We have often heard people speak of butter and cheese being colored, but
did not know that the dairyman was obliged to send to the West Indies
for his dye. The bush which provides it is called the annotto or
annatto. It grows to the size of the quince tree. The leaves are
heart-shaped; and the rosy flowers are followed by fuzzy red-and-yellow
pods, something like chestnut burs.
These small burs are filled with a crimson pulp containing many seeds.
This pulp is immersed in water a few weeks, strained and boiled to a
paste. The paste is made into cakes and dried in the sun. Then it comes
to our country and appears upon our tables in butter or cheese.
Can you tell me where bay rum comes from? We have often wondered, and
find here an answer to the question. It is furnished by the bay tree,
which grows here. The leaves are distilled and the oil extracted from
them to furnish this perfume for the bath.