re 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[July 2, 1888. 
this Machine, sufficient com could be grown and 
dried in the island for all our needs without having 
to import any. 
Pimento.— The preliminary drying might well be 
done in the Machine, and it would probably much 
improve its appearance. It would be generally ad- 
vantageous if those who have tried the Machine 
with the curing of Cacao or in any other way would 
communicate with the Director, Cinchona, Gordon 
Town P. 0. 

COTTON SPINNING IN TRAVANCORE. 
[A correspondent sends us the following extract 
as of special local interest at this time. — Ed. 0. 0.] 
A correspondent of the Textile Recorder writes : 
Cotton spinning, under proper management, would 
appear to be a profitable business in Travancore ; 
and indeed, with money at a very low rate of interest 
from Government, land cheap, taxes light, fuel for 
cutting and carriage, and the cheapest of labour 
markets there seems no good reason why it should 
not be very profitable, especially when cotton does not 
need to be brought much more than about 100 
miles, and when all the twist spun can be easily 
Bold in the local markets and bazaars. The Darragh 
Spinning Mill, which was started about three years ago 
with 11,000 spindles, and is now being increased 
to 18,000 spindles, is, it is understood, to be in- 
creased to its full complement of 25,000 spindles. 
The machinery, mostly by Howard and Bullough, 
a<nd other well-known makers, would appear to wear 
well, and the only difficulty in spinning seems to have 
arisen from the fact that the South Sea cotton intro- 
duced into Travancore, is far too good to mix with 
ordinary Indian cotton, being itself fit to spin up to 
200's while the ordinary cotton is best adapted for 
about 40's. It would thus appear only to need extensive 
cultivation of the imported South Sea cotton to 
enable the finest muslins to be produced. Honesty 
would appear also to be, if not the best, at any rate, 
a profitable policy, and manufacturers at home might 
learn a lesson from the experience of an Indian 
manufacturer. The native weavers, at first, had 
their doubts about the twist spun, probably both as 
regards its quality and also its quantity, but a 
steady perseverance in simple honest statements 
and marks as to both very soon resulted in a ready 
sale, and the consequence, as reported, is the local 
sale of all the twist spun. I am not sure as to 
the cause or causes of it, but of the fact there can be 
no doubt, that a native who wishes to buy a cloth 
that will wear, prefers to buy a native woven one 
but if he wishes a cheap cloth he will get one of 
English make. I have wondered whether the sizing 
has anything to do with it. I have seen the natives 
with a web at least 200 yards long, stretched out 
in the open air, and the sizers carefully going over 
the web with soft brushes and simple rice water 
(and have thought of the 200 per cent of size a home 
manufacturer told me he was able to put in). 
Whether it is in the sizing ' or weaving, or 
quality of the material, or all three, one thing is 
plain, that a careful study of the local needs as to 
quality, kind, and price, would result in a larger 
consumption of English-made goods. Iam sending 
you a native (blue) cloth, made from yarn, spun in 
the Darragh Spinning Mill, but woven by the native 
weavers and coloured an aesthetic shade of blue, 
which I bought in the bazaar, from a native 
hawker, for six chuckrams, about 3§d; which will 
give you an idea of the kind of cloth worn and 
preferred by many of the natives of thij part of 
India. The blue is not and is not intended to be a 
fast colour, but I think the shade of blue, and the 
same is the case with yellow cloths, could not be 
more tastefully done at home. I send you also a 
native calico hand-printed cloth. You will see that 
the calico is English make ; but the whole of the 
work on it is done by hand, by the native dyers 
here. I paid one and a half rupee for the cloth 
(about 2s 3d), but this is probably much more than 
its value, as " Sahib " bought it. The whole of the 
printing work is done by hand, even blocks are not 
used, nor stencils, just a patient painting or tracing 
out of the pattern. The colours are fast and will 
only look better for washing ; and the black, 
chocolate, brown, and blue will show what the 
native dyer can do. Sometime I hope to send you 
details of the process and materials used, hut this 
time I can only send the results, as shown in the 
cloth. 
♦ 
PULQUE: ITS SOURCE AND MANUFACTURE. 
The question recently asked in the House of Com- 
mons by Dr. Cameron, of the Secretary to the Trea- 
sury, regarding the decision of the Commissioners of 
Inland Revenue to impose a licence on an importer 
of Mexican pulque in Edinburgh, has raised some 
interest as to the origin and nature of the spirit in 
question. The following notes on the subject may 
therefore be of interest. 
Pulque is the national drink of the Mexican people, 
and is obtained from the American aloe (Agave anteri- 
cana), a plant which is much cultivated in green- 
houses in this country. It is known in Mexico as 
the " Maguey," or " tree of wonders," and is con- 
sidered, in its numerous varieties, as one of the most 
important productions of the Mexican soil. 
The best account of the Agave americana and its 
uses was given in a report by Her Majesty's Secretary 
of Legation on the commerce of Mexico in 1865, 
from which the following notes are taken. Pulque, 
it seems, was well known to the ancient inhabitants of 
the Mexican continent, from the fabulous traditions con- 
nected with it, and which were collected by the mis- 
sionaries who came to the country iu the early days of 
the Spanish occupation. One of these is the destruc- 
tion of a race of giants indigenous to the valleys of 
Atoqac and Matlacueqe, and of cruel propensities, 
by more civilised races who had come to settle there, 
the former having fallen asleep from the somnifer- 
ous effects of the juice of the maguey, whilst the 
discovery of the juice itself, whether under its ancient 
denomination of " Metl," "aguamiel" (honey-water), 
or "pulque," was attributed, by a portion of the 
ancient inhabitants of Mexico, to the god Izquitecatl, 
as would appear from various symbolical inscriptions 
found in the country. More modern tradition, how- 
ever, has fixed the epoch of its discovery to about 
the years 1045 to 1050, under the reign of the eighth 
king of the Taltec tribe, named Tepaucaltzin, at whose 
court a relation of his named Pepautzin presented 
himself and informed him that his daughter had dis- 
covered that a sweet and aromatic liquid sprang from 
the metl plants in her garden. The king ordered her 
into his presence, and she brought him a " tecometl," 
or vase, of the liquid she had discovered, which he 
tasted and then ordered her to hring him more, and 
subsequently becoming enamoured of the maiden — 
whose beauty was great, and whose name was Xochil, 
or flower — he married her, of which union a child 
was born, to whom was given the name of Meconetzin, 
or " Son of the Metl," or maguey, in allusion to the 
circumstance which was the origin of his parents' first 
interview. 
Whether the discovery of the use of the juice of the 
maguey| is rtally to be attributed to the god Izquitecatl, 
or to the Queen Xochil, there is no doubt that the 
various properties of the plant itself were known 
many years before the discovery of Mexico by the 
Spaniards, for, not only is it mentioned as furnishing 
thorny scourges, as well as whips, made of the fibres 
of the plant's leaves for the multitudes who annually 
met to celebrate a festival in honour of the god Tex 
