420 On the Commerce of Mexico. 
all the leaves but three have been cut off, the plants are 
spread out on the ground for two or three months, in order 
that they may partially dry, for if the maguey be planted 
too moist it rots, and a destructive worm, called a “ chilo- 
cuile,” is often generated in it. The young plants are 
afterwards planted out at little distances apart, and in rows; 
barley, which is believed rather to favour their growth, 
being very commonly sown between them. The forma- 
tion of the leaves of the plant is admirably well adapted 
for supporting all meteorological variation; a hailstorm, 
which would suffice for the destruction of the maize or corn 
crop, scarcely leaves a trace of its passage upon their hard 
tissue ; rain falls off from them, sun does not parch them, 
neither does frost dry them up, or cause them to wither ; 
and the plant would appear, as it were, to secure just so 
much of the various elements of the atmosphere around it 
as is necessary for its nurture and development, and to 
cast off the rest. It is only towards the close of its life 
that it begins to exhibit symptoms of being affected by 
the influence of the different seasons, yielding less juice in 
cold, rainy, or tempestuous weather. In a good soil, the 
maguey plant requires a period of from ten to twelve years 
for attaining maturity, but at least fifteen years in soils of 
inferior quality; and thus the capital which it represents, 
although eventually yielding so high a return, remains un- 
productive for a lengthened period. The plant upon at- 
taining its full growth, which is easily discernible by its 
height, and the prodigious extension of its leaves, brings 
forth a tall stem crowned with yellow flowers, and then a 
certain amount of pruning becomes necessary so as to form 
a kind of reservoir in the centre; and what is technically 
termed a “cara” or “face” around it, so as to caliseyiae 
juice to flow towards the same spot, and to facilitate the 
extraction of it by removing some of the interior leaves 
and thorns. | 
The belief in the efficacy of the medicinal properties of 
the plant is universal among the Mexican peasantry, to 
whom it has been handed down from times of remote an- 
tiquity ; thus, the juice of the leaf, is said to be a specific 
for bruises and contusions; the gum which is engendered 
in the lower part of the stem to cure the toothache, whilst 
various experiments upon the curative properties of the 
plant, under different forms, have been made by members 
of the medical profession in Mexico, with satisfactory re- 
sults. 
