-3- 



Re gar ding Yucca, I repeat that up here T have Yucc a cuntlieul&frl 10 - 11 

 feet high with 22 - 33 inch stem circuraference, which have leaves of over 

 a yard length (3-3 1/2 feet). I got them from Squaw creek about 10 miles 

 west of here* On my farm Comanchespring at the head of Salado creek (Bexar 

 Co.) I have 8-10 foot high Yuccas, with 22 - 2^ inch stem circumference, 

 whose leaves at the most are 1 1/2 feet long or shorter, and the fruit s are 

 smaller than those up here, also not as fleshy. To determine if they are 

 two different varieties, I am far too little of a botanist. The leaves have 

 the same stiff tips and probably also the same grooved form. 



Regarding the "stem" of Yucca angustifolia I do not mean the flower stalk, 

 but the stem under the leaf-crown. My brother-in-law maintains, he has just 

 recently found such a Yucca with stem of h - 5 feet height and even more, on 

 the Devils river and James river (tributaries of Llano river), and wants to 

 bring it in. I myself have seen stems of 1 - h feet, but am in doubt if all 

 of these Yucca forms, with the narrow leaves and many or few downward hanging 

 fibres, belong to one and the same kind of Y, angustifolia . They all yield 

 Amole. But its roots go so deep and most often in such hard, stony ground, 

 that on a quick trip through on horseback or in a buggy, one usua^ly does not 

 have a pick-axe or other tool along to dig it out, and workers who are sent 

 out usually chop off the root in Order to shorten the work. On Y t tortifolia 

 I have never observed even a small stem* This and Y. canaliculata yield no 

 Amole. The roots of both can be pounded a^ much as you will, they yield no 

 foam and cannot be used as soap-substitute. On the Texas side on the Rio Grande 

 and in the vicinity of El Paso, Amole is trotten also from varieties of Agave 

 and sold as soap. 



In answer to you question : In our vicinity up here no Agave grows wild. 

 On the other hand, several plants were brought to me shortly from Nueces, 

 which I would like to consider as Agaves, even though it is a completely 

 different form from A. americana and M. mexicana . A t amerncana also grows 

 wild on the Nueces. The new plants suffered somewhat because, as it appears 

 that from Nueces to here they were transported on an open horse-wagon, without 

 any covering of moist moss or earth. They have serrated leaves but the teeth 

 are small and come off when the leaves become wilted or dry. I am trying now 

 to refresh them through watering and, as soon as they are in good condition I 

 will send you one or several specimens. 



