Am/u<iyyi9Poiarn3"}      Products  of  the  Century  Plants.  331 
which  annually  use  large  quantities  of  this  fibre.  Much  of  the 
binding  twine  used  on  harvesting  machines,  to  bind  the  grain  into 
sheaves  as  it  is  cut,  is  made  of  sisal.  Some  of  the  great  establish- 
ments which  make  these  harvesting  machines,  notably  the  great  works 
located  in  Chicago,  have  their  own  twine  mills  employing  hundreds 
of  men  and  women,  and  their  twines  are  sold  in  all  parts  of  the 
world  wherever  modern  agricultural  machinery  is  in  use. 
Manila  hemp  of  the  Philippine  Islands  is  almost  its  only  com- 
petitor in  the  binding  twine  factories.  In  the  cordage  factories 
Manila  hemp,  sisal  hemp,  flax,  common  hemp,  cotton  and  jute  are 
the  fibres  commonly  used.  Sisal  is  preferred  for  certain  uses,  and 
because  of  its  price  and  because  of  special  demand  in  certain  mar- 
kets in  which  it  is  to  be  sold.  For  other  uses  it  is  not  so  good  and 
is  displaced  by  other  fibres. 
All  the  fibre  produced  is  not  exported  from  Mexico,  but  a  very 
large  part  is  retained  for  home-consumption,  being  made  into  a 
great  variety  of  articles  which  are  in  everyday  use  in  all  parts  of 
the  country.  Twines,  ropes,  matting,  bagging,  hammocks,  sandals,1 
harness,  baskets  and  ornaments  are  the  principal  articles  made  in 
Mexico  from  sisal.  '  Rarely  are  any  of  these  articles  sent  to  the 
United  States  except  as  curios. 
Tampico  hemp,  so  named  because  it  is  exported  from  the  port  of 
Tampico  in  the  State  of  Tamaulipas  on  the  Gulf  Coast,  is  a  shorter 
stirTer  fibre  obtained  from  another  species  of  century  plant.  San 
Luis  Potosi  is  the  centre  of  the  district  in  which  this  fibre  is  grown. 
1  "Shoes  in  Mexico  are  a  foreign  innovation,  and  properly  form  no  part  of 
the  national  costume.  The  great  majority  of  the  people  do  not  wear  shoes  at 
all,  and  probably  never  will  ;  but  in  their  place  use  sauaals,  composed  of  a  sole 
of  leather  rawhide,  or  plaited  fibres  of  the  maguey  plant,  fastened  to  the  foot 
with  strings  of  the  same  material,  as  the  only  protection  for  the  foot  needed  in 
their  warm,  dry  climate.  And  these  sandals  are  so  easily  made  and  repaired 
that  every  Mexican  peasant,  no  matter  what  may  be  his  other  occupation,  is 
always  his  own  shoemaker.  As  a  general  rule,  also,  the  infantry  regiments  of 
Mexico  wear  sandals  in  preference  to  shoes  ;  '  not  solely  for  the  sake  of  econ- 
omy, but  because  they  are  considered  healthier,  keep  the  feet  in  better  condi- 
tion, and  are  more  easily  repaired  or  replaced,  and  make  the  marching  easier.' 
Very  curiously  the  pegged  shoes  of  the  United  States  and  other  countries  are 
not  made  and  cannot  be  sold  in  Mexico,  as,  owing  to  the  extreme  dryness  of 
the  atmosphere,  the  wood  shrinks  to  such  a  degree  that  the  pegs  speedily 
become  loose  and  fall  out." — "  A  Study  of  Mexico,"  by  David  A.  Wells.  D. 
Appleton  &  Co.,  New  York,  18S7. 
