NUT-GALL HARVEST. 145 



which produced it has made its escape. In this 

 state it has a bluish appearance, and is unper- 

 forated ; whereas those from which the insect has 

 departed are lighter in colour and in weight, and 

 are less useful in dyeing. 



The Orientals are very careful to gather in this 

 crop at the exact time which experience has proved 

 to be the best, namely, that in which the excres- 

 cence has attained its greatest size and weight. 

 If there is any delay, the insect undergoes its 

 metamorphosis, pierces the shell, and appears 

 under its form of a winged insect. From this 

 time the gall-nut no longer derives from the tree 

 those juices which were necessary for the nourish- 

 ment of the insect, but dries up, and loses the 

 greater part of those qualities which make it 

 valuable in commerce. The Aga of the district 

 takes care that the cultivators traverse frequently, 

 at the time of the harvest, the hills and mountains 

 which are covered with this oak. He has an 

 interest in obtaining galls of good quality, because 

 he levies a tax on the produce, The first gather- 

 ings are set aside ; they are known in the East 

 L 



