AN AMERICAN GIRL IN MEXICO 



Photo by Shirley C. Hulse 



Peggy loved to jump "Rosey" over anything in the way of ditches or arroyos that he could 



be made to tackle 



public. The fiber is soft, pliable, and 

 strong and is much used for cordage, 

 matting, bags, etc. Some of the fiber is 

 manufactured locally, but the most of it 

 finds a market in New York and other 

 foreign ports. 



The fiber is stripped from the leaves 

 of the plants by hand. The leaves are 

 long and narrow and the fibers extend 

 from end to end. A workman seizes a 

 leaf, lays it across a block of wood under 

 a heavy dull knife, which is pressed upon 

 the leaf as it is drawn through, and thus 

 parts the fiber from the pulpy tissue. 

 The leaves of the palma must be softened 

 by steaming before they are stripped, but 

 those of the lechuguilla may be cleaned 

 at once. It is a common sight to see 

 great cartloads of this pale yellow fiber 

 drawn into Cedros, where it is weighed 

 out and the men paid according to the 

 amount produced. 



The articles made from these fibers 

 are strong, firm, and compact, though 

 somewhat coarse and rough. They are 

 such articles as one sees everywhere in 

 Mexico — articles very well adapted to the 

 purpose for which they are intended. A 

 kind of heavy matting, much used for 

 floor covering in offices and similar 

 places, serves its purpose well. Besides 

 these articles, the fiber is used in the 

 manufacture of various kinds of cord- 

 age, and much of it finds its way into 

 brushes, of which a great variety may be 

 found, both of home and of foreign 

 manufacture. 



THE ROPE-WALK 



In one of the long buildings at Cedros 

 is an old rope-walk. Here a part of the 

 fiber of local extraction is manufactured. 

 The machinery consists of three wooden 

 posts, in which are set small wooden 



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