ANNONA. 



ANNOTTA. 



wherever they stand too thick. The next care 

 is to keep them free from weeds whilst they 

 continue, by hoeing the ground between them. 

 About the first of November (probably Sep- 

 tember or October would be better in this cli- 

 mate), they should be transplanted into the 

 field where they are to remain. They should 

 be planted there in trenches dug with a spade, 

 pretty deep; that is, they should be buried 

 almost up to the leaves. The distance between 

 them should be two feet or two feet and a half 

 every way, according to the soil. Particular 

 care should be taken never to plant them with 

 a dibble, as gardeners plant other sorts of cab- 

 bages. A layer of dung should be spread along 

 the bottom of the trench, and the roots of the 

 transplanted cabbages covered therewith. The 

 mould taken out should then be returned back 

 upon the dung ; and, as the trench will then 

 no longer hold it all, there will remain a ridge 

 between each row of cabbages. Towards the 

 middle of the ensuing May, the ground should 

 be well stirred between the plants with a spade, 

 or some other proper instrument, and its whole 

 surface laid quite level. After this, nothing 

 more remains to be done, except pulling up 

 the weeds, from time to time, as they appear. 



In the month of June, such of these cabbages 

 as are already large, and do not turn in their 

 leaves for cabbaging, but still continue green, 

 begin to be fit for use, and soon arrive at their 

 full perfection, which they retain till the next 

 spring, when they begin to run up, and after- 

 wards blossom. Their seeds ripen towards 

 the end of July, and what is intended for sow- 

 ing should then be gathered. In Anjou, when 

 these cabbages are entirely run up, they gene- 

 rally grow to the height of seven or eight feet ; 

 sometimes they reach to eight feet and a half, 

 or nine feet ; nay, some have even been seen 

 of a greater height. From the month of June, 

 when these cabbages begin to be fit for use, 

 their leaves are gathered from time to time, 

 and they shoot out again. They are large, 

 excellent food, and so tender that they are 

 dressed with a moment's boiling. They never 

 occasion any flatulencies or uneasiness in the 

 stomach ; and are also very good for cattle, 

 which eat them greedily. They likewise 

 greatly increase the milk of cows. Such are 

 the properties of this kind of cabbage, which 

 is greatly esteemed in the districts formerly 

 denominated Anjou, Poitou, Brittany,Le Maine, 

 and some other neighbouring provinces. In 

 the first, farmers were formerly bound by their 

 leases to plant early a certain number of these 

 cabbages, and to leave a certain number of 

 them standing when they quitted their farms. 



ANNONA (Triloba). The North American 

 Papaw. This is the only sort which will grow 

 in the open air in England. [See PAPAW.] 



ANNOTTA, or ARNOTTA (Fr. rocou : 

 Ger. orlean ; It. oriana). In rural economy, 

 anatto or arnatto, for it is written in various 

 ways, is a colouring substance, or dye, ob- 

 tained from the skin or pulp of the kernel of 

 tht Bixa orellana of South America and the 

 West Indies. 



Of the preparation of this matter from the 

 red pulp which covers the seeds, Mr. Miller 

 gives the following account: The contents of 

 100 



the fruit are taken out and thrown into a 

 wooden vessel, where as much hot water is 

 poured upon them as is necessary to suspend 

 the red powder or pulp, and this is gradually 

 washed off with the assistance of the hand, or 

 of a spatula, or spoon. When the seeds appear 

 quite naked, they are taken out, and the wash 

 is left to settle ; after which the water is gently 

 poured away, and the sediment put into shal- 

 low vessels to be dried by degrees in the shade. 

 After acquiring a due consistence, it is made 

 into balls or cakes, (which are known in com- 

 merce as the flag, or cake, and roll arnotta, and 

 comes chiefly from Cayenne,) and set to dry in 

 an airy place until it be perfectly firm. Some 

 persons first pound the contents of the fruit 

 with wooden pestles ; then, covering them 

 with water, leave them to steep six days. 

 This liquor being passed through a coarse 

 sieve, and afterwards through three finer ones, 

 it is again put into the vat or wooden vessel, 

 and left to ferment a week ; it is then boiled 

 until it be pretty thick, and when cool spread 

 out to dry, and afterwards made up into balls, 

 which are usually wrapped up in banana 

 leaves. 



Arnotta, when of good quality, is of the co- 

 lour of fire, bright within, soft to the touch, and 

 capable of being dissolved in water. But the 

 substance commonly met with under this name 

 is a preparation made by the druggists, in 

 which madder is probably a principal ingre- 

 dient ; it is of a brick colour, and a hard com- 

 pact texture. Arnotta is much used in Glou- 

 cestershire, and other cheese counties, and in 

 the butter dairies. The method of using the 

 soft, or genuine sort, is simply by dissolving 

 such a quantity as is necessary in a small por- 

 tion of milk ; allowing such particles as will 

 not dissolve to settle to the bottom. The milk 

 thus coloured is then poured off, and mixed 

 with that which is to be made into cheese. 

 But when the hard preparation is used, pieces 

 of it are frequently under the necessity of being 

 rubbed against a hard, smooth, even-faced 

 pebble, or other stone, being previously wetted 

 with milk to forward the levigation, and to 

 collect the particles as they are loosened. For 

 this purpose, a dish of milk is generally placed 

 upon the cheese-ladder ; and, as the stone be- 

 comes loaded with levigated matter, the pieces 

 are dipped in the milk from time to time, until 

 the milk in the dish appear to be sufficiently 

 coloured. The stone and the " colouring" 

 being washed clean in the milk, it is stirred 

 briskly about in the dish ; and, having stood a 

 few minutes for the suspended particles of 

 colouring-matter to settle, is returned into the 

 cheese-cowl; pouring it off gently, so as to 

 leave any sediment which may have fallen 

 down in the bottom of the dish. The grounds 

 are then rubbed with the finger on the bottom 

 of the dish, and fresh milk added, until all the 

 finer particles be suspended: and in this the 

 skill in colouring principally consists. If any 

 fragments have been broken off in the opera- 

 tion, they remain at the bottom of the dish : 

 hence the superiority of a hard closely-textured 

 material, which will not break off or crumble 

 in rubbing. The decoction of arnotta has a 

 peculiar smelt and a disagreeable flavour. An 



