MACKEREL SCAD

‘The two best known of the mackerel seads are the Common which is cceasionally caught off Ma achnsetts but generally prefers warmer waters, and the *tSead.’’ or ‘‘round robin,’’ of Florida and the West Indies, the: latter reaching a foot or so in length. A mature Mexican maguey (the result of several vears of growth) consists of from twenty to fifty of its huge, succulent leaves surrounding a large, fleshy baxe--a plant of good size weighing a ton or more, It is these bases. and also the enormous flower buds, taken shortly before flowering, which are eaten. The bases are fleshy and sweet with a flavor suggesting the artichoke. The buds are enjoyed as a sweet preserve after slow roasting and baking in furnaces or pits. The unfermented juice of the maguey, obtained from the living plant (the secretion increased by checking its flowering and by other proce es). is known as aqua micl (‘honey water’’). It is a yellowish, sweetish, rather pleasing beverage.