Alguacil

“ Pulque is the fermented juice of the agave, or so-called century plant, which matures in from five to fifteen years, instead of one hundred as generally believed. It grows wild here, but large plantations of it are cultivated. ”

“ The seed which most interests us and is very common, is about the size of an olive, round and convex on one side, angulose and flattened on the other by being compressed with many others within the fruit which contains 50 of them. ”

“ The Agave, called by the natives Maguey, is certainly an extraordinary instance of succulency, and an unrivalled acquisition to a thirsty population. A single plant of the Agave has been known to supply one hundred and fifty gallons of this sap. In good land it grows to an enormous size, the centre stem often thirty feet high, and twelve or fifteen inches in diameter at the bottom. When the plant is in flower, which occurs from seven to fifteen years old, the centre stem is cut off at the bottom, and the juice is collected. ”

“ If the flower-stem is removed as it makes its appearance, the plants will put forth fresh sprouts from the sides of the root, and survive three years; but when allowed to blossom, and to perfect their seeds, the plants soon after perish.
Use.—Angelica was formerly used, after being blanched, as a salad, like Celery. In the vicinity of London, it is raised to a considerable extent for confectioners,—the tender leaf-stalks and flowering-shoots serving as a basis for sweetmeat. The seeds are sometimes employed for flavoring liquors. ”

“ Persea gratissima.—The avocado or alligator pear, a common tree in the West Indies. The fruits are pear-shaped, covered with a brownish-green or purple skin. They are highly esteemed where grown, but strangers do not relish them. They contain a large quantity of firm pulp, possessing a buttery or marrow-like taste, and are frequently called vegetable marrow. They are usually eaten with spice, lime-juice, pepper, and salt. An abundance of oil, for burning and for soap-making, may be obtained from the pulp. ”

“ Look at the marvellous giant leaves of the juicy maguey, or agave, as long as a man, and see the peon insert his siphon to the heart of the plant to draw forth its sap, which he blows into the goatskin on his back, and from which he will presently make his pulque. ”

“ The Variegated American agave is a noble conservatory and terrace plant. A. applanata, A. horrrida, A. filifera, A. ensiformis, and A. schidigera are distinct and fine. Agaves are usually starved out of character owing to the prevailing notion that they can live on sunshine alone. Of light indeed they must have plenty, but they must also have a good body of soil to root in, and during the growing season plenty of water. A mixture consisting of turfy loam three parts, and one part each of sharp grit and leaf mould will suit them all, and the drainage must be perfect. ”

“ These stems, when candied, are sold as a favourite sweetmeat. They are grateful to the feeble stomach, and will relieve flatulence promptly. The roots of the garden Angelica contain plentifully a peculiar resin called "angelicin," which is stimulating to the lungs, and to the skin: they smell pleasantly of musk, being an excellent tonic and carminative. An infusion of the plant may be made by pouring a pint of boiling water on an ounce of the bruised root, and two tablespoonfuls [24] of this should be given three or four times in the day ”

“ When used for this purpose the pocket from which the seed was removed is usually filled with broken ice, over which is poured a dressing of salt, vinegar and mustard or pepper, as fancy may happen to dictate. When filled with small cubes of sugar loaf pineapple and mayonnaise dressing, you have a “salad divine.” When taken this way, the aguacate is cut in half, the shell-like covering forming the bowl from which it is eaten. Owing to its content of oil, and other nutritious elements, the aguacate will probably go further towards sustaining life and producing energy than any other fruit known. ”

“ The species and varieties of the agaves or henequen and pulque plants are not clearly distinguished; but two types are tolerably distinct. Agave Americana, or maguey, is cultivated in Mexico for the juice which when fermented is called pulque. The plant after some years of growth in a stemless condition throws up a stem very [356] rapidly to a height of forty feet, or even more. The Mexican cultivator, however, nips this stem before it has attained two feet; and scooping a large hollow in the cut stump, waits for the sap to collect. ”

“ There is not a fragment in all nature, for every relative fragment of one thing is a full harmonious unit in itself. All together form the one grand palimpsest of the world.
One of the most common plants of my pasture was the agave. It is sometimes used for fencing. One day, in looking back from the top of the Morro Hill, as I was returning to the Island Belle, I chanced to observe two poplar-like trees about twenty-five feet in height. They were growing in a dense patch of cactus and vine-knotted sunflowers. ”

“ Cal answered, speaking slowly after his habit, “the thing is thoroughly impregnated with the flavor and odor of the allium sativum, and I was just revolving—”
“What’s that, Cal?” asked Larry, interrupting.
“What’s what?”
“Why, allium something or other—the thing you mentioned.”
“Oh, you mean allium sativum? Why, that is [45] the botanical name of the cultivated garlic plant, you ignoramus.”
“Well, how did you come to know that? You never studied botany.” ”

“ Linnæus, not realizing that all the agaves are American, gave it the specific name of Agave americana. Now there are more than a hundred species on horticulturists' catalogues, but many of these are only varieties. The uses to which these plants are found applicable are constantly increasing. In the United States and Europe they are only garden ornaments. In Mexico they hold the first place as wine plants and as textile plants. The filamentous substance obtained from their leaves is known all over the world as aloes fibers. ”

“ The female pointal turns to a globular fleshy fruit, containing a rough woody nut, inclosing fewer or more flat seeds. This fruit is the celebrated manchineal apple, which, with the most beautiful exterior, possesses the most poisonous qualities. So dire is this plant, that the very sun, darting its rays upon it, calls forth all its dangerous odours, and renders it unsafe to the touch; while if any one takes shelter beneath its spreading boughs during a storm, the rain-drops as they trickle off the leaves blister any part of the skin they fall upon. ”

“ It is prepared by fermenting the juice of a number of species of the agave (agave potatorum, americana, &c.) . The cultivation of the agave for purposes of pulque manufacture constitutes a considerable local industry, the capital invested running into several millions sterling. The juice obtained by tapping the agave is termed aguamiel. ”

“ It delights in moisture, and flourishes on the banks of running streams, but will do well almost anywhere. Angelica is best raised from seed, which, if sown in August, will grow better than if sown earlier in the year and it will sometimes grow from cuttings. Liquorice is “propagated by cuttings of the roots. On account of the depth to which the root strikes when the plant has [151] room to flourish, the soil should have a good staple of mould thirty inches or three feet in depth. Taking the small horizontal roots of established plants, cut them into sections six inches long. ”

“ The stem of the agave seems enormous in size when one considers that it is the growth of a few weeks. This plant is said to make a mighty effort to flower and mature its seeds and then to die of exhaustion. Now there is not, so far as I have seen, a mighty effort or the need of one, in wild Nature. She accomplishes her ends without unquiet effort, and perhaps there is nothing more mighty in the development of the flower-stem of the agave than in the development of a grass panicle.
Havana has a fine botanical garden. ”

“ Associated with the prickly-pear is a species of agave, but this does not grow so large in Arizona as it does farther south in Mexico. The plant is familiar to us as the common century plant of our gardens. The long fleshy leaves with spines at the ends are clustered at the surface of the ground, and from their centre, at blooming time, rises a tall flower stalk. The agave requires many years to mature. When the flower stalk has once started it grows rapidly, but after blossoming the plant dies. ”

“ Banana Grove Pineapple Garden
The aguacate looks like a small squash rather than a pear. It has a kernel, or hard stone, as big as the fist. The flanks are laid open, the stone removed, [p. 29] and the fruit is ready to serve in its own dressing. Some prefer it with just a pinch of salt. Others add a touch of pepper. Many like a little vinegar with the salt and pepper, and a few even prefer a regular French dressing with oil, though that is apt to spoil the natural flavor. Epicures like it with sugar and lemon juice. ”

“ The Spaniards formerly call’d it Girofe, and afterwards Clavos, because they are like Nails, which bear the same Name. The Head of the Clove, having four small Teeth that cross it, resembles a Star. The Natives of the Moluccos call the Tree Siger, the Leaf Varaqua, and the Fruit Chamque. The Plant is not unlike our Bay-Tree, but bears a greater Head. When it begins to blossom, it spreads a most delicious Fragrancy, and on the very Top like the Myrtle, from one single Stock produces an infinite Number of Clusters, like those of Elder, or the Honey-Suckle. ”

“ THE VINE AND OAK. AN ALLEGORY IN THE MANNER OF THE ALGICS.
A vine was growing beside a thrifty oak, and had just reached that height at which it requires support. "Oak," said the ivy vine, "bend your trunk so that you may be a support to me." "My support," replied the oak, "is naturally yours, and you may rely on my strength to bear you up, but I am too large and too solid to bend. Put your arms around me, my pretty vine, and I will manfully support and cherish you, if you have an ambition to climb, even as high as the clouds. ”

“ There can be no question that, if planted in rich moist soil in a shady wood, we should have no trouble in naturalising this graceful fern, the fronds of which are such graceful objects in the dense woods of the “great country.”
Agave americana.—This and its variegated varieties are plants peculiarly suited for subtropical gardening, being useful for placing out of doors in summer in vases, tubs, or pots plunged in the ground, and also for the conservatory in winter. It forms a large rosette of thick fleshy leaves of a glaucous ashy-green colour, overlapping each other at the base, from 4 ft. ”

“ Some degree of doubt must always attach to merely negative evidence; but Agassiz, a geologist whose statements must be received with respect by every student of the science, finds reason to conclude that the order of the Rosaceæ,—an order more important to the gardener than almost any other, and to which the apple, the pear, the quince, the cherry, the plum, the peach, the apricot, the victorine, the almond, the raspberry, the strawberry, and the various brambleberries belong, together with all the roses and the potentillas,—was introduced only a short time previous to the appearance of man. ”

“ It is like an orange; the thick rind of the unripe fruit possesses astringent properties, and, when ripe, has an exquisite flavor and perfume. The fruit and other parts of the plant are used for medicinal purposes, and a yellow dye is prepared from the skin of the fruits.
16. Agave americana.—This plant is commonly known as American aloe, but it is not a member of that family, as it claims kindred with the Amaryllis tribe of plants. It grows naturally in a wide range of climate, from the plains of South America to elevations of 10,000 feet. It furnishes a variety of products. ”

“ Providence has stor’d these Spice-Islands with Bananas, Coco-Nuts, Product of the Moluccos. Oranges, Lemmons, Lignum-Aloes, Sanders, Cinamon, Mace, Mastick-Trees, but above all, with abundance of Cloves, and other Plants; all of them valuable for their Fruit, or delightful for their Ornaments. They have neither Wheat nor Rice; but Nature gave them Industry, and Matter to supply this Defect. They beat a sort of Tree, like the Wild-Palm, with Mallets made of strong Canes; and those dry Trunks, so batter’d, yield an extraordinary white Flower, coming from the bruized Pith ”

“ The extensive family of leguminous or pod-bearing trees also grace these gardens with three additional members remarkable for fine foliage and useful products, such as the algarroba, with hard-shelled pods, containing a number of brown, round seeds or beans—also very hard, enveloped in a farinaceous and very nutricious fecula; a fine aromatic resin, good for varnishes, exudes from the trunk and branches of this tree, and a still finer one can be extracted from its horny pericarp by infusion in alcohol or other extractive medium ”

“ The Method of Propagating them, both as Standards and Dwarfs.
The method of propagating Almond Trees, is both by sowing the stones of the fruit, and by inoculating buds of the approved sorts upon stocks of the Plum, Peach, or Almond; but as the seedlings generally vary to different sorts, the budding or inoculation is the only method by which we can continue the varieties permanent with certainty; and they also sooner attain a fruitful state. ”

“ Take young and thick stalks of angelica, cut them into lengths of about a quarter of a yard, and scald them; then put them into water, strip off the skins, and cut them into narrow slips; lay them on your preserving pan, and put to them a thin sugar, that is, to one part sugar, as clarified, and one part water; set it over the fire, let it boil, and set it by till next day; then turn it in the pan, give it another boil, and the day after drain it and boil the sugar till it is a little smooth; pour it on your angelica, and if it be a good green, boil it no more ”