72 



JALAP CACAO COCHINEAL. 



and valuable product has been left almost entirely to the care of 

 Indians. Its cultivation is exceedingly simple. A shoot of the 

 plant is inserted in the ground at the foot of a tree intended to 

 support the future vine, which, if properly freed from the encum- 

 brance of other parasites, soon embraces the trunk, and yields 

 beans during the third year. This hardy and fruitful plant lasts 

 from a quarter to half a century, according to the attention that is 

 bestowed on it ; and it is remarkable that its cultivation has not 

 engaged the attention of foreigners who might safely reside in the 

 beautiful and healthy regions of Jalapa. 



Jalap. 



Jalap, like vainilla, is a parasitic plant ; but its root instead of 

 its fruit is used for medicinal purposes. Its leaves resemble the 

 ivy and its beautiful red flowers open only at night. Growing 

 plentifully in the neighborhood of Jalapa, whence it takes its name, 

 it is usually sent abroad through Vera Cruz, where the commer- 

 cial returns show that more than three thousand quintals are rarely 

 exported. 



Cacao. 



The use of chocolate is so universal in Mexico and throughout 

 Spanish countries, that it might naturally be supposed the cultiva- 

 tion of cacao was largely and carefully attended to in the republic. 

 Such, however, is not the case. The cacao of Soconusco, and of 

 the low grounds of Caraccas, Guatemala and Guyaquil, was found 

 to be so superior to the Mexican article, that its production has 

 been almost abandoned except in the neighborhood of Colima, or 

 on the Isthmus and in the states of Tabasco and Chiapas. 



Cochineal. 



The Opuntia, or Indian fig, a species of cactus is the food in 

 Mexico which supports an insect from whose body the dye known 

 as Cochineal is made. It is found also in Brazil where it nour- 

 ishes the grana sylvestre which affords a dye that is greatly inferior 

 in color as well as durability to that produced by the grana jina of 

 Mexico. 



The grana fina resembles a small bug in size and color, covered 

 with a whitish mealy powder, through which the rings or cross 

 stripes on the back of the insect are distinctly visible ; the female 

 alone produces the dye ; the males are smaller, and one is found 

 sufficient to impregnate three hundred females. 



