8 BULLETIN 1278, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
METHODS OF PROPAGATION 
Henequen may be propagated either from the suckers which grow 
from the rootstocks or from the small bulbils, or " pole plants." pro- 
duced on the flower stalk. The relative merit of each of these 
methods is a subject concerning which there has been much con- 
troversy and one that has not been fully investigated. 
Throughout Yucatan a marked prejudice exists against the use of 
bulbils as a means of propagation, and the use of suckers is prac- 
tically universal. The planters have several reasons for preferring 
suckers: (1) Although pole plants are now abundant, in earlier years 
when nearly all the plantations were under intensive cultivation, few 
poles were allowed to mature and the supply of pole plants was very 
limited. Every large plantation, however, had an abundant supply 
of good sucker plants. (2) The pole plants must be grown in a 
nursery for one to two years, and conditions in Yucatan are un- 
favorable for nursery work. (3) It is claimed by the planters that 
the plants grown from bulbils are neither so strong nor so long lived 
as the plants grown from suckers. Results of experimental work 
conducted in other countries indicate that pole plants may give as 
satisfactory results as suckers. In view of existing conditions in 
Yucatan, however, the use of pole plants there can not be recom- 
mended. 
NURSERY PLANTING 
The essential function of the nursery is to provide a place where 
pole plants can be prepared for field planting or where small suckers 
can be planted and grown under more favorable conditions than they 
find in the fields. The advocates of nursery planting claim that it 
will pay even on plantations having an abundant supply of sucker 
plants. On the other hand, planters who do not favor nurseries state 
that field-grown suckers give just as satisfactory results as the 
nursery-grown plants and that the maintenance of a nursery is a 
needless expense. In actual practice there is very little nursery 
planting in Yucatan at the present time, whereas nurseries were 
formerly in general use. 
The soil and climatic conditions are such that the establishment 
and maintenance of a nursery entails a relatively large expenditure. 
There are few locations in the henequen area where there is sufficient 
good soil for nursery work. In preparing for nursery planting it 
therefore becomes necessary to move soil from one place to another. 
In the nursery work it has heretofore been customary to use a 
mixture of henequen waste together with one and frequently with 
two or three different kinds of soil. In addition to this soil work, 
frequent watering of the nursery beds is necessary in this dry climate. 
With the present labor conditions it is doubtful whether nursery 
planting is advisable on plantations having an abundant supply of 
good sucker plants. 
FIELD PLANTING 
Field planting is ordinarily done shortly before the beginning of 
the rainy season. The suckers that are to be used for new plantings 
are gathered from the fields already planted, an effort being made 
to obtain strong, healthy plants that are about 18 inches in height. 
Very little attention is given to the selection of propagating stock 
