Prickly pears ( mostly " Opuntia stricta " ) were imported into Australia in the 19th century for use as a natural agricultural fence and in an attempt to establish a cochineal dye industry.
12.
Commerce in cochineal dye expanded in the Canary Islands during the 19th century well into the 1880s, when trade in this product plummeted, which, together with the coffee boom and the war crisis in Cuba, depressed their economy.
13.
Prickly pears ( mostly " Opuntia stricta " ) were originally imported into Australia in the 18th century for gardens, and were later used as a natural agricultural fencing and in an attempt to establish a cochineal dye industry.
14.
While the cultivation of some exports such as indigo and cochineal dye worked harmoniously with the surrounding indigenous vegetation, other crops such as sugar required clear-cutting of land and mass quantities of firewood to fuel the refining process, which spurred rapid, destructive deforestation.
15.
Current health concerns over artificial food additives have renewed the popularity of cochineal dyes, and the increased demand is making cultivation of the insect an attractive opportunity in other regions, such as in Mexico, where cochineal production had declined again owing to the numerous natural enemies of the scale insect.
16.
The noncommissioned officer's red coat issued under the warrant of 1768, was dyed with a mixture of madder-red and cochineal to produce a " lesser scarlet "; brighter than the red worn by other ranks but cheaper than the pure cochineal dyed garment purchased by officers as a personal order from military tailors.
