To the persevering exertions of a French gentleman, M. Thierry de Menonville, it was owing that the culture of the cochineal became known in the West India islands. This gentleman left Port au Prince, in St. Domingo, in January 1777, with the express object of procuring some living cochineal insects of the finest sort from Mexico, and bringing them for propagation in the French West India islands; an enterprise for the expense of which the French government had allotted the sum of four thousand livres. Owing to the jealousy of the Spanish government, there was great difficulty in penetrating as far as the cochineal districts, and M. Thierry pursued a plan to effect his object which cannot be considered justifiable, since it involved a departure from truth. At first he feigned ill health, and obtained permission to use the baths of the river Magdalena; but, instead of going thither, he proceeded as fast as possible in the direction of the desired district, where he was successful in getting some plants laden with cochineal, as a pretended remedy for gout. From his account of the expedition we gather the following particulars.
After numerous fatigues and dangers he at length saw himself near the end of his journey, and approached Guaxaca. At a village, within a short distance of that place, he saw, for the first time in his life, and with the utmost pleasure, the fine cochineal feeding on the nopal, or cactus, which it frequents. He saw a garden full of nopals, and not doubting but that they were laden with cochineal insects, he sprang from his horse, and, under pretence of adjusting his stirrups, entered into conversation with the Indian proprietor of the garden. He asked him with apparent indifference what was the use of those plants, and was answered, that they were for the cultivation of grana. Feigning surprise, de Menonville asked to be permitted to see this grana, and he was really astonished when the insect was brought to him, for he had supposed it red, and it was in fact covered with a white powder. “My doubts,” he says, “were tormenting, but I suddenly thought of the expedient of crushing one upon white paper, when what did I see?—the true purple of kings!” Full of delight and anticipation, the traveller now set forward towards the spot where he might hope to make himself acquainted with the culture of the precious insect, and purchase a store for transportation.
Nothing could be more beautiful than the situation of Guaxaca, capital of the province of that name. Standing in the midst of fertile and extensive plains, at the foot of a majestic mountain range, and watered by a fine and noble river, this city is richly supplied with corn and fruits of all kinds, at the same time that its environs supply a most favourable site for the culture of the cochineal. The air, continually refreshed by easterly breezes in the morning, and westerly in the evening, is pure and delicious, like that of a May morning. Indeed, our traveller asserts, that for magnificence of site, beauty of decoration, excellence of soil, fine temperature, and abundance of European and American fruits succeeding each other without intermission, nothing is wanting to Guaxaca to make it an enchanting spot, but an active and industrious people, to avail themselves of its natural advantages.
At Guaxaca de Menonville acted with caution, and did not betray any undue anxiety respecting the cochineals. Yet he provided himself with chests large enough for their conveyance together with the plants on which they fed. Under pretence of buying flowers, he went into a garden where there was a beautiful nopalerie, and while they were making up the bouquet he had ordered, he took the opportunity of observing the arrangement of the nopals. They were planted four feet apart in lines, the lines being six feet asunder. The nopalerie belonged to a negro, and it was here that a purchase might in all probability be effected. On another occasion, therefore, de Menonville took two Indian servants, each bearing a large hamper, and repaired very early in the morning to the garden. He left his servants at the entrance, and entered alone. The negro proprietor had scarcely risen, but he came forward in a frank and agreeable manner. De Menonville then told him, that being a physician, he was anxious to make an ointment of his own invention for the cure of gout, and for this purpose he wished to purchase some branches of nopals laden with cochineal, for which he was willing to pay whatever the owner should demand, provided he might make his own selection of the branches suitable to his purpose. The Indian willingly complied, and accordingly the hampers were brought in, and eight fine branches, each two feet high and so loaded with cochineals as to be quite white, were speedily cut, packed, and covered with cloths. He then asked him how much he had to pay; the negro answered that he could not possibly sell them for less than two reals. Our traveller fully believed him, and would have purchased them, if necessary, at a much larger sum. That the negro might not think him dissatisfied with the bargain, he gave him a piaster (value eight reals), telling him he had no change, and therefore he should give him the rest to drink his health. The good old negro rubbed his eyes, thinking he was still dreaming, and then loaded de Menonville with thanks, while the latter brought in his two Indians, gave them the hampers to carry, and then set off as fast as possible. “My heart,” he says, “beat quickly, for it seemed to me that I had carried off the golden fleece, but might yet be pursued by the furious dragon who kept guard over it. All along the road I kept saying, ‘At last they are in my power;’ and I could willingly have sung for joy if I had not been afraid of being heard. I arrived at my inn quite out of breath, without having met a single person in the streets; it was about sunrise; no one was awake in the house, and I crept quietly to my room, where I arranged my nopals, with inexpressible delight, in the caskets I had purchased for that purpose.”
COCHINEAL CACTUS.
After innumerable difficulties and dangers this traveller reached St. Domingo in safety, but with only a small part of his insects living. These, however, he was successful in rearing and multiplying until a flourishing nopalerie was established. He found, by experience, that five or six species of cactus opuntia will nourish these insects, but that some are far more valuable than others. He also proved that the colours of the flowers and fruit of the plants, whether red, violet, yellow, or white, did not in any way affect the colour of the cochineal, nor indicate the greater or less aptitude of the plant to nourish the insect. The thorny species were less convenient on account of the pain and annoyance to the hands of those who managed the nursery; but in some of these the younger branches were nearly free from prickles.
The terms nopalerie for the nursery, and nopal for the plant, are preserved among the French cultivators of cochineal, in remembrance of the Mexican origin of such nurseries. The enclosure should be secured by walls or a quick hedge; not from the fear that any animal will prey upon the plants, since no large quadruped is known to have a taste for them; but simply to keep out such as might by accident or fear be driven through the grounds, and trample on and destroy the crop.
An acre, or an acre and a half of land, when planted with nopals, is sufficient to keep one Indian well employed during six months of the year. The plants should be so situated as to receive the full influence of the morning sun, which is of great consequence to the welfare of the cochineal. Every part of the ground should be as neat as a well-kept garden, and every injurious insect watched for and destroyed. The spider alone is permitted to weave her nets in peace, and for this reason: she is the great enemy of many insects which injuriously affect the cochineals, while she herself does not touch one of them. The nopal requires a good soil, where the drainage is excellent. Shelter from the wind, and exposure to the sun, are the two great requisites, and with this there must be a tolerably settled climate, otherwise the harvest will be uncertain.
When in a favourable situation, the nopal requires less care and cultivation than almost any other plant: it would even appear that the less it is meddled with the better it succeeds. As soon as a nursery ground is laid out, cleaned, and drained, planting commences, the season being the dry period just before the spring rains. Alleys or paths are marked out, forming squares: parallel lines are drawn across these squares north and south. Here the nopals are planted at two feet distance from each other, being clean cuttings from the old plant, and not torn or broken from it. The Indians of Guaxaca plant two or three cuttings in each hole, lest any accident should prevent one from striking. Eighteen months afterwards the plants will be in a state to nourish the cochineal.