Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1900-02-15
rnE CoCuINEAL lNnC SrRY.
A Little Woodlouse That Once Was
Important for nyeing

Until not SO very long aE1 rochineal
dried insect which furnishes the
most brilliant red color known, octu-
pied Il very prominent position IN TIE
worlds commerce. rhe market QUO
! tations OF this article were watched
| with as much If not more interest than
| those Of coffee are today. Immense
sums Of money were Invested, both IN
the production Of cochineal and IN Its
marketing and transportation. Waite
! Spain was the ruler ot the western
! world Cochiucal was one ot the Nrin-
! cipal sources ot revenue for that ma
| ton. and her government rs welt as
| her merchants were guarding with
/ Jealous care the monopoly they en-
loved in this much sought after dye
stun
The center Of the state Of ONaca,
with its many high rlateauS and vat
| lcvs. seems to he the native home ot
! the tiny insect which produces the
cochincal of commerce, and probably
! has been the chief seat OF the corhi-
/ neal industry for many centuries, as
/ rochincal was extensively used Ter
generations before the discovery OF
America nv modern civilizations II
| Is we'll known that Montezuma and
other Aztec rulers before him sent
merchants to 0aNAra to procure the
prigrd color with which to adorn
works of art and even of common use,
No doubt the civilization known to
have undoubtedly existed In the west
ern hemisphere long before the advent
of European couQuerors made extern
sive use of the product Of the OaNaca
valleys
II is a matter of record that during
the last half-century over $40 0Oo,oOo
was paid out In OaNaca TO the coch'-
neal producers, which probably does
not represent more than onc-dtth OF
the price paid by the actual consum-
ers The Spanish government alone
eNacted tax Of about $l75 pound.
and the cost Of transportation, which
must have been very great, and the
commissions amounted to enough
more to make coChineal bring ST n
pound In the wholesale market OF Eu-
rome But since the middle of the past
century n dangerous competitor for
the OaXaca insect has been discovered
in coal tar, from which science is
producing the brilliant colors, known
MS anline, at an extremely low cost
II Il we're not for the fact that there
are certain classes of goods which can
not be dyed except with the aid OF
rochinoal the industry would have
been killed entirely While the pro.
ducor formerly would refuse less than
81 pound. the price went down rs low
MS Is cents. Quite recently, however
the demand for cochinenl has In
creased. ana the price has gone MP &c
20 and even GO cents pound, at which
rate the cochincal industry Is paying
one In consequence. the interest II
tho insect has been revived In OaNaCa
and many new plantations for It's cul
tivation have been laid out in the val
ley of Oaxaca,
The cochineal insect which Is tbs
female of species OF wood louise
feeds upon plant belonging to the
great cactus family commonly called
tho 'uopal This plant grows from
leaf to Leaf the leaves being oblonp In
shape rather round and heavy at Tho
upper end with hut few spines on the
edges If left alone tho plant adds
new leaves from year TO year and will
roacha height Of from 10 ta 10 feet, Tho
cultivators Of the plant use the now
leaves after they have grown TO about
four inches broad In the largest diam
cter, as sprouts for replanting and
making fields for the cultivation Of tho
insect The planting Is done in shall.
low trenches. about two or three
inches deep. dug about 21& feet apart
The sprouts are set Mt n distance oi
about Is inches from each other, and
generally take root very rapidly after
having been set out. and grow now
leaves Within years time they arc
ready to receive the insect
As n rule there are men who make
n business Of supplying planters with
the seed or mother insects, which arc
set ont In October or after the rainy
season Is over, as a heavy rain would
wash the insects off the plants and
cause irroparable damage because tho
insects would be either n total loss by
| drowning or become SO weakened by
! the rain that they could not return TO
! the plant The insects are planted on
! the leaves In the following manner
! About 20 or 30 are placed In small
! tube, closed Mt the one end about two
inches long, and half an inch in diam
eter, made OF the fiber OF the species
of the maguey plant The tube Ia
closed with moss after having been
loaded. and fastened TO leaf by run
ming a spine through II and bending II
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 covered with
a mat Within a few days after tiny
specks. barely visible to the naked eye,
except that Of the trained Indian, be-
gin 10 appear on the leaves, covering
them after while with larger spots.