Page:Vol 6 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/591

Rh, its vigorous growth on soils and in localities where no other plant will thrive, and the enormous returns which it yields for the outlay of small capital, a maguey plantation as a profitable source of income is unsurpassed by any other agricultural industry. The history of the discovery of producing from its juice the intoxicating beverage known as pulque is lost in the obscurity of the past, but traditions are not wanting on the matter.

The consumption of pulque has always [sic]bnee enormous, though during the war of independence its manufacture greatly decreased, as also that of mescal, a spirituous liquor obtained by distilling the fermented juice, and produced chiefly in Jalisco. Considerable quantities of both these liquors are manufactured illicitly. Although the maguey grows wild throughout a large area of the country, it is but little utilized except in the districts of which the cities of Mexico and Puebla are the centres, and where it is systematically cultivated. In addition to pulque and mescal, a brandy called tequila is obtained from the bulb of the maguey. With regard to the great value of the