33Q 
Cultivation  of  Agaves. 
Am.  .lour.  Pharm. 
July,  1S00. 
and,  placing  the  leaves  in  a  heap  near  the  base  of  the  tree,  proceeds 
to  clean  out  the  fibre. 
"  A  short  block  of  yucca  wood  is  laid  on  the  ground  close  to  the 
tree  and  the  pointed  end  of  a  long  triangular  blade  of  iron,  with  a 
wooden  handle,  is  thrust  into  the  base  of  the  tree  trunk  and  held 
across  the  block  of  yucca  wood.  The  workman  then  strips  the 
edges  from  the  agave  leaves  to  rid  them  of  bordering  spines  and, 
holding  the  butt  in  the  right  hand,  lays  the  leaf  on  the  wooden 
block  and,  pressing  down  the  iron,  draws  the  leaf  through,  thus 
scraping  out  most  of  the  pulpy  matter. 
"  Then  a  small  wooden  grasper,  with  a  knob  at  one  end,  has  the 
free  ends  of  the  fibre  wrapped  about  it  in  a  'half-hitch,'  and,  by 
grasping  this,  the  workman  can  draw  the  leaf  under  the  iron  in  a 
reverse  direction,  thus  cleaning  the  leaf  in  two  motions.  The  fibre 
is  laid  at  full  length  on  the  ground  and  the  process  repeated  until 
the  supply  of  leaves  is  exhausted.  Men  clean  from  10  to  15  pounds 
of  fibre  a  day,  for  which  they  receive  from  2  to  2^  cents  a  pound." 
With  some  agaves  the  leaves  are  put  into  boiling  water  to  wilt 
them,  and  so  render  the  cleaning  of  the  fibre  more  easy,  or  they  are 
cooked  and  allowed  to  stand  in  water  several  days,  when  the  pulpy 
matter  is  removed  by  rubbing  them  with  a  stick.  This  is  some- 
times done  by  drawing  the  leaves  over  iron  spikes  8  or  9  inches 
long,  driven  into  a  block  of  wood. 
The  machines  used  in  some  parts  of  Mexico,  and  especially  in 
Yucatan,  for  the  cleaning  of  the  fibre  are  simply  crude  scraping 
wheels  run  by  steam  or  animal  power. 
BEVERAGES. 
The  beverages  obtained  from  the  agaves  are  of  two  kinds,  fer- 
mented and  distilled.  The  fermented  drink  is  called  "pulque,"  and 
is  universally  used  in  Mexico,  especially  about  the  City  of  Mexico, 
which  city  consumes  over  50,000  pints  of  pulque  a  day,  and  there 
are  eight  or  nine  hundred  "  pulquerias,"  or  "cantinas,"  correspond- 
ing to  our  saloons,  which  sell  nothing  else. 
The  pulque  agaves  are  several  in  number,  and  all  have  broad 
thick  leaves.  They  are  cultivated  throughout  the  mountain  regions 
and  on  the  table-lands,  particularly  on  the  plains  of  Apam,  a  tract 
nearly  1,000  square  miles  in  area,  lying  in  the  States  of  Mexico, 
Putbla  and  Hidalgo,  about  60  miles  from  the  City  of  Mexico. 
