276 Memoir on the Cullure of the Anatto Tree, 



reqvilrc continued care: vhen young, their delicate roots 

 must be covered with earth; when green herbs are heaped 

 up about the bottom of the trees they often cause them to 

 perish, in consequence of their fermentation. It is custom- 

 ary to heat down the first flowers, that the tree may not be 

 exhausted by premature fecundity. The earth is dug up 

 around the tree witli a hoe, but care is taken not to touch 

 the roots. When the rains have been abundant, the planters 

 are satisfied with cutting the grass in the neighbourhood of 

 the tree with an instrument like a scythe, which spares the 

 roots, and accelerates the labour. A sickle might also be 

 used. 



The anatto tree is injured neither by heat nor by rain; it 

 prefers low humid places, and is not attacked by caterpil- 

 lars, but is very subject to the gii}/ (a name given in Guy- 

 ana to a sort of loranthns) : it ought to be carefully freed 

 from that parasitic plant, which prevents it from bearing 

 the usual quantity of fruit. 



The anatto is fit for being gathered, if the capsules, when 

 pressed between the fingers, open with an explosion : the 

 product is collected with the hand, and the negroes who 

 gather it deposit the capsules in barrels, which when full con- 

 tain about thirty-five pounds. The product of the trees varies 

 according to the age, the season, and the soil. From 1500 

 to 2500 pounds are collected in eighteen months from 180O 

 square yards, when the land is good : at the end of three years 

 the product is still more considerable; at five years it begins 

 to decrease, and at ten years the quantity collected will 

 scarcely defray the expense. To separate the grains, the cap- 

 sule is opened with the thumb and fore finger; the person 

 then lays hold of the membrane to which the seeds are at- 

 tached. This labour is in general entrusted to the more de- 

 licate hands of women and children: the negroes of Africa 

 employ for this purpose a kind of spatula. 



After the produce is collected, the next operation is to 

 separate the colouring matter. Under a kind of shed sup- 

 ported by forked sticks fixed in the ground, covered with 

 leaves and open on all sides, are placed a kind of troughs 

 cut out in the trunks of trees, in which the grains of the 

 anatto are heaped up. TJne first trough is called the pound- 

 ing trough, the second the inmiersing trough, the third the 

 discharging trough, and the fourth the straining trough. 

 Tiiese names indicate the difiercnt uses to which they are 

 applied. Each pounding continues half an hour : a negro 

 pounds about sixty or seventy pounds per day. This ope- 

 ration is performed so badly that many of the grains are 



still 



