The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1885-07-29
THE cocHlNEAL OF coMMERc.,
Great Plantations In Guatemala Devoted
to the Culture of Queer Little Insects.


TO the Culture Of Queer Little Insects.
Cattle ranches sheep ranches, even chick
en- ranches are common enough in the
United States, but the bug ranch would be,
indeed, curiosity. In this queer country
the raising Of hemipterous insects of the
eark-louse family, especially the caccus
cactt or Spanish cOchiaiila, is profitable, it
not pleasant, industry and in this portion
of it vast plantations are devoted 10 the cul-
tivation of the Indian fig, or nopal, of the
genus cacti, or opuntia cOcaiaiila .fera, for
the nourishment of the bark lice. Between
the attitudes of 5000 and 5000 feet is the
tavorite locality for cochineal raising, par
ticularly in the vicinity of Guatemala la An
tiqua, the ancient capital, founded by AL
varado, and in this department of Qusval-
tenango.
The method of cultivating these insects
is most curious. They require about the
same care that is ordinarily bestowed upon
silk-worms. During the last days of May,
Immediately before the annual rains begin,
great branches of cacti, covered with the
insects, ore cut off, and stored in q building
erected for the purpose, to protect them
from the weather. At the close of the wet
season, or about the middle of October, the
plantations are restocked from these sup
plies by suspending little nests, made of
Jute, maguey, or any other soft, woody
fibre, upon the spines of the growing nopal,
each nest containing dozen female in.
sects. Warmed by the tropic sun, they
soon emerge from their semi-comatose con-
dition and begin to lay eggs with marvel
lous rapidity, each female producing more
than thousand young. The new crop i'm
mediately spreads over the plants, the fe-
males at once swelling to q surprising size
and attaching themselves 80 closely to the
nopal as to become almost part of it, SO
That they resemble vegetable excrescences
rather than animated insects. In this con-
dition they are gathered for cochineal, the
pregnant females only being valuable foI
commercial purposes. The males are com.
paratively few in number, not more than
one to hundred and fifty females, and are
of no use for coloring material. The fe-
males, are picked off with blunt knife,
collected with baskets, and killed by dip
ping into boiling water or by baking them
In ovens or on plates of iron.
The first crop is gathered about the mid
die of December, and subsequently several
more OF as many successive generations are
obtained. These tiny scions of the numer-
GUS family cocoid@ are in the form of round
ed scales, the body covered with deep trans
verse wrinkles, bristly on the posterior part,
with abdomen of dark mulberry color
and short black legs. The male has two
erect wings, the female none. An expert
laborer can pick only about two ounces oil
cochineal in day. These lose at least two.
thirds of their weight in the process of dry
ing. As it requires not less than seventy
thousand insects to weigh pound, and the
average retail Price of the commodity is
only 10 cents pound in the United Stntes
It will be seen that the cochineal business
is by no means sinecure for the operative
When the living insects have been i'm
mefsed IN uoinng water they turn to n red.
dish r ,wn, losing much of the white pow
der with which the wrinkles of their bod,
are loaded. When dried in an oven they
retain this powder, and then their color is
gray, but when baked ON hot iron they be-
come black. This accounts for the so-cnlled
varieties of the same bug, known in the
market MS silver grains, black grains, and
foxy grains. Foxy grains, are those killed
by boiling. They bring the highest price