178 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [September r, 1887. 
with five petals of a rosy and sometimes of a white 
colour. The stamens are very numerous, yellow, tipped 
with purple. The fruit consists of a dry ovate or mitre- 
shaped capsule covered with soft spinules, brown or 
green when ripe, splitting into two valves, on the inside 
of which are attached numerous (30 to 40) seeds. 
These seeds are about the size and shape of grape seeds, 
and oovered with a waxy substance (the testa), which 
readily stains the fingers a red colour. This waxy 
substance covering the seeds yields the Annotto of com- 
merce, and gives the plant its chief industrial value. 
Annotto plants are readily raised from seed, and 
are of a hardy character. They prefer cool, moist situ- 
ations, such as the banks of streams, and luxuriate in 
shaded places in and around dwellings. They are, 
however, readily established on comparatively poor 
soils, and although the growth under such circumstances 
is necessarily less robust, the yield in seeds is fairly 
large. If a plantation of Annatto is proposed to be 
established, plants may first be raised in seed beds in 
nurseries, and transplanted during the rainy season 
when about 6 or 8 inches high. The distance apart of 
permanent plants may vary from 10 to 15 or 20 feet, 
according to the character of the soil and the nature of 
any subsidiary cultivation that may be carried on. In 
many cases seeds may be sown at once in the places 
where the permanent plants are desired, and of the 
seedlings grown, the strongest only is ultimately re- 
tained. As cattle, horses, and goats do not eat the 
leaves of A'matto, planters in the West Indies often 
u ilize nil y pasture lands by planting Annatto upon 
them. In this way very little expense is incurred 
for maintenance; and should the price of the pro- 
duce prove of an unremunerative oharacter, no steps 
are taken to gather the crop. 
The ronge of cultivation for Annatto is a wide one. 
In the West Indies it grows readily from sea-level up 
to an altitude of 2,000 feet. In Ceylon it is known to 
grow up to 3,000 feet, but it is particularly flourishing 
in the lowlands. It appears to be well adapted for 
moist warm situations, with a mean annual temper- 
ature of 75° to 80° Fahr. It requires an abundant 
rainfall, and hence is not suitable for arid situations, 
or those subject to prolonged droughts. Under favour- 
able circumstances Annatto plants begin to yield 
seed in about two years, and remain fruitful for a 
long period. 
The plant is supposed to be wild at Jamaica and 
St Lucia, in the British West India Islands, and in the 
former island it has been extended by partial cultivation. 
The export of Annatto seeds from Jamaica in 1886 
consisted of 369,284 pounds, of the value of 7,693?. 
At Guadaloupe, one of the principal French islands, 
Boucou, as it is there called, forms an important article 
of export, and the returns show the existence of 48 
Eoucou plantations, employing 1,044 labourers. The 
export in 1883 consisted of 700,500 kilos of prepared 
Roucou. [Flag Annatto.] 
As regards British Guiana, the Superintendent of 
the Botanic Garden, writing in 1881, remarks 
as follows . — " Though the Annatto plant is a nat- 
" ivo of British Guiana, and abounds on the banks 
" of some of the rivers, it does not appear to 
" be cultivated at all, nor is the fruit of . the 
" wild plant turned to any commercial account. All 
" the Annatto that is exported from British Guiana 
" is first imported, and the source from which it comes, 
" so far as I have been able to gather, is French 
" Guiana. A portion may occasionally come from 
" Surinam." As may naturally be expected, a plant of 
so hardy a character, and the seed of which is so 
easily carried from place to place, has long been 
established throughout the Tropics. At Ceylon 
the plant is supposed to have been introduced by 
the Dutch, and long ago as 182!) it was used as a 
dye plant by basket makers at Kalutara. 
In the Report of the Director of the Botanic 
Gardens, Ceylon, for 1881, it is mentioned: "Several 
" gentlemen have made inquiries as to the mode in 
" which Annatto is prepared for the market; and, as 
'• I could find no very definite published account, 
" I applied to the authorities at the Royal Gardens, 
" Kew, for information, and have received several 
" communications from them, the most important 
" being from Mr. Vilmorin's report on ' Produits 
" Agricoles non Alimentaires ' (Paris Exhibition, 
"'Rapports du Jury International'). The following 
"is a summary:— Sua Ordlana is native to Tropical 
" America, but fairly naturalized in other hot coutries, 
" as in India and Ceylon. Annatto (Boucou is the 
" French narre), however, is prepared almost wholly 
" in the French colonies, chiefly Cayenne (French 
" Guiana) and Guadaloupe (which each produce about 
" 400-500,000 kilos), but lately takeu up also in 
" Reunion and the Indian Possessions of France. The 
" Guadaloupe samples were the best at the Paris 
" Exhibition." 
In India the two forms of the species, one with 
pink flowers and brown capsule and the other with 
white flowers and greenish capsule are well represented. 
Dr. Buchanan, writing in 1833, mentions the Annatto 
plant as follows : — " The Bixa, an American plant, 
" is now rapidly spreading over Bengal, the inhabitants 
" having found it a useful yellow dye, which they 
" employ to give their cloths a temporary colour in 
" Dolyatra, or festival of Krishna. With this also they 
" colour the water, which, on the same occasion, they 
" throw at each other with squirts. For these purpose s 
"it is well qualified, aathe colour easily washes out, 
'• and the infusion has a pleasant smell. By them 
" it is called Lotkan, and they say that before it grew 
" commonly in the country, the dry fruit was brought 
"from Patna. Probably some other fruit was tben 
" brought, and its U6e has been superseded by that 
" of the Bixa, to which the natives have given the 
" old name, as there can be no doubt of its being an 
" American plant, and its fruit could scarcely have been 
" brought here from the West Indies. In many parts 
" it is called European Turmeric." 
As regards the preparation of Annatto, it would 
appear that various methods are used, with the result 
that an article is produced with a wide range of merit 
and a corresponding variation in market value. At 
the request of this establishment, inquiry was made 
respecting the method adopted in French Guiana, 
and the Superintendent of the Botanic Gardens at 
British Guiana obtained the following from the French 
Consul at the place. The manufacture of Roucou is 
as follows: 
" Pick the small red seeds from the husk, put them 
" in fresh and clear water to soak for not less than 
" two days, then pass them through a mill or crusher. 
" When crushed let them remain 24 hours in fresh 
" water ; after this pass them through a sieve ; the 
" residue is again passed through the mill until nothing 
" remains of the seeds. 
" The produce of the seeds so prepared is put in 
"water until it has precipitated; the surface water is 
" then made to run out, After the surface water has 
" become perfectly clear, the paste is boiled during 
" four or five hours time. After this process has been 
" gone through, the paste is placed in cases with 
" curing holes, with a weight placed on it, and a cloth 
" at the bottom to prevent the finely crushed powder 
u from passing through. When the above process has 
" been gone through, the paste should be in a fit 
" state for shipment. It is then packed in layers 
" with plantain leaves between each layer to retain the 
" necessary amount of moisture and to check acidity." 
A method for preparing Annatto, at one time 
prevalent in the West India Islands, is well described 
by Dr. Macfadyen in the Flora of Jamaica, p. 42, in 
the following words : — 
" It is from the pulp which covers the seeds of this 
" tree that the substance known by the names of 
" Arnotta or Annotta in England, and Roucou in France, 
" is procured. It is collected by pouring boiling water 
" on the seeds in any convenient vessel ; after stirring 
" the whole, the water, with the farina suspended Jin 
" it, is poured off ; and this is repeated till the naked 
" seeds are left. The water, after allowing it to stand 
" for some time, is then to be poured off clear leaving 
" the Arnotta which has settled at the bottom. The 
" addition of an acid is said to hasten the process. 
" The sediment io afterwards to be placed in shallow 
" vessels and dried by evaporation in the shade. When 
