460 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[Nov. 2, 1888. 



yield being very much inferior in brilliancy to that of the 

 South American species. And the cultivation of this, 

 the true cochineal insect, has risen to the rank of a very 

 important industry. It is carried on principally in 

 Mexico, the native country of the insect ; but of late 

 years exportations have been made to Algeria and the 

 Canary Islands, and in both colonies the cochineal gar- 

 dens, which for some little time met with bitter opposi- 

 tion and almost total neglect, are now in a very flourishing 

 condition, and amply repay the expenditure laid out upon 

 them. 



Just as is the case with those remarkable creatures 

 the scale insects (Scientific News, vol. i., p. 397), the 

 sexes of the cochineal are very different in appearance, 

 and would scarcely be recognised as belonging to the 

 same class of beings. For the male is a handsome 

 little four-winged fly, with a pair of feathery antenna; 

 and two long hairy filaments springing from the tail, 

 while his mate is an apterous, gall-like creature with- 

 out the power of locomotion, and with hardly any 



transferred to the shelter of somewhat primitive sheds, 

 consisting merely of a rough - roof raised upon poles, so 

 that, while the little insects are protected from rain, the 

 air finds free admission upon all sides. And there they 

 remain, still feeding on the succulent branches upon 

 which they were purchased, until about the end of 

 August, when the fecundated females are placed upon 

 the leaves of the growing Cacti, there to complete their 

 development. For some four months they are allowed 

 to feed on without interruption, and then the first 

 gathering is made, which yields under favourable cir- 

 cumstances a return of about twelve hundred per cent, 

 upon the insects purchased. This gathering is followed 

 four months later by a second, and four months later 

 still by a third ; and these two latter harvests are 

 generally of a still more profitable character. 



The task of taking the insects from the plants is deputed 

 to Indian women, who squat upon the ground in their curi- 

 ous and seemingly uncomfortable manner, and brush them 

 into trays by means of the tail of a stag or a squirrel, 



Male Cochineal Insects. 



indication of her insect nature at all. But she it is 

 from whom the dye proceeds. The food plants are two, 

 both being species of prickly pear {Cactus cochinilifer and 

 C. opuntia) ; and these are planted out in regular lines, 

 carefully trimmed and tended, so as to allow of free 

 passage between them, and surrounded with a high fence 

 of reeds and stakes to shelter them from the wind. 

 Some of these plantations contain as many as fifty or 

 sixly thousand plants, but the majority do not much 

 exceed an acre in extent, and are for the most part in 

 the hands of native Indians, who are generally distin- 

 guished by the title of Nopalleros. 



For the first two years of their growth the plants are 

 not brought into use ; but by the beginning of the third 

 season the more healthy ones have gained sufficient 

 strength to enable them to withstand the incessant drain 

 upon their juices. A quantity of newly-hatched Cocci are 

 then procured, generally in April or May, and are kept 

 f jr three weeks or so entirely indoors, in order that the in- 

 clemencies of the weather may not injure them while they 

 are yet young and small. At the end of that time they are 



or a bamboo 'twig formed into somewhat the shape of a 

 pen. As soon as a sufficient number have been collected 

 they are killed, either by plunging them into boiling 

 water or by placing them in heated ovens, or merely by 

 exposing them to the rays of the sun. And then, as 

 soon as their bodies have thoroughly dried, they are 

 ready for the manufactory. 



The importance of the cochineal gardens may be 

 judged from the fact that, even so long ago as the time of 

 Humboldt, the quantity annually exported from South 

 America exceeded half a million sterling in value ; and 

 Dr. Bancroft estimated the yearly consumption in Great 

 Britain alone at 150,000 lbs., worth some ,£375,000. 

 And this quantity has since been very much increased. 

 It is also worthy of mention that the rent of a fairly 

 productive 'Coccus garden varies from £50 to £60 per 

 acre, while it cannot be purchased outright for much less 

 than £1,000. The dye itself, by the way, when com- 

 pressed into small cakes, is sometimes used in lieu ot 

 money, and travels from hand to hand many times over 

 before it at last reaches the factory. 



