Show THE CENTURY plant i j r f j J r reir reli V i an oun of fu fustian s ti a ai and nonsense has been beeh written about chatis what is termed the iuen ILen century tury plant it is now time the public mind should he hp better instructed and this seeming wonder made to recoil back to its natural place grant thorburn who was is as much a botanical humbug as phineas barnum is in his line was the probable originator of the century plant delusion to make short work of the matter the truth is simply this the so called century plant which is supposed to bloom only once in a hundred years is nothing but the agave americana or american aloe the leaves of which which are long thick fleshy pinous at the edges and terminating in a thorn the stem branched and of or considerable hight when arrived at maturity it is very largely cultivated in mexico where it bears the common term of the pulque plant this plant reaches maturity in about eight years in some districts five years are sufficient it jt always blooms on reaching maturity atu rity the stem is then wrenched from the body of the leaves or branches which discharge a thick sweetish and milk white juice into the cavity left by wrenching out the stem this juice fee lee while fresh is known as pulque aulce dulce or sweet pulque and is then very nutritious and innocent innocents being left to ferment which it does in three days it becomes intoxicating and is then known under the name of pulque fuerte or strong pulque having passed through the fermenting process it is then distilled and composes the spirit called mescal the time gime of flowering dede deDd depends rids lids wholly upon its growth and the rapidity of its growth depends entirely upon climate in hot countries it matures from five to eight years but in colder climates it is much slower in growth the of the leaves serve the mexican peasantry for thread and rope its thorns are converted into needles the leaves when cut in slices make good food for cattle and are also algo used for scouring pewter kitchen utensils etc the resin obtainable fram this plant has proved the most valuable preventative against the attacks of the toredo and other destructive insects one ounce of it mixed with turpentine tallow and white lead is considered sunni sufficient to paint over two superficial feet plank and 12 pounds is enough to cover the bottom of a vessel of 50 tons an experiment proved these facts two planks of equal thickness and of the same tree were placed under water wa terone one of them in its natural state and the other prepared with the resin of aloes mixed as above stated the planks were allowed to remain eight months and on being taken up UA th the former was completely hone honeycombed and d destroyed while the one which had been smeared with the composition was as perfect as the day it was immersed instead of 1 wondering about century plants and their flowers it would be in better taste and fai far more profitable to avail oui ouk ourselves of the many and wonderful properties ro of the agave mexicans mexicana cana lap eal si F fu times |