ntral stem, or _hampe_, which
sustains the flower, is about to form in the centre of the plant. If
persons are not on the watch to cut out the heart at the proper time,
the _hampe_ shoots out, and grows to about the height of a telegraph
post--for which I have often mistaken it--absorbing in its development
the sap, which, when fermented, forms the intoxicating drink called
_pulque_. The sprouting of the stalk takes place in November or
December; but the beautiful cluster of flowers, for which it is so much
admired, does not form at its top till February. In this last month,
the monster leaf that envelops the _hampe_ begins gradually to unfold
itself, exposing to view a slender stalk, higher than a man on
horseback, with arms extended. On this stalk grow the flowers. Such is
the century plant--in botanical language, the _Agava Americana_.

The juice of the maguey, in its unfermented state, is called
_honey-water_. It is gathered from the central basin by cutting off a
side-leaf and cutting out the heart, just before the sprouting of the
_hampe_, for whose sustenance this juice is destined. The basin, thus
formed, yields every day from four to seven quarts--according to the
size and thriftiness of the plant--for a period of two or three months.
The process of taking it out of the plant is a little curious. Into the
end of a long gourd is inserted a cow's horn, bored at the point;
through this horn and into the gourd the juice is sucked up by applying
the mouth to a hole in the opposite side of the gourd. From the
gourd-shell the juice is emptied into a bottle formed from the skin of
a hog, which still retains much of the form of the animal. To form this
bottle of honey-water into _pulque_, all that is necessary is to put
into it a little of the same material which has been laid aside till it
became sour, which operates like yeast, causing the honey-water to
ferment.

As soon as the maguey juice in the hog-skin has fermented, it is
_pulque_; and is readily sold for eight, and sometimes as high as
twenty-five cents a quart, producing a very large revenue upon the cost
of the plant. It is not ordinarily sold at wholesale; but each maguey
estate has its retail shops in town, from which the whole product of
the estate is retailed out. One man, who has five of these shops in the
city of Mexico, keeps his carriage; and is reckoned, among the magnates
of the land, deriving from this source alone, it is said, $25,000 a
year. Th