AMjin;  i8^M'}  Cochineal  Production  in  Gent  America.  35 
to  140  pounds  of  the  live  mother  insect  to  seed  each  mansana  of  100 
Spanish  or  89j  English  yards  square,  and  each  pound  of  the  insect 
so  used  ought,  if  the  weather  be  good  and  all  circumstances  favorable, 
to  produce  8  lbs.  in  the  crop  time.  The  January  seeding  in  Old  Gua- 
temala being  much  heavier,  as  only  one  crop  is  there  taken,  from  150 
to  170  lbs.  are  generally  used  to  seed  each  mansana.  In  Amatitlan^ 
the  first  crop  collected  in  January  generally  yields  from  800  to  1,200 
lbs.  of  the  live  insect  from  each  mansana  of  cactus  in  a  really  good 
estate,  which  is  sold  at  from  2J  to  8  reals  (Is.  3d.,  to  4s.  sterling)  a 
pound,  according  to  the  demand  and  the  abundance  of  the  crop,  &c, 
but  the  first  crop  is,  one  year  with  another,  calculated  to  pay  all  the 
expenses  of  weeding  and  managing  the  estate,  and  the  cost  of  the 
seed  cochineal  insect  and  labor  of  seeding  it,  &c.  The  second  crop 
is  always  dried,  and  each  mansana  will  yield  from  1,800  to  2,700  lbs. 
of  the  insect  and  from  600  to  900  lbs.  of  dry  cochineal,  which  is  con- 
sidered to  be  the  net  profit  of  the  cultivation. 
In  Old  Guatemala,  each  mansana  ought  to  give  3,150  to  4,050  lbs. 
of  the  live  insect,  and  1,050  to  1.350  lbs  of  dry  cochineal ;  three 
pounds  of  the  live  insect  yielding  as  nearly  as  possible  one  of  dry 
cochineal. 
The  cost  of  production  in  Old  Guatemala  one  year  with  another, 
allowing  for  the  current  losses  from  rain,  &c,  is  rated  at  4  reals  (or 
2s.  sterling)  per  pound.  The  cochineal  insect,  when  not  intended  for 
breeding,  is,  as  soon  as  gathered,  spread  out  very  thin  upon  fiat  shal- 
low trays  made  of  cane  and  covered  with  cotton  cloth,  and  put  into 
stoves  constructed  on  purpose,  each  capable  of  containing  from  100 
to  200  baskets,  and  either  heated  by  burning  charcoal  put  into  large 
clay  vessels  made  on  purpose,  or  by  a  small  brick  flue  into  which  wood 
can  be  put  and  lighted  from  the  outside  (the  former  method  is  the 
most  costly  and  tedious,  but  gives  the  finest  colored  cochineal).  When 
completely  dry  it  is  sifted,  cleaned  and  packed  in  bales  covered  with 
an  untanned  ox-hide,  containing  150  lbs.,  in  which  state  it  is  sent  to 
Europe  for  sale.  During  the  wet  season  a  cochineal  estate  requires 
almost  constant  attention  in  cleaning  and  keeping  down  the  weeds, 
and  this  must  be  done  at  least  five  times  in  the  year  in  Amatitlan,  or 
the  cactus  will  be  injured  ;  though  in  Old  Guatemala  not  more  than 
two  or  three  cleanings  are  given.  The  cactus  must  also  be  pruned 
at  least  twice  in  the  year,  once  at  the  commencement  of  the  rearing 
season  in  May,  to  make  it  sprout  strongly,  and  again  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  dry  season  in  October,  when  it  is  necessary  to  re- 
