"A small portion of this _aguamiel_ is transferred from the plant to a building prepared for the purpose, where it is allowed to ferment for ten or fifteen days, when it becomes what is termed _Madre Pulque_, (the mother of Pulque,) which is distributed, in very small quantities, amongst the different skins or troughs, intended for the daily reception of the Aguamiel. Upon this it acts as a sort of leaven; fermentation is excited instantly, and in twenty-four hours it becomes Pulque in the very best state for drinking. The quantity drawn off each day is replaced by a fresh supply of _Aguamiel_, so that the process may continue during the whole year without interruption, and is limited only by the extent of the plantation. A good maguey yields from eight to fifteen quartillos or pints, of _Aguamiel_ in a day, the value of which may be taken at about one _real_, or twelve and a half cents;--and this supply of sap continues during two, and often three months. The plant, therefore, when about to flower, is worth ten dollars to the farmer; although, in the transfer of an estate, the _Magueyes de corte_, ready for cutting, are seldom valued, one with another, at more than five. But, in this estimate, an allowance is made for the failure of some, which is unavoidable, as the operation of cutting the heart of the plant, if performed either too soon, or too late, is equally unsuccessful and entirely destroys the plant. The cultivation of the Maguey, where a market is at hand, has many advantages, as it is a plant, which, though it succeeds best in a good soil, is not easily affected either by heat or cold, and requires little or no water. It is propagated, too, with great facility; for, although the mother plant withers away as soon as the sap is exhausted, it is replaced by a multitude of suckers from the old root. There is but one drawback on its culture, and that is the period that must elapse before a _new_ plantation can be rendered productive, and the uncertainty with regard to the time of flowering, which varies from eight to eighteen years. But the Maguey grounds, when once established, are of great value, many producing a revenue of ten and twelve thousand dollars per annum.