Mexican Textile Plants.

Manawatu Herald, 15 October 1892, Page 2

Mexican Textile Plants.

(Continued). „. THI| MAGIJEBZ MANSO. In the DistrioV °of (7 Md*ivMi State of Jalioo,' tfcer* i* ? .prodiped maguey from which exoeilenYbra^|y is made ; as goofl if not superior- *tt) Jamaioarum. and fs;fciowa'''by Ol rae name of tequila: - '^ '■•' V' { The maguey is this moit ntueftg plant ' in the ■ country, /■.takuoig ijfcfce | place in Mexioo that the oofibftff&lft does in the South Sea Islands Flfcra the iridgiiey manso brandy is rnmtb factored of a strength ngiAtcftiSQi && grees. From sweetened water and old pulque the beib' vinegar isymttcfc) The thick roots are; used by tht natives in place , of soap., Frona . jihe baso of the small, and rpu^li. &*ves are made scrubbing brushes. ] Pifom its leal fibre they maker twi^ie and thread and paper, all of " which are very strong,' The sh^rp, leaf tips make needles for the poorer 1 dfit'sfr, while the entire leaves, serve to thatch the huts, of the poor. Dry pieces of the leaves are e£o#Jent for sharpening knives. From the fine fibres cloth can be- made. ! ' The heart of the plant slightly cooked is quite palatable. Haiti' boiled' ifr pulque is as savory as when cooked in wine. But to name all its properties in domestic economy and medicine would be a special work Besides the many properties the maguey plant has while alive, when destroyed it is used for firewood alia 1 even its ashes used as a medicament. With great justice Father Acosta called the maguey " lajtlanta d* Jaa . maraviltis "--" the marvel plant." { .« There are maguey plantation* whwh produce a revenue of, . $JP,Ow to $12,000 a' year. The f ;uffy'jof Mexioo oonivunes over hundred and fifty thousand pints of "pulque a day, and there are in the city eight hundred or nine hundred shops I which sell nothing else. The *

■■■* If exican -Bail way has one train which each day leaves the plains ot Apam carrying nothing but pulque, the freight on. which amounts to $1,000 a day. This plp.iifc, already referred to as thejpoutce of pulque, produces a fibre whicji has received the name of ixtle an 4' which serves for the manufacture of ropes and coarse canvas. '(This fibre, as well as that taken from the leaves of the same plant employed in the manufacture of paper, „ .gives a product of remarkable -fine- • ness and solidity, and all attempts at manufacture which have been tried with ixtle have succeeded most admirably, and it appears astonishthat they ha,ve not been followed by a firmer and more systematic development.