1 Sepr., 1899.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 289 
torn in strips can be used for tying up other plants. The Mexicans burn a leaf 
to ashes, put the ashes in a bottle, pour on water, and use the liquid as a 
remedy in flux and its kindred diseases, They say it is a certain cure. 
They are described by the Mexicans as amongst the most useful of plants, 
In Mexico, the fruit is eaten in both the fresh and dry state. The plants grow 
from 2 to 20 feet high, in some places becoming tall trees, the trunk varying in 
diameter from 8 to 20 inches. ‘They abound in fibre, and the stems are charged 
with a saponaceous principle which the Indians make use of in the place of soap 
by simply cutting slices off the stem, beating these into pulp, and mixing this 
with water. The fibres obtained from some are of great leneth, very strong and 
durable, and seem to be well adapted for the various manufactures of the 
Indians of Southern California, who make with them excellent horse blankets, 
while all the tribes living in the country where the plant is found use it to 
make ropes, nets, shoes, and mattresses. “The seeds, which contain a quantity 
of nutritive matter, are ground into flour, and eaten either raw or cooked in the 
form of mush. The young and tender white flower-spikes are eaten raw or 
roasted, and are also used after the manner of asparagus. The root is pounded 
up and used as soap. One Yucca, which is a common garden. plant, contains a 
very soft fibre which is used for padding horse blankets. 
Tn far-away Mexico, there are great tracts of desolate desert lands where 
the very hills seem destitute of life and beauty ; where the earth is shrivelled 
by centuries of terrible heat; and in this desert tract grows a curious, misshapen, 
otesque, and twisted plant that seems more like a goblin tree than a real one. 
Of all the trees in the world, you would imagine this to be the most outeast and 
worthless—so meagre a living does it obtain from the waste of sand and gravel in 
which it grows ; and yet this tree is now being sought after and utilised in one 
of the world’s greater industries—an industry that meets the daily needs of 
civilisation, and is of special importance to all of us. This is the much-despised 
Yucea, which for a long time was considered worthless. But not long ago it 
was discovered that the fibre of this plant could be made into an excellent paper, 
and now one of the great English dailies—the London Telegraph—is printed 
upon paper made from the Yucca. Indeed, the proprietors of the Telegraph have 
purchased a large extent of ground in Arizona, merely for the purpose of 
cultivating this plant, and manufacturing paper from it; ieied it has obtained 
the name of the Telegraph plant. 
Further values of this plant are still being foundout. AnAmerican periodical 
has an advertisement announcing Yucea as a remedy for premature baldness. 
When these plants. get to a great height, I have them cut down close to the 
ground. The tops are putin again; some of the largest stems are put away to dry; 
then these are cut into sections on which to grow orchids, as they are very light 
and fibrous. For this purpose I know of nothing better. Each foot, when dry, 
weighs 1 lb. Others are placed under the soil, and this gives me a quantity of 
young plants. Could not this idea be carried out by orchardists? ‘Bury a 
number of stems in the grass, when the small dagger points would be a surprise 
to trespassers. 
T have now, I believe, given the whole of my little stock of knowledge; and 
will close with one more remark. ‘Thatis: Yuceas are a fine genus of plants, very 
ornamental on banks or outside rockeries or dry places, some of them producing 
magnificent tall spikes of innocent white flowers, They will grow anywhere in 
a warm climate, even in pots or vases. 
Aloifolia variegata is a superbly variegated variety, growing quickly and 
roducing a most symmetrical plant. Its green leaves are striped with yellow. 
t grows to a height of from 8 to 12 feet... The next four best are—Hilamentosa, 
Gloriosa, Quadricolor, and Recurvata. 
In 1875 I extracted fibres from the Yucea by hand, which were exhibited 
in the adjoining colonies, also, I believe, at the Paris Exhibition, by Walter Hill, 
Esq., then Director of the Botanic Gardens, Brisbane, ; 
