The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-02-20

since the middle of the present century
dangerous competitor for the Oaxaca in
sect has been discovered in coal tar, from
which science Is producing the brilliant
colors, known as aniline, al an extremely
low cost If it were not for the fact that
there are certain classes of goods which
cannot be dyed except with the aid of
| cochineal, the industry would have been
killed entirely. While the producer form
erly would refuse less than 81 pound, the
price went down as low as . cents. Quite
recently, however, the demand for cochi-
| neal has increased, and the price has gone
up 10 30 and even 50 cents a pound, at
which rate the cochineal industry is a
| paying one. In consequence, the interest
| in the insect has been revived in Oaxaca
| and many new plantations for its cultiva-
| ton have been laid out in the valley of
| Oaxaca.
A Species of Black Louise.
The cochineal insect, which is the fe-
male of a species of wood .ouse. feeds upon
a plant belonging to the great cacu fam
| ily commonly called the "nopa." This
| plant grows from leaf to leaf, the leaves
| being oblong in shape, rather round and
| heavy az the upper end with but few
| spnes on the edges. II left alone the
pant adds new leaves from year to year,
and will reach a hight of from ten To
twelve feet The cultivators of the plant
to be about four inches broad in the larg-
| est diameter. as sprouts for replanting and
making fields for the cultivation of the
/ insect The planting is done in shallow
trenches. about two or three inches deep,
dug about two and half feet apart. The
sprouts are set at distance of about
eighteen inches from each other, having
| been set out, and grow new leaves. Within
a years time they are ready to receive
the insect.
As rule there are men who make a
business of supplying planters with the
seed or mother insects, which are set out
in October or after the rainy season is
over, as a heavy rain would wash the in
sects off the plants and cause irreparable
damage, because the insects would be
either total loss by drowning or become
so weakened by the rain that they could
not return to the plant. The insects are
painted on the leaves in the following man
ner. About twenty or thirty are placed in
small tube, closed at one end, about
two inches long. and half an inch in d.
ameter, made of the fiber of a species of
the maSuey plant. The tube is closed with
moss, after having been loaded. and fast
ened to a leaf by running a spine through
1t and bending il onto the leaf From
TWO to six of these tubes are fastened to
each leaf, according TO the size of the
latter, and the entire plant is then COW
tiny white specks, barely visible to the
naked eye, except that of the trained In
dian. begin to appear on the leaves, COW
ering them after a while with larger spots,
looking like mildew. If one of them is
touched it will leave a bright crimson
stain.
Raising the Young Insects.
After the leaves appear to be covered
the little baskets are removed. They stin
oil he
dead. Those that are still alive are care
fully preserved for future use The dead
ones have been partly eaten by their Off
spring, but what remains of them produces
the finest quality of cochineal and IL is
! generally rated at several cents more a
pound, the color produced by them being
OF special richness. The mat covering is
removed from the plant as soon as the
leaves appear covered with healthy colo
MES or groups of the insects. but re-
ceIVe another protection from the sun in
the shape of brushwood and dry stalks
which permit the free circulation of the
| air. The insects keep growing in size I'M
| til the entire nopal plant is almost COM
pletely covered with what appears at a
| small distance like a white mould This
appearance is due to the covering of a
very fine fuzz possessed by each insect
and probably provided by nature as
protection against the weather. When full
| grown the insects are about five-sixteenths
of an inch long and three-sixteenths of
| an inch thick. How the males arrive at
the state of maturity l have not beeu
able to find out for myself and careful in
| quiry has failed TO enlighten me on the
subject They have wings and are about
the size of a small gnat. When the in
sects on the nopal are ripe" they are
scraped off from the leaves into dishes,
baskets or onto mats. They are then TAX
en- to preparing place, where they are
usually put into sacks, dipped into boiling
water for few seconds and then spread
out on mats to dry in the sun Another
process, producing the best results, but
rarely employed on account of the ex-
pense attached TO It, is to place the In
sects upon trays in an oven the heat of
which is carefully regulated, and which
| requires constant attention, as the trays
have to be turned frequently to secure a
uniform drying.
After the insects have been dried by
either process they are subjected to a
rolling process by hand in order to remove
the fuzzy covering, then sifted and assort-
ed to be ready for the market, the larger
ones bringing the best price. Cochineal
ready for use looks very much like shrun-
| ken buckwheat grain, which it resembles
| both in size and shape. The color is iron
| gray, with pinkish shade, and the whole
| product resembles far more a metallic
| substance than any product of insect life
| If the price of cochineal keeps on the
! present level the old industry will likely
| be revived, and perhaps it will receive
| the attention of enterprising men who will
| discover means to simplify the cultivation
| and modernize it wherever possible The
| present way seems to be the same that
| has been followed by the natives since
| time immemorial.