28 T R A V E L S T H R O U G H S P A IN ,
boughs i if to this obfervation we add, that as the
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new kermes which come forth in June, remain fmall
without engaging our attention till March enfuing, when
they begin to iwell without any appearance o f animal
life, it will not be thought fo extraordinary, that they
have been generally held as a vegetable production.
In Languedoc, and Provence, the poor are employed
to gather the kermes, the women letting their nails grow
for that purpofe, in order to pick them off with greater
facility.
. The cuftorn of lopping off the boughs is very injudicious,
as by this means they deftroy the next year’s har-
veft. Some women will gather two or three pounds a day,
the great point being to know the places where they are
moft likely to be found in any quantity, and to gather
them early with the morning dew, as the leaves are
more pliable and tender at that time, than after they have
been dried and parched by the rays of the fun: ftrong
dews' will occafionally make them fall from the trees
fooner than ufual : when the proper feafon paffes, they*
fall off of themfelves, and become food for birds, particularly
doves. Sometimes there will be a fecond production,
which is commonly of a lefs iize with a fainter
tinge. The firft is generally found adhering to the
bark, as well as on the branches and ftalks; the fecond
is principally on the leaves, as the worms choofe
that
that part where the nutritious juice preferves itfelf the
longeft. is moft abundant, and can be moft eafily de- O " v '
voured in the fhort time that remains of their exiftence,
the bark being then drier and harder than the leaves.
. Thofe who buy the kermes to fencl -to foreign parts,
fpread it on linnen, taking care to fprinkle it with
vinegar, to kill the worms that are within, which produces
a red duft which in Spain is feperated from the hulk.
Then they let it dry, paffmg it through a fearce, and
make it up into bags. In the middle o f each its proportion
of red duft put in a little leather bag alfo belongs
to the buyer, and then it is ready for exportation, being
always in demand on the African coaft.
The people o f Hinojos, Bonares, Villalba, and other
parts of the kingdom of Seville, dry it on mats in the
fun, ftirrifig it about, and feparating the red duft,
which is the fineft part, and being mixed with vinegar,
goes by the name of Pajlel. The fame is done with the
hulks ; but thefe have but half the value of the duft.
There is no doubt, but if this branch of induftry was
more clofely attended to, there is yet room for improvement,
and the kermes would give a brighter colour,
iimilar to that obtained from the cochineal, likewife an infed
found in the Mexican woods on a plant called nopal