p. 985), who 

 refers it to Nidularium Karatas, "Silk grass," Bromelia sylvestris 

 being cited as an alternative name. Specimens of the plant 

 furnishing the true istle have been examined by the w'riter from 

 different sources in the past two years. The leaves have also been 

 examined at T. Albee Smith's establishment in Baltimore, and they 

 have never averaged over 18 inches in length. Mr. Smith has also 

 produced the fiber in quantity in Mexico and is familiar with the 

 plant. At the same time there is no doubt that several other allied 

 species of Agave (having harsh, bristle-like fiber) are also employed 

 in obtaining the commercial supply of istle. Mr. Smith states, 

 however, that fully 90 per cent of the fiber made in Mexico is from 

 the species represented by the leaves of A. heteracantha. For further 

 accounts, see Fib. Inv. Rept. 5, p. 38; Kew Bull., Dec, 1887, p. 5; 

 Idem, Oct., 1890, p. 220. See also Agave aurea, this catalogue. 



* Specimens. — W. C. E., United States Government exhibit (man- 

 ufactures also shown) ; Mexican exhibit, from various localities; Mus. U. S. Dept. Ag. 



Fig. 11.— A leaf of 

 Agave heteracan- 

 tha. 



Agave mexicana. 



This species is also called the maguey, and is said to be one of the Agaves allied to 

 A. americana which produces the liquor called pulque and the spirit known as mescal. 

 As its fiber bears a close resemblance to that of the century plant, no special mention 

 is necessary, and reference is made to that species. The plant referred to in Rept. 5, 

 Fib. Inv. series, as A. mexicana is A. decipiens. 



Agave morrisii. The Keratto of Jamaica. 



Fiber. — "Fiber of little strength and undesirable; value £12 to £14 per ton; it 

 is not an even fiber." (Ide <f Christie.) 

 Economic considerations. — Has been referred to, in West Indian sisal hemp 



