The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1898-02-23
A l,recious Isun.

Precious Bug.
remember once finding on the top
shelf of cupboard package Of queer
little things, over which was puzzled.
They were about the size of half
kernel of rice, perhaps larger, ribbed
and hard, and silvery-looking, but on
being handled, shedding a dingy
powder which left exposed lustrous
purplish surface striped with white
lines.
Were they seeds? and if SO, seeds
of what? or were they bugs?
was told that they were insects,
costly ones, the cochineal from which
the most beautiful red color in the
world was obtained, and that the rich
carmine in the box of water color
paints was made from them.
1t is wonderful that such tiny
creature, small parasite, should be-
come an important article Of COM
merce; that the business of raising
cochineal should be the chief occupa-
tion in certain places in warm lati-
tudes.
The home of the cochineal is in Gen.
tral America. When the Spaniards
arrived in that country they found the
Indians using superb color, and
soon learned about it, and kept the
knowledge secret from the rest of
the world.
The principal place for raising coch-
meal is Oajaca in Mexico, the capital
of the state of the same name, in the
southern part of the Isthmus of Tehu-
antepec. The people are mostly In
dians, and they understand how to
care for the insects, which require al
most as much attention as silkworms.
The plant on which they feed is
species of cactus, resembling some
that we cultivate. This cactus grows
about five feet high, and the leaves
are thick, full of red juice and covered
with prickles. The creatures do not
in reality feed, but pierce the cover
ing of the leaves and extract tho
juice, which by some process of nature
converts the tiny live thing into q
solid body of dye. They literally sap
| the plants, so that the cactus groves
have to be renewed frequently.
in the suburbs of Oajaca there are
acres of gardens and plantations de-
voted to cochineal culture. Two crops
of the bugs are gathered in a year,
one in December, the other in May.
The female cochineal are placed in
| little nests or baskets of moss and
| fastened to the best places on the
cactus, so that the thousands OF eggs
may be laid when the food is suitable
| f., A. l. >nb
When the time for collecting bugs
for market comes, the Indians brush
them off with n squirrels tail, or pick
them off with a blunt knife. A man
can pick only about two ounces a day.
| 1t takes seventeen thousand cochineals
to weigh pound.
The next thing is to kill them, and
| there are several methods. One is TO
brush them into a basket and dip it
into hot water, and others are to put
| them in hot oven, or on hot iron
plates, or in the scorching sun. The
| different ways make difference in
| the outside appearance of the bugs,
and also in the beauty OF the dye it,
| self.
After they are dried they will keep
a hundred years without losing their
coloring property. No one who has
examined the cochineal insects and
crushed them to dry red powder can
doubt this. And no one need wonder
that the Europeans who first saw
them in this state thought they were
seeds or some kind of grain.
1t is nearly four hundred years
since the invading Spaniards first
knew the source of those incompatible
red dyes among the obscure Indians
of Central America. Now, from the
city of Oaiaca about five thousand
pounds Of cochineal are sent away
each year. That is only one place
out of many, though the most famous.
One can judge of the importance Of
this little creature, in learning that in
single year over two million pounds
went to Great Britain alone.
Cochineal was formerly cultivated
only in Mexico, but now it has been
introduced into Spain and the French
possessions in Africa Amanda B.
Harris, in Boston Bouquet.