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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77026 ***
+
+
+
+
+
+  Bulletin No. 21, Division of Botany.        PLATE I.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 1.--VANILLA IN FLOWER--SOME OF THE FLOWERS ALREADY
+GROWN INTO SMALL PODS.]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 2.--VANILLA IN FAIR CROP, ON BARS AND POSTS UNDER
+SHADE.]
+
+
+
+
+  BULLETIN NO. 21.          S. P. I., No. 2.
+
+  U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,
+  DIVISION OF BOTANY.
+
+  VANILLA CULTURE
+  AS PRACTICED IN THE SEYCHELLES ISLANDS.
+
+  BY
+
+  S. J. GALBRAITH.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+  WASHINGTON:
+  GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.
+  1898.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+                                                                 Page.
+
+  Introduction to Mr. Galbraith’s paper, by D. G. Fairchild          7
+
+  General conditions                                                 9
+
+  Starting a vanillery                                              10
+
+  Preparing the vines for cropping                                  13
+
+  Pollination of the flowers                                        15
+
+  Curing the pods for market                                        17
+
+  Miscellaneous information and notes                               21
+
+  Summary                                                           23
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+
+  PLATE.
+
+  PLATE I.                                                       Page.
+
+  Fig. 1, vanilla in flower--some of the flowers already
+          grown into small pods; fig. 2, vanilla in fair
+          crop, on bars and posts under shade             Frontispiece
+
+  TEXT FIGURES.
+
+  FIG. 1. Hand pollination of the vanilla flower                    16
+
+  FIG. 2. Plan of curing house                                      19
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION TO MR. GALBRAITH’S PAPER.
+
+By D. G. FAIRCHILD.
+
+
+The following paper on vanilla culture has been prepared by Mr. S.
+J. Galbraith, of Mahé, Seychelles Islands, who was for some time
+associated with Mr. W. T. Swingle, agricultural explorer of the Section
+of Seed and Plant Introduction, in the preparation of a joint memoir on
+the culture and disease of vanilla in those islands.
+
+As the second part of the report, which deals with the disease,
+has not been completed, it seems desirable not to delay longer the
+publication of this part, relating to vanilla culture, inasmuch as it
+is practically complete in itself.
+
+Although the vanilla is a plant native to America, its culture is now
+carried on most extensively and successfully in Bourbon, Seychelles,
+Mauritius, Madagascar, and other islands lying in the Tropics in the
+Indian Ocean east of Africa, as well as in the Island of Tahiti in the
+South Pacific.
+
+The vanilla industry is a very important one in the Seychelles Islands,
+and Mr. Galbraith, himself for many years a successful planter, is in a
+most favorable position to write on the subject of vanilla culture.
+
+The vanilla is a climbing orchid, the nearly mature pod of which is
+the part known to trade and that which furnishes vanilla flavoring.
+The plant grows wild only in the Tropics, and is so sensitive to cold
+that its culture can be successful only in regions absolutely free from
+frost.
+
+The recent annexation of the Hawaiian Islands, Puerto Rico, and other
+tropical territory has added to our domain regions which there is
+reason to believe will prove admirably suited to the cultivation of
+this plant.
+
+The competition of artificial vanilla, prepared synthetically by
+chemical methods, has not proved to be of any considerable importance.
+Indeed, the price of good vanilla has risen during recent years
+probably because of the ravages of disease in the islands where it is
+principally grown.
+
+Prospective growers will be greatly aided in finding suitable climates
+and soil by Mr. Galbraith’s recommendations on these points.
+
+The disease mentioned in various places in this bulletin is the one
+described in the second as yet unpublished part of the original memoir.
+It is of fungous origin, of great destructiveness, and spreads during
+moist hot weather very rapidly, frequently causing total destruction
+of large plantations in a month. During recent years it has seriously
+crippled the vanilla industry in Seychelles, Bourbon, and other islands
+of the Indian Ocean. This malady spreads with extraordinary rapidity
+where plants are crowded and allowed to intertwine, and for this
+reason Mr. Galbraith advises against close planting, though in regions
+free from the disease such culture might well prove more profitable
+than the methods here advocated.
+
+Without going into details, it may be unhesitatingly affirmed from the
+results of Mr. Galbraith’s very thorough and painstaking studies that
+the malady is of such great destructiveness, spreads so rapidly, and
+is so difficult to control, that it would, if ever introduced, ruin
+probably forever the prospects of successful vanilla culture in our new
+territories.
+
+_It becomes, then, a matter of absolutely vital importance to keep the
+disease out of Hawaii and Puerto Rico if it is ever proposed to grow
+vanilla there._
+
+No surer method of destroying in advance the hope of establishing this
+highly profitable industry could be conceived than that of carrying
+out the first thought that would occur to an enterprising prospective
+cultivator, viz, of sending to the islands of the Indian Ocean, where
+vanilla culture is most highly developed, for a stock of plants to use
+in starting a vanillery.
+
+The only possible way of safeguarding our new domains against this
+disease is to prohibit absolutely the introduction of living vanilla
+plants except by the Government, and then only after inspection by a
+competent plant pathologist.
+
+Fortunately vanilla plants may be multiplied very rapidly if placed
+under favorable conditions, and from a small stock of disease-free
+plants it would soon be possible to stock all the islands.
+
+The Secretary of Agriculture proposes to secure such perfectly healthy
+plants for distribution to planters wishing to experiment with vanilla
+culture, and it is hoped that meanwhile, in the absence of any definite
+legislation on the subject, public opinion will prevent any promiscuous
+importation of vanilla cuttings.
+
+As soon as the plants begin to yield pods the services of an expert
+should be secured to superintend the curing, for which specially
+constructed apparatus is required, and to report on the quality of the
+product.
+
+There is every prospect for the successful establishment of vanilla
+culture in Hawaii and Puerto Rico, provided suitable soils and climates
+be found, and provided the disease be excluded. Certainly an industry
+which yielded to the small island of Tahiti in 1897 $172,295, to the
+Seychelles $246,600 in 1897, and to Réunion $560,563 in 1892 is worthy
+the serious attention of prospective cultivators. The desirability of
+publishing a practical paper on the subject at this time is emphasized
+by the conviction that both Hawaii and Puerto Rico offer suitable
+fields for the introduction of this industry.
+
+
+
+
+VANILLA CULTURE AS PRACTICED IN THE SEYCHELLES ISLANDS.
+
+By S. J. GALBRAITH.
+
+
+
+
+GENERAL CONDITIONS.
+
+
+Vanilla cuttings are said to have been first introduced into the
+Seychelles Islands in 1866, probably from Bourbon (La Réunion), where
+the plant was grown extensively after sugar began to fail, about
+1850. Plantations were gradually established and extended by the
+multiplication of these original plants and from others subsequently
+imported, and for many years now the colony’s prosperity has largely
+depended on vanilla.
+
+If kept free from disease it is a plant of extraordinary vitality; and
+here, where moisture and heat, its main requirements, are both ample,
+the sort of soil it is grown in seems to be of no great importance,
+provided that, if it be very poor, the roots are kept well supplied
+with manure. It is cultivated in the Seychelles from near sea level
+to 1,800 feet altitude, and does well (except for disease) at all
+altitudes between these extremes.
+
+The rainfall is generally about 100 inches--that is in Port Victoria,
+which lies low; in the hills the precipitation is probably from 10 to
+30 per cent greater; and in drier districts, away from high lands,
+where little timber is left, it must be considerably less. The fall is
+fairly evenly distributed throughout the year, but a dry spell, which
+is necessary to bring vanilla into flower, is to be looked for in July,
+August, or September, while the heaviest rains most frequently come
+in December. Even where rain has not fallen for some time the air is
+very moist, and for want of more exact information on this head it may
+be stated that, generally speaking, in the hills common table salt
+will deliquesce in a day or two if left uncovered. The range of shade
+temperature for day and night, from sea level to 1,800 feet, may be
+put at 90° to 70° F. The former is exceptional, the latter frequent,
+especially in early morning when the monsoon is blowing. Occasionally
+68° may be registered, but seldom lower. Of soils, three very different
+sorts may be mentioned, in all of which vanilla does well here: (1)
+Rich vegetable mold, common enough in forest land as a thin surface
+skin, and also occurring deeper in valley bottoms. For a quick growth
+this is excellent. (2) A greasy red clay, also in fair quantity, on
+which vanilla makes good growth. (3) Coarse quartz sand, or gravel,
+apparently derived from disintegrated granite, not common, but met with
+in considerable patches here and there. Though so unpromising to look
+at, this is, perhaps, the best of all. It gives free drainage to the
+roots, and in wet years plants fixed on it are more likely to crop than
+those on closer soils, while with ample manuring they grow remarkably
+well.
+
+The manner of setting out plantations in the Seychelles has undergone
+changes within the last twelve years. Formerly plantations were seen
+with the rows of vines planted so close together as scarce to leave
+room for workers to pass between them. The yield per acre under such
+conditions was sometimes enormous, but when disease once started in a
+vanillery thus arranged its destruction was rapid and complete, so this
+system has been mostly given up. Since the loss of so many close-lined
+plantations the distance between the rows has been increased. Living
+wood, i. e., small trees, are used as supports for the vines, these
+being festooned from fork to fork; but many planters have made use
+of hard-wood posts and bars, the former being notched on top and the
+latter laid in the notches, resting thus from 4 to 6 feet from the
+ground, according to fancy. Over these bars the plants are hung (Pl.
+1), being looped up as growth is put on. Wire is sometimes also used
+instead of horizontal bars. It is much cheaper, but otherwise has
+disadvantages, notable among which is that it sways with wind and is
+liable to break the vines, the curvature being too sharp over such a
+small round surface. However, when plants thicken into a mass this last
+drawback mostly disappears.
+
+A third, and, as the writer believes, much better way of growing
+vanilla, is now more generally coming into practice. This is to plant
+each creeper on a tree of its own, and where land is cheap it is an
+advantage if these are well apart. So arranged, the general maintenance
+of a vanillery is certainly more expensive, inasmuch as isolated plants
+require more manure than when the same number are closely grouped
+together. The work of flower pollination and crop gathering is also
+more laborious. But more than a counterpoise to these disadvantages is
+the increased security this method of planting gives against wholesale
+destruction from disease; for when so arranged a sick plant can be
+removed and destroyed with greater chance of this being done before any
+of its neighbors become affected; whereas when growths of different
+plants are interwoven, either in their roots or shoots, it is difficult
+to know when enough has been taken up, and there is every likelihood of
+the disease becoming established beyond control.
+
+
+
+
+STARTING A VANILLERY.
+
+
+To give some notion of how a vanilla plantation is set out and carried
+on in this colony, it will be convenient to assume that the tree method
+of planting is the one adopted. A great variety of trees will serve
+the purpose. Here, on most properties, there is an abundance ready
+for the work; but of course where this is not the case suitable trees
+must first be planted. In selecting trees those should be chosen which
+do not grow too large, but give moderate foliage (about half shade)
+without ever losing all their leaves at once, and having plenty of
+branches from 5 to 7 feet from the ground, affording forks enough to
+train the vines through.
+
+No hard and fast rule can be laid down as to the distance trees
+should be kept apart. Here formerly, as above stated, vanilla was
+grown in dense masses with great success for a time. Elsewhere it may
+be advantageously so grown now. However, it is safe to state that
+overcrowding in any kind of planting invites disease, and the farther
+plants are kept apart the more likely are they to remain healthy. A
+4-foot radius would be a moderate allowance for the roots of a vigorous
+vanilla plant, and if 1 foot is kept clear around the circle allowed to
+each plant’s roots this would give 9 feet as the distance between the
+trees. It would be difficult to insure the plants being kept distinct
+in less space. Where suitable trees are already growing on the land to
+be planted, these can be thinned out if too close, or they may be left
+in small lots of three or four or more together, a sufficient clear
+space intervening between each lot; but in that case if one vine of a
+group showed disease the whole would have to be removed. Many trees
+stand topping, and it is a great advantage when they do, for on being
+cut 7 feet or so from the ground branches spring from near the cut part
+at a convenient height, and the best situated of those can be chosen to
+train the vines through, the rest that grow awkwardly being removed.
+About 5 feet from the base is low enough to allow any to grow.
+
+Trees being in readiness, planting may be done at any time of year
+here. If during a wet spell, vanilla will sprout all the quicker;
+should it be dry, the plants will delay a little, but there is no
+fear of their missing if properly planted, and the one danger point
+to guard is where the vine leaves the earth. This part of the vine is
+burnt through if not shaded with grass or leaves. However, this also
+would only mean a little delay in the start of growth; for though they
+take some time longer about it, vanilla cuttings will grow well enough
+if merely tied to the trees with their lower ends some inches clear
+of the ground. Illustrative of the extreme vitality of plants under
+adverse conditions, it may be mentioned that in neglected plantations,
+where the vines have been allowed to climb well up into the branches of
+good-sized trees, and then been broken in attempting to get them down,
+the broken portions, sometimes partly swinging free, have remained
+green and capable of growth for upwards of a year, sending down long
+aerial roots 15 or 20 feet in length, and in some cases where these
+have escaped injury the broken plant may reestablish connection with
+the soil and start to grow again. If planted clear of the ground and
+merely tied to the supporting tree, it is advisable to tie two or three
+large leaves round each vine for the distance of 3 feet up; thus shaded
+the aerial roots quickly burst through the stem, and, getting something
+to cling to at once, soon make their way to earth without injury.
+
+In starting a new vanillery, where the estate has no plants these
+are readily purchased here at small cost. From 2 to 3 rupees (55 to
+90 cents) per 100 fathoms is the usual rate for cuttings, the fathom
+being what a man can span with outspread arms, a good sweep of the
+vine hanging in a curve between his hands. Where choice is possible,
+although oldish cuttings will grow pretty well, it is best to have the
+plants of recent growth; in fact, growing shoots, cut off close to
+where they spring from the parent vine, are preferable. At their point
+of origin the nodes for some distance are close together, and though
+roots will strike from any joints, they have a natural tendency to do
+so quicker at the shoot’s base. As to the length of cuttings to plant,
+opinions differ; but there can be no question that the longer cuttings
+produce cropping plants sooner than the short ones. If a 2 or 3-foot
+branch is planted, the shoot it gives is invariably more slender and
+slower of growth than would be that from a 6-foot cutting, and up to
+10 or 12 feet every advantage lies with the longer plants, except the
+additional expense.
+
+The question as to whether cuttings of that length are to be planted
+whole or divided into two or three plants should be settled by their
+cost. It is usual here to loosen the soil with a hoe where vanilla is
+to be planted, and bury the end, laid horizontally, an inch or two in
+the earth. Quite as good a way is merely to press the lower part of
+the plant into the soft soil until it is flush with the surface. On
+sloping land loosened soil washes away sooner with heavy rain, and in
+such situations it is best to leave the ground quite undisturbed. In
+any case the leaves on that part of the vine which rests in or on the
+ground are cut off fairly close to the stem, and an arm full of leaves,
+fern, grass, or forest sweepings laid on top to the depth of 3 or 4
+inches, for a couple of feet around the plant. Its roots will not need
+to be mulched for a greater distance than that for some months to come,
+and to cover a larger area would be useless. As new top dressings are
+laid on, which must be done when the first supply rots down and becomes
+thin, these can be gradually extended to allow of more root spread,
+till the limit of 4 feet radius is reached. If well covered, the roots
+do not run much; only starved vines run far with their roots, seeking
+nourishment; where this is plentiful they mat in and beneath it. Being
+entirely surface feeders, should any make their way beyond the cover
+they can be gently lifted and tucked under the decaying leaves, etc.;
+but this is a hint that the plant needs a new supply of top dressing.
+The number of joints laid on or in the soil will vary with the length
+of the plant, but should not be less than three for this mode of
+planting, while for long cuttings six or seven joints are needed for a
+quick start.
+
+If of sufficient length, the free end of the planted vine is hung
+through a fork of the supporting tree, but it is also advisable to tie
+it in two or three places to the tree to hinder swinging and chafing.
+The material used for these ties here is a fiber called _vacoa_[1]
+which rots in about a year, by which time the plants should have
+tendril-like roots enough to steady themselves. When once properly
+planted, the cuttings will need little or no attention for some months,
+but when the growth becomes vigorous the shoots must be looked after.
+Such of them as have grown clear of their supports are hitched up and,
+if long enough, hung through one of the forks. An occasional tie here
+may also be necessary, but in general a leaf or two of the growing part
+can be hooked on to some other fixed part of the vine, and in a few
+days, unless blown loose, the tendrils will have fastened to the leaf,
+and thus support the plant. Shoots must not be allowed to climb very
+high among branches of the supporting tree, especially if there be many
+and close together, or there will be breakages in getting them down.
+For this purpose, when they get beyond hand reach, a forked stick 6 or
+7 feet long is useful. The fork is worked between the tree and climbing
+vine, and its tendrils in succession are broken by pushing and twisting
+the stick when they are within the fork. The last two or three tendrils
+are easily broken or leave the tree without breaking, and care should
+be taken when the vine is nearly clear to catch the stem of it high up,
+within the stick’s fork; it can then be lowered gently without fear of
+breaking.
+
+Some judgment is necessary in selecting the fork of the tree through
+which each shoot is to hang, a fork whose height fits in with a natural
+bend of the vine, if it has one, being chosen; otherwise one whose
+height takes the vine between joints is best, since if bent at a joint
+the vine is apt to snap, especially so when in vigorous growth, being
+then full of sap and brittle. In good growing weather--i. e., warm,
+still, and moist--healthy, well-nourished vanilla vines grow very
+rapidly, an inch per day being no uncommon rate.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] Obtained from a species of screw pine, _Pandanus utilis_.
+
+
+
+
+PREPARING THE VINES FOR CROPPING.
+
+
+If the plants have done well they should be ready for such preparation
+in about eighteen months, more or less, according to the season.
+Formerly in this colony they were allowed to grow on until a spell of
+dry weather set in prior to the usual blossoming time. The growing
+ends were then cut off and all new shoots removed as they showed till
+flowers began to come or till the season for them was past. When the
+dry spell proved a long one, this seemed to answer pretty well; and,
+indeed, under these circumstances flowers would come in any case,
+whether growth was checked or not. But now it is more usual to stop the
+growing ends some nine or ten months, in the first instance, before
+flowering time. In the majority of cases the terminal bud will push,
+and this new shoot should also be removed when 5 or 6 inches long--not
+earlier, else the next to the last bud is apt to grow.
+
+After the second checking most vines will shoot far enough back to
+allow of the shoots being left. These grow on for the next year,
+and the stopped branches hang down with their lower ends a good foot
+or more from the ground, being generally from 4 to 6 feet in length,
+according to the heights of the forks through which they are hung and
+the positions of the new shoots, though these generally spring just
+before the last bends of the checked branches, which are to be the
+cropping parts. The new growths behind these are supposed to drain
+them of their sap, and thus conduce to flowering. However that may be,
+these checked hanging branches have certainly more tendency to flower
+than other parts of the vines. Flowers take some six weeks to develop
+from the moment they burst through the buds to their time of opening,
+but this period varies in length with the weather, continuous dryness
+retarding and moderate showers hastening their development when once
+started.
+
+The growing branches of vines should now be checked again for the
+following year’s crop. These will be less troublesome in putting
+out inconvenient shoots, as the plant’s sap is more apt to go into
+flowering branches, where nourishment is now more needed. Could the
+whole work be performed in a few days, this change in the direction
+of sap flow should be done preferably ten days or a fortnight before
+flowers begin to open. In a large plantation, unless the hands are very
+numerous or the shoots have been arranged beforehand so that there
+is little else to do than cut their ends, it will take some weeks
+to accomplish this, and therefore work must begin earlier or finish
+later. If the dry spell necessary for flowering has lasted a good while
+and can fairly be depended upon to continue long enough, the growing
+ends may be cut earlier; but it must be borne in mind that if rain in
+quantity comes too soon and, in addition to the stimulus given by it,
+the branches intended for flowering have also the sap from previously
+growing shoots poured into them, the chance of their cropping well will
+be much diminished. Many a promise of a fine crop is ruined by too
+early rain here. The country, climate, and the planters’ skill as a
+weather prophet must govern this undertaking.
+
+An abundant supply of leaf mold should be in readiness for laying on
+the roots at this season, and should be applied when flowers begin to
+open, or a little before. If previous dressings have been so timed that
+vines are in a somewhat starved condition when flowering is expected,
+the chances of a good blossoming are increased, but this practice needs
+judgment, or a poor quality of pods will be the result.
+
+There used to be a story current here, no doubt with some grain
+of truth in it, to the effect that in a very wet season the only
+vanilla planter who had any crop was one whose pigs had got adrift
+in his plantation and spent the night in grubbing up vanilla roots.
+This method of producing flowers is not recommended, but it is quite
+possible that careful and systematic root pruning might be carried on
+with advantage in wet years, if one could tell beforehand when these
+were coming.
+
+
+
+
+POLLINATION OF THE FLOWERS.
+
+
+The work of flower fertilization (pollination)--for they have all to be
+fertilized by hand, and that on the day they open--is mostly done by
+women and children. The operation is a very simple one, and an average
+negro will acquire the knack after being shown a few examples. (See
+fig. 1.)
+
+The flower is taken in the left hand, three fingers being placed at its
+back and the thumb in front, the column with organs of fertilization
+on top being supported against the middle sepal behind. A bit of hard
+wood, cut to the size of a toothpick and scraped smooth and flat at one
+end, is the only tool required; this is held in the right hand. To get
+at the organs of fertilization easily, the sack which grows from the
+side of the column enveloping its front and marking the sexual organs
+is pressed down by the bit of wood, or this is run through its base,
+and the sack torn up, or the whole sack may be plucked off with finger
+and thumb, it matters not how it is laid open, so long as this is done
+quickly and without injury to any other part of the flower. The smooth
+end of the fecundating instrument is then laid flat on the front of the
+column just beneath the organs of fertilization, and being pushed up it
+catches under the flap which keeps the pollen from coming into contact
+with the stigma. The flap is raised along with the stick till it lies
+flat against the upper part of the column, being held in that position
+by the bit of wood. The stamen, at first raised along with the flap,
+now falls down again in its original position, and the flap being out
+of the way the pollen comes into contact with the stigma, and a slight
+pressure of the thumb on the stamen lodges the pollen in the position
+required; the bit of stick being then quickly but gently withdrawn, the
+operation is complete.
+
+The whole affair is very much easier done than described, and with
+flowers fairly numerous an ordinary hand will fecundate a hundred or so
+per hour. Early morning, from 7 to 9, is the best time for fertilizing;
+but the work may be started with sunrise and carried on well into the
+afternoon, though about midday flowers begin to close some and the work
+goes slower. Most plants in full crop produce many more flowers than it
+is advisable to fertilize, for other parts of the vines, besides the
+checked hanging branches, blossom in favorable seasons, and the number
+of pods which a vine is able to mature properly must be estimated
+from the plant’s size and condition. In the course of four or five
+years, though by that time the planted cutting will be spent, if well
+cared for it will have grown a large quantity of vine; and as each new
+shoot, when long enough, sends down aerial roots in its own behalf, it
+becomes, so to speak, an independent plant and the parent of others.
+If none of the shoots from a strong growing vine have been removed the
+mass of growth in time becomes enormous, and may be equal to maturing
+a hundred or more good pods. When the supporting tree is stout and
+furnishes forks enough to admit of the vine being spread out so as to
+let plenty of air through it the vine may be allowed to accumulate to
+this extent, and if it gives, say, 20 clusters, each yielding 10 or
+more flowers, 5 or 6 might be fertilized on each.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+FIG. 1.--Hand pollination of the vanilla flower (after A. Delteil,
+La Vanille, Paris, 1897, Pl. 2). _a_ shows the position of hands,
+needle, and flower in the operation of pollination, first stage; _b_,
+operation of pollination, second stage; _c_, flower with male organs
+raised (pollen masses shown at 1); _d_, flower from which outer parts
+have been removed, showing pollen masses at 1, stigma at 2, and the
+gynostemium at 3; _e_, perfect flower; _f_, longitudinal section
+through male and female organs of the flower before hand pollination,
+showing pollen mass in the anther or male organ at 1; _g_, similar
+section after hand pollination, showing the pollen mass applied to the
+stigma at 1. ]
+
+But, generally speaking, about 30 pods to a vine is as many as should
+be left, and he would be a lucky planter who should average that
+number. In selecting flowers to fertilize those should be chosen which
+spring from the lower part and from the sides of the flower stalks,
+from which position they grow straighter pods than those coming out
+on top. In favorable weather, i. e., moist but not heavy rain (which
+latter often washes the pollen grains away before they germinate),
+only a small percentage of flowers will fail of fecundation. In case
+of failure, the flower drops off in three days or less, but otherwise
+remains attached to its stalk and slowly withers; the _gynostemium_
+adheres to most pods till they begin to ripen; thus it is easy to see
+the number successfully fecundated in each bunch, and where enough are
+secured the rest can be broken off. Later it is advisable to cut clean
+off with a knife the flower stalk a quarter of an inch or so beyond the
+last fertilized flower. Some planters plaster a bit of sticky clay on
+the cut surface to prevent it rotting back. Dry lime is perhaps better;
+this may be dabbed on with a piece of cloth dipped in the powder.
+
+Pods grow to their full size in five or six weeks, but take some
+eight months, more or less, according to the altitude at which they
+are grown, or the amount of shade over them, before they ripen. The
+indication of ripening is a slight yellowing of the whole pod, which
+is more marked near its free end. When under too much shade the change
+in color is less noticeable, and many pods grown in such places split
+before they are gathered, and for that reason lose in value. To guard
+against splitting, and yet gather them at perfect ripeness, they should
+be gone over every other day. In removing them from the flower stalks
+the pods are grasped one by one near their attached ends, very slightly
+twisted, and at the same time pressed aside with the thumb. They must
+be taken off quite clean. If a bit of the flower stalk comes away with
+a pod, as sometimes will happen, it should be cut off smoothly. Any
+break or crack in the pod itself, however, near its butt, ranks it as
+an inferior quality. Buyers are very particular in this respect. After
+each day’s gathering, before the pods are started on their first stage
+of curing, it is well to sort them roughly into four classes: 1, long;
+2, medium; 3, short; and 4, split.
+
+
+
+
+CURING THE PODS FOR MARKET.
+
+
+There are many different modes of preparing vanilla, but for brevity’s
+sake one alone will be described; it is probably the simplest, and
+appears to be as successful as any other. About 400 of the longest pods
+are placed in a basket and plunged into hot water (190° F.) for ten
+seconds; this is repeated twice, the dips being increased to twelve and
+fifteen seconds respectively, with intervals of half a minute between
+each two. After the third dip, when most of the water has drained off,
+the pods are placed in a wooden box or barrel lined with blankets, and
+closely covered up with the same material. When lot 1 is finished, lot
+2 is similarly treated, and for them the water may be a few degrees
+cooler, or the dipping times a trifle shortened; and so also with lot
+No. 3, while No. 4 may be treated as No. 2. Perhaps it is as well to
+add that 190° F. is not an absolutely essential heat, but is about as
+high as it is safe to go; while even the longest pods may be adequately
+treated in water at 170° F. if they are kept in it long enough. An
+experienced preparer will be guided more by the appearance of the pod
+after each dip than by any fixed formula. Where small quantities are
+dealt with less heat is needed, and the above figures are given for
+a boiler 22 inches in diameter by 12 inches deep. It is best to have
+good-sized boxes or barrels to sweat the pods in, those holding 2,000
+or 3,000 each being preferable, for the more pods there are together
+the better heat is retained. The lots (1, 2, 3, and 4) should be kept
+apart, a fold of blanket being laid on each if all go into one box. By
+the following morning they should have changed to chocolate or puce
+color, and are then ready to spread on the drying shelves; but if there
+is a large number together, and the heat has been well kept in, they
+may be left for another twenty-four hours.
+
+A curing house for preparing a crop up to 2,000 pounds (dry) may have
+the following dimensions and fixings: 30 feet long, 15 feet broad, 13
+feet in height of walls. It should be divided into four compartments,
+two on the ground and two above, each being approximately 15 by 15 and
+6¹⁄₂ feet high. One compartment on the ground floor is used as a hot
+room, having a flue 2 feet wide covered with sheet iron running through
+the center. If the heat is too intense from this, sand may be sprinkled
+on top to reduce it. Above this flue and around two sides of the hot
+chamber tiers of shelves are fixed 6 inches apart, on which the pods
+are spread to dry. The shelves may be conveniently made of laths, on
+top of which mats or canvas can be laid; or fine-meshed wire netting
+would serve the same purpose, perhaps, better than anything else. The
+entire arrangement will be more easily understood by reference to fig.
+2. Compartment No. 1 is the hot room. Dotted lines in it and in Nos. 3
+and 4 indicate where shelves are fixed; D, door; W, window, etc. The
+table is used for sorting green pods on, and is otherwise useful at
+final measuring time and when the pods are tied into packets. No. 3 is
+above No. 1, and is also a warm room, some heat from No. 1 coming up
+through the floor. The clear spaces in Nos. 2 and 4 have fiber mats
+spread on them when required, and on these the pods are handled and
+sorted as they progress in curing. The worker, sitting on the floor,
+keeps the four lots of pods--long, medium, short, and split--distinct
+on the shelves. This facilitates the sorting, the short and split pods
+needing to be examined sooner and oftener than the longer and sound
+sorts, as they dry more rapidly.
+
+A good average heat for the hot chamber is 110° F. A few degrees more
+or less does not matter, but pods are apt to dry too quickly if the
+heat is much greater. The slower the process the more uniform and
+better is the result. As they begin to turn soft and show longitudinal
+wrinkles the pods are removed from room 1 to 3, and after reaching a
+certain degree of flexibility they pass on to the shelves in room 4
+and there finish their curing. If kept too long in either a hot or a
+warm room the thin ends of pods shrink too quickly, and this is to be
+avoided. In a large crop there are always some inferior, ill-nourished
+pods, in which this occurs, but the last remark will be useful to a
+beginner. When fully cured the pods are much wrinkled and pliable,
+bending easily around one’s finger. There is considerable difference in
+the degree of dryness preferred by different curers. If the contents
+move easily all along a pod, without any unevenness being noticed when
+it is drawn between the finger and thumb, it is nearly dry enough; but
+the right stage can only be learned by experience.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 2.--Plan of curing house. (Dotted lines indicate
+where drying shelves are fixed.)]
+
+When finished the pods are well wiped with bits of soft flannel and
+then kept in boxes with close-fitting lids. It is better to sort them
+roughly into lengths as each day’s lot is put away and tie up the
+various sizes in bundles of about 200 each if the numbers allow of it,
+for they have to be examined once or twice a week in order to remove
+the molded ones, and this is much more quickly done with bundles than
+when they are loose. Moreover, it makes the ultimate accurate measuring
+easier. Either at this time or later the different qualities are more
+exactly separated, none but faultless pods, without scar or defect in
+curing, being allowed in the first quality. The rest rank as seconds,
+etc. The split pods and the pods that have been cut on account of mold
+are also kept distinct. It is well to keep a crop at least three or
+four months before marketing. By that time nearly all shaky pods that
+are liable to mold will have shown themselves. All are then measured
+and tied up in neat bundles of 50 pods each of even length, the pods
+varying in length not more than one-eighth of an inch.
+
+The general sightliness of a marketed crop has much influence on the
+price it will bring, and whatever whims buyers get into their heads the
+producer must conform to or suffer in pocket. Bundle tying is something
+of an art, and a deft hand at it is valuable. Sixteen or thereabouts
+of the shapeliest pods in each 50 are selected for the outside; the
+rest are tied up as a core, being kept in position with a few turns of
+the fiber tying cord, while the chosen 16 are carefully placed round
+them. The bundle is tied in either three places, near each end and in
+the middle, or in two places, an inch or more from the ends, according
+to the length of bundle. The core-holding string is pulled out before
+the final tie is fixed. Two-tie packets are boxed as they are. With
+those of three ties buyers prefer that the end cords be removed before
+packing, to enable them to examine the bundles inside and see if the
+contents are of uniform quality. If kept tied some time before being
+packed the bundles set, as it were, and retain their neat shape. The
+tin boxes used here for packing vanilla in measure 12¹⁄₂ by 8¹⁄₂ inches
+in width, are 4¹⁄₂ inches deep, and hold about 12 pounds. Each box has
+a label pasted on it which bears the grower’s trade-mark, the length
+and number of packets, their quality, and net weight, and a similar
+label is put inside. As some chemical action is set up when vanilla
+rests in contact with tin or iron, thin vegetable parchment paper is
+placed in the boxes to keep the two apart. The lids are then sealed
+close with pasted paper and the tins packed in wooden cases, 6 in each,
+and thus dispatched to market.
+
+
+
+
+MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION AND NOTES.
+
+
+A fair crop should average about 100 cured pods to the pound.
+
+  -----------------------------------------------
+                         Pods per pound.
+  -------------+----------------+----------------
+               | Fresh gathered |
+               |    (about).    |  Dry (about).
+  -------------+----------------+----------------
+   9-inch pods |       20       |       65
+   8-inch pods |       25       |       80
+   7-inch pods |       33       |      110
+   6-inch pods |       50       |      160
+  -----------------------------------------------
+
+The following crops, produced on one estate during the last five years,
+will serve to show how uncertain are the returns from vanilla growing
+here:
+
+                                                             Pounds.
+  1893 (long dry spell for flowering time in 1892)             1,800
+  1894 (rain came too soon and spoiled good promise)             120
+  1895 (next to no dry spell for flowering in 1894)               40
+  1896 (excellent promise mostly spoiled by too early rain)      500
+  1897 (similar to the year before)                              600
+
+Expenses for labor during these years would be about 7,000 rupees
+(about $1,800 to $2,000). Present price of vanilla (June, 1897) in
+London market averages about $6 (25s.) per pound. The currency here is
+in Indian money--that is, rupees; nominal value of rupee, 1s. to 2s.,
+but the actual value varies with price of silver and at present ranges
+between 1s. 2d. and 1s. 3d.
+
+The day begins at 6 a. m. and work continues until 5 p. m., or to
+4 p. m. on some properties; 11 to 12 is breakfast time. Rough work
+is quickest got through by giving “tasks,” when the negroes become
+energetic.
+
+Ordinary estate laborers are paid 12 rupees ($3.40) per month; women
+for crop curing, etc., are paid 9 rupees ($2.60) per month; women and
+children for flower fecundating, one-fourth rupee (7 cents) per day,
+the “day” being when work is over, early or late. Vanilla packet tying,
+2 rupees (58 cents) per 100 bundles of 50 pods each; vanilla measuring,
+2 rupees (58 cents) for same quantity (5,000 pods).
+
+Straight-stemmed palms, if stout, may be used for supporting the
+vanilla vines. By driving hard-wood pegs into them obliquely at
+suitable heights the vines can be hung about them as in tree forks.
+
+When long vanilla cuttings are planted near blossoming time, some of
+them often give flowers soon afterwards. It is best to cut these off,
+as cropping a vine when newly planted lessens the growing power, and it
+may hang for many months, but in a regular plantation vines flowering
+too heavily may be relieved by cutting off one or more of the flowering
+branches. These may be planted for the one small crop they will give--3
+or 4, or up to 10 or 12 pods, according to length and vigor. For this
+they may be planted close together on low bars and posts, and need
+well-rotted manure for immediate and abundant nourishment. The best
+time to plant for this is a few days before the first flowers open; if
+cut earlier many of the flowers will die back.
+
+Cropping branches may be allowed to flower for two years if they have
+not missed a season, but never more than that, as the pods they then
+give are invariably very inferior; the best are on young wood a year or
+so old at flowering.
+
+Prunings, when not too old, may be set out to rear new plants from.
+When extending the plantations it is better to plant the shoots from
+the prunings rather than the prunings themselves, if they are over 2
+years old. If flung into jungle, especially among rough ground, rocks,
+etc., where there is shade and decayed leaves, they grow in a wonderful
+way without any attention and yield the best of cuttings. When shoots
+are checked for cropping branches, some of their tendrils occasionally
+elongate into aerial roots, and should then be cut off, or they will
+keep the branch full of sap and hinder its flowering.
+
+Short varieties of grass seem rather beneficial in a plantation;
+cumbersome weeds should be hand pulled, never hoed.
+
+During early crop gathering, before ripe pods are numerous enough to
+make it worth while using the hot room, they are cured under blankets
+in the sun, but have to be taken in at the hottest part of the day
+if sunshine is continuous. This used to be the sole method of curing
+here, and when used now gives excellent results in favorable weather;
+but dependence upon the sun is risky, and on the whole the process is
+cumbersome and costly. Hand trays, that can be piled up on top of each
+other and carried between two men, are used to spread the blankets on,
+a fold being below as well as above the pods, and these are supported
+on low double rails to keep them clear of the ground. In unsettled
+weather showers have to be watched for, and the trays carried under
+shelter till the weather again becomes fair.
+
+If there is a pinch for space in the curing house, pods in the hot room
+may be spread two or three or more deep on the shelves and tumbled up
+daily, i. e., such of them as are not taken off and re-sorted.
+
+In mulching vanilla roots, and especially at crop time, the plants are
+much more benefited if the mulch be of two sorts, well-rotted leaf
+mold being put on first for immediate action, and above it a layer of
+withered fern or the like, which decays more slowly. When heavy top
+dressings of quick-decaying manure, grass, etc., have rotted down,
+they get beaten away by rain, the network of roots becomes exposed,
+and may with advantage be lightly covered with a thin sprinkling of
+good soil. Obviously it is better to apply this before the roots become
+bare or visible. The vanilla roots delight in twisting among stones,
+large and small, and flattening against their lower surface when not
+embedded in the soil. When these are of a convenient size and handy
+in a plantation, the root circuit allowed to each vine may be ringed
+with them. Vanilla may be grown on trees of thick foliage if these are
+of a sort that will stand being well pruned annually. Wild cinnamon,
+which gives dense shade, is sometimes used for this purpose, the
+branches being nearly all cut off each year about pod-ripening time,
+which also lets the sun get at the vines for flowering. The contrast
+between former somewhat dense shade, which has grown since last branch
+trimming, and the strong light let in by the pruning seems to help
+toward blossoming.
+
+Under large, high trees, wide apart, where to plant vines on other
+small-growing wood between them would make the shade too close, vanilla
+may be fixed on tripods of durable wood, the three stakes being tied
+with wire crosswise, some little way from their top ends, so as to
+furnish forks over which the vine creepers may climb. High up in the
+hills here the plants may be grown in this way without any shade at
+all, but the plan is only suitable for level grounds or moderate slopes.
+
+
+
+
+SUMMARY.
+
+
+The foregoing account of vanilla cultivation, being the outcome of
+experience gained in the Seychelles alone, and there chiefly in
+the hills, may need many modifications to adapt it to different
+circumstances pertaining to other lands, and, indeed, possibly may be
+of little use for such. For instance, in a drier climate irrigation
+might be needful, and it would not be necessary with a reliable,
+sufficient annual dry period to prepare vines for flowering by checking
+their sap flow in certain branches, as it is in this colony. This is
+not found necessary in certain districts where the rainfall is not
+such as to keep plants growing continuously, for they stop growing of
+themselves and come into flower without coaxing.
+
+Again, under less favorable growing conditions the vines would need
+more nutriment and attention to stimulate growth.
+
+These and similar considerations which will suggest themselves to the
+reader may serve to save a brief summary from appearing too dogmatic.
+
+The following conditions of climate, method of growing, etc., appear
+to the writer to be most favorable to the successful cultivation and
+handling of the vanilla crop:
+
+_Climate._--With shade temperature ranging about 80° F., never much
+above or below it, and a humid, still atmosphere; a rainfall of 80 to
+100 inches or more, evenly distributed through ten months in the year,
+the remaining two months being dry, with occasional short and very
+light showers--the ten wet mouths for continuous luxuriant growth, the
+two dry ones to check it and bring vines into flower.
+
+_Soil._--A skin of rich vegetable mold resting on a porous substratum.
+Failing that, with the above climate, vanilla should do well on any
+soil if the roots are kept covered with decaying vegetation.
+
+_Situation._--Moderate slopes.
+
+_Shade._--Small-leafed trees to let checkered sunlight through.
+
+_Plants._--Cuttings 10 to 12 feet long of growing shoots, which should
+not cease growing if planted after the dry season, but go straight on
+and flower fully in two years.
+
+_Planting._--Either in line on posts and bars, or on shrubs of suitable
+size and leafage, at the risk of wholesale destruction from disease;
+or plants well kept apart, each on its own support, so that any vine
+showing signs of sickness may be removed before infecting its neighbors.
+
+_Culture._--Plantations to be gone through bimonthly; shoots on the
+ground looped up; climbing branches brought down; decayed leaves,
+etc., laid on roots for manure when needed. Preparations for flowering
+according to climate.
+
+_Cropping._--Flowers to be pollinated in forenoon, preferably such as
+will hang clear and grow straight pods; quantity regulated according to
+mass and vigor of each vine, but not such as to hinder the start of new
+growth for more than two or three months. Pods should be gathered every
+other day.
+
+_Curing._--The slower the better, beginning in a heated room at about
+110° F. for some days, then in a cooler one, 90° to 100° F., finishing
+at ordinary temperature; humidity of air kept down if need be by
+charcoal braziers.
+
+_Marketing._--Qualities and lengths kept distinct, made up in packets
+of 50 pods, and neatly packed in tins holding about 12 pounds each.
+
+_Labor._--Cheapness and intelligence are of the greatest importance
+in vanilla production. The cultivator must himself have his eyes
+everywhere; the best of labor known here deteriorates quickly if left
+to itself.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber’s note
+
+
+Minor punctuation errors have been changed without notice.
+
+In this version, the illustrations are placed differently on the page
+than in the original.
+
+Spelling was retained as in the original except for the following
+changes:
+
+  Page 6:  “2. Plan of curing”              “Fig. 2. Plan of curing”
+  Page 22: “and upon the whole”             “and on the whole”
+
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77026 ***
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+<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77026 ***</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Frontispiece"></span></p>
+<div class="chapter">
+<div class="height">
+<p class="float-left"><span class="float-left">Bulletin No. 21, Division of Botany.</span>
+</p>
+
+<p class="float-right"><span class="float-left">Plate I.</span></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="frontis_1" style="max-width: 50.0em;">
+  <img class="w100" src="images/frontis_1.jpg" alt="">
+  <figcaption>
+      <p><span class="smcap">Fig. 1.</span>—<span class="smcap">Vanilla in flower—some of the flowers already grown into small pods.</span></p>
+  </figcaption>
+</figure>
+
+<br><br>
+
+<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="frontis_2" style="max-width: 50.0em;">
+  <img class="w100" src="images/frontis_2.jpg" alt="">
+  <figcaption>
+      <p><span class="smcap">Fig. 2.</span>—<span class="smcap">Vanilla in fair crop, on bars and posts under shade.</span></p>
+  </figcaption>
+</figure>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<div class="height">
+<p class="float-left"><span class="float-left"><span class="smcap">Bulletin No. 21.</span></span>
+</p>
+
+<p class="float-right"><span class="float-left">S. P. I., No. 2.</span></p>
+</div>
+<p class="ph3">
+  U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,</p>
+<p class="ph4">DIVISION OF BOTANY.</p>
+<h1>VANILLA CULTURE</h1>
+<p class="ph3">AS PRACTICED IN THE SEYCHELLES ISLANDS.</p>
+  <br>
+<p class="ph4">BY</p>
+<p class="ph3">S. J. GALBRAITH.</p>
+  <br>
+  <figure class="figcenter illowp76" id="title_logo" style="width: 6.25em;">
+  <img class="w100" src="images/title_logo.jpg" alt="">
+</figure>
+  <br>
+<p class="ph3">WASHINGTON:</p>
+<p class="ph4">GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.<br>
+  1898.
+</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</span></p>
+<div class="chapter">
+  <h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS">
+    CONTENTS.
+  </h2>
+</div>
+
+<table class="autotable">
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdr">Page.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl">Introduction to Mr. Galbraith’s paper, by D. G. Fairchild</td>
+<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_7">7</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl">General conditions</td>
+<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_9">9</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl">Starting a vanillery</td>
+<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_10">10</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl">Preparing the vines for cropping</td>
+<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_13">13</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl">Pollination of the flowers</td>
+<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_15">15</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl">Curing the pods for market</td>
+<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_17">17</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl">Miscellaneous information and notes</td>
+<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_21">21</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl">Summary</td>
+<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_23">23</a></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</span></p>
+
+
+  <h2 class="nobreak" id="ILLUSTRATIONS">
+    ILLUSTRATIONS.
+  </h2>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<table class="autotable">
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdc">PLATE.</td>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Plate I.</span></td>
+<td class="tdr">Page.</td>
+
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl">Fig. 1, vanilla in flower—some of the flowers already grown into small pods; fig. 2, vanilla in fair crop, on bars and posts under shade</td>
+<td class="tdr"><a href="#Frontispiece">Frontispiece</a></td>
+
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdc">TEXT FIGURES.</td>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Fig. 1</span>. Hand pollination of the vanilla flower</td>
+<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_17">16</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Fig. 2</span>. Plan of curing house</td>
+<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_20">19</a></td>
+
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</span></p>
+
+
+  <h2 class="nobreak" id="INTRODUCTION_TO_MR_GALBRAITHS_PAPER">
+    INTRODUCTION TO MR. GALBRAITH’S PAPER.
+    <br>
+    By <span class="smcap">D. G. Fairchild</span>.
+  </h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>The following paper on vanilla culture has been prepared by Mr.
+S. J. Galbraith, of Mahé, Seychelles Islands, who was for some time
+associated with Mr. W. T. Swingle, agricultural explorer of the Section
+of Seed and Plant Introduction, in the preparation of a joint
+memoir on the culture and disease of vanilla in those islands.</p>
+
+<p>As the second part of the report, which deals with the disease, has
+not been completed, it seems desirable not to delay longer the publication
+of this part, relating to vanilla culture, inasmuch as it is practically
+complete in itself.</p>
+
+<p>Although the vanilla is a plant native to America, its culture is now
+carried on most extensively and successfully in Bourbon, Seychelles,
+Mauritius, Madagascar, and other islands lying in the Tropics in the
+Indian Ocean east of Africa, as well as in the Island of Tahiti in the
+South Pacific.</p>
+
+<p>The vanilla industry is a very important one in the Seychelles Islands,
+and Mr. Galbraith, himself for many years a successful planter, is in a
+most favorable position to write on the subject of vanilla culture.</p>
+
+<p>The vanilla is a climbing orchid, the nearly mature pod of which is
+the part known to trade and that which furnishes vanilla flavoring.
+The plant grows wild only in the Tropics, and is so sensitive to cold
+that its culture can be successful only in regions absolutely free from
+frost.</p>
+
+<p>The recent annexation of the Hawaiian Islands, Puerto Rico, and other
+tropical territory has added to our domain regions which there is reason
+to believe will prove admirably suited to the cultivation of this plant.</p>
+
+<p>The competition of artificial vanilla, prepared synthetically by chemical
+methods, has not proved to be of any considerable importance.
+Indeed, the price of good vanilla has risen during recent years probably
+because of the ravages of disease in the islands where it is principally
+grown.</p>
+
+<p>Prospective growers will be greatly aided in finding suitable climates
+and soil by Mr. Galbraith’s recommendations on these points.</p>
+
+<p>The disease mentioned in various places in this bulletin is the one
+described in the second as yet unpublished part of the original memoir.
+It is of fungous origin, of great destructiveness, and spreads during
+moist hot weather very rapidly, frequently causing total destruction of
+large plantations in a month. During recent years it has seriously
+crippled the vanilla industry in Seychelles, Bourbon, and other islands
+of the Indian Ocean. This malady spreads with extraordinary rapidity
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</span>where plants are crowded and allowed to intertwine, and for this reason
+Mr. Galbraith advises against close planting, though in regions
+free from the disease such culture might well prove more profitable
+than the methods here advocated.</p>
+
+<p>Without going into details, it may be unhesitatingly affirmed from
+the results of Mr. Galbraith’s very thorough and painstaking studies
+that the malady is of such great destructiveness, spreads so rapidly,
+and is so difficult to control, that it would, if ever introduced, ruin
+probably forever the prospects of successful vanilla culture in our new
+territories.</p>
+
+<p><i>It becomes, then, a matter of absolutely vital importance to keep the
+disease out of Hawaii and Puerto Rico if it is ever proposed to grow
+vanilla there.</i></p>
+
+<p>No surer method of destroying in advance the hope of establishing
+this highly profitable industry could be conceived than that of carrying
+out the first thought that would occur to an enterprising prospective
+cultivator, viz, of sending to the islands of the Indian Ocean,
+where vanilla culture is most highly developed, for a stock of plants
+to use in starting a vanillery.</p>
+
+<p>The only possible way of safeguarding our new domains against this
+disease is to prohibit absolutely the introduction of living vanilla
+plants except by the Government, and then only after inspection by a
+competent plant pathologist.</p>
+
+<p>Fortunately vanilla plants may be multiplied very rapidly if placed
+under favorable conditions, and from a small stock of disease-free
+plants it would soon be possible to stock all the islands.</p>
+
+<p>The Secretary of Agriculture proposes to secure such perfectly
+healthy plants for distribution to planters wishing to experiment with
+vanilla culture, and it is hoped that meanwhile, in the absence of any
+definite legislation on the subject, public opinion will prevent any promiscuous
+importation of vanilla cuttings.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as the plants begin to yield pods the services of an expert
+should be secured to superintend the curing, for which specially constructed
+apparatus is required, and to report on the quality of the
+product.</p>
+
+<p>There is every prospect for the successful establishment of vanilla
+culture in Hawaii and Puerto Rico, provided suitable soils and climates
+be found, and provided the disease be excluded. Certainly an industry
+which yielded to the small island of Tahiti in 1897 $172,295, to the
+Seychelles $246,600 in 1897, and to Réunion $560,563 in 1892 is worthy
+the serious attention of prospective cultivators. The desirability of
+publishing a practical paper on the subject at this time is emphasized
+by the conviction that both Hawaii and Puerto Rico offer suitable fields
+for the introduction of this industry.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</span></p>
+
+
+  <h2 class="nobreak" id="VANILLA_CULTURE_AS_PRACTICED_IN_THE_SEYCHELLES">
+    VANILLA CULTURE AS PRACTICED IN THE SEYCHELLES
+    ISLANDS.
+    <br>
+    By <span class="smcap">S. J. Galbraith</span>.
+  </h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr class="r5">
+<div class="chapter">
+  <h2 class="nobreak" id="GENERAL_CONDITIONS">
+    GENERAL CONDITIONS.
+  </h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Vanilla cuttings are said to have been first introduced into the Seychelles
+Islands in 1866, probably from Bourbon (La Réunion), where the
+plant was grown extensively after sugar began to fail, about 1850.
+Plantations were gradually established and extended by the multiplication
+of these original plants and from others subsequently imported,
+and for many years now the colony’s prosperity has largely depended
+on vanilla.</p>
+
+<p>If kept free from disease it is a plant of extraordinary vitality; and
+here, where moisture and heat, its main requirements, are both ample,
+the sort of soil it is grown in seems to be of no great importance, provided
+that, if it be very poor, the roots are kept well supplied with
+manure. It is cultivated in the Seychelles from near sea level to 1,800
+feet altitude, and does well (except for disease) at all altitudes between
+these extremes.</p>
+
+<p>The rainfall is generally about 100 inches—that is in Port Victoria,
+which lies low; in the hills the precipitation is probably from 10 to 30 per
+cent greater; and in drier districts, away from high lands, where little
+timber is left, it must be considerably less. The fall is fairly evenly
+distributed throughout the year, but a dry spell, which is necessary to
+bring vanilla into flower, is to be looked for in July, August, or September,
+while the heaviest rains most frequently come in December.
+Even where rain has not fallen for some time the air is very moist, and
+for want of more exact information on this head it may be stated that,
+generally speaking, in the hills common table salt will deliquesce in a
+day or two if left uncovered. The range of shade temperature for day
+and night, from sea level to 1,800 feet, may be put at 90° to 70° F.
+The former is exceptional, the latter frequent, especially in early morning
+when the monsoon is blowing. Occasionally 68° may be registered,
+but seldom lower. Of soils, three very different sorts may be
+mentioned, in all of which vanilla does well here: (1) Rich vegetable
+mold, common enough in forest land as a thin surface skin, and also
+occurring deeper in valley bottoms. For a quick growth this is excellent.
+(2) A greasy red clay, also in fair quantity, on which vanilla
+makes good growth. (3) Coarse quartz sand, or gravel, apparently
+derived from disintegrated granite, not common, but met with in considerable
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</span>patches here and there. Though so unpromising to look at,
+this is, perhaps, the best of all. It gives free drainage to the roots, and
+in wet years plants fixed on it are more likely to crop than those on
+closer soils, while with ample manuring they grow remarkably well.</p>
+
+<p>The manner of setting out plantations in the Seychelles has undergone
+changes within the last twelve years. Formerly plantations were seen
+with the rows of vines planted so close together as scarce to leave room
+for workers to pass between them. The yield per acre under such conditions
+was sometimes enormous, but when disease once started in a
+vanillery thus arranged its destruction was rapid and complete, so this
+system has been mostly given up. Since the loss of so many close-lined
+plantations the distance between the rows has been increased.
+Living wood, i. e., small trees, are used as supports for the vines, these
+being festooned from fork to fork; but many planters have made use
+of hard-wood posts and bars, the former being notched on top and the
+latter laid in the notches, resting thus from 4 to 6 feet from the ground,
+according to fancy. Over these bars the plants are hung (Pl. <a href="#Frontispiece">1</a>), being
+looped up as growth is put on. Wire is sometimes also used instead of
+horizontal bars. It is much cheaper, but otherwise has disadvantages,
+notable among which is that it sways with wind and is liable to break
+the vines, the curvature being too sharp over such a small round surface.
+However, when plants thicken into a mass this last drawback
+mostly disappears.</p>
+
+<p>A third, and, as the writer believes, much better way of growing
+vanilla, is now more generally coming into practice. This is to plant
+each creeper on a tree of its own, and where land is cheap it is an
+advantage if these are well apart. So arranged, the general maintenance
+of a vanillery is certainly more expensive, inasmuch as isolated
+plants require more manure than when the same number are closely
+grouped together. The work of flower pollination and crop gathering
+is also more laborious. But more than a counterpoise to these disadvantages
+is the increased security this method of planting gives against
+wholesale destruction from disease; for when so arranged a sick plant
+can be removed and destroyed with greater chance of this being done
+before any of its neighbors become affected; whereas when growths of
+different plants are interwoven, either in their roots or shoots, it is difficult
+to know when enough has been taken up, and there is every likelihood
+of the disease becoming established beyond control.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+<div class="chapter">
+  <h2 class="nobreak" id="STARTING_A_VANILLERY">
+    STARTING A VANILLERY.
+  </h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>To give some notion of how a vanilla plantation is set out and carried
+on in this colony, it will be convenient to assume that the tree method
+of planting is the one adopted. A great variety of trees will serve the
+purpose. Here, on most properties, there is an abundance ready for
+the work; but of course where this is not the case suitable trees must
+first be planted. In selecting trees those should be chosen which do
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</span>not grow too large, but give moderate foliage (about half shade) without
+ever losing all their leaves at once, and having plenty of branches
+from 5 to 7 feet from the ground, affording forks enough to train the
+vines through.</p>
+
+<p>No hard and fast rule can be laid down as to the distance trees
+should be kept apart. Here formerly, as above stated, vanilla was
+grown in dense masses with great success for a time. Elsewhere it
+may be advantageously so grown now. However, it is safe to state that
+overcrowding in any kind of planting invites disease, and the farther
+plants are kept apart the more likely are they to remain healthy. A
+4-foot radius would be a moderate allowance for the roots of a vigorous
+vanilla plant, and if 1 foot is kept clear around the circle allowed to
+each plant’s roots this would give 9 feet as the distance between the
+trees. It would be difficult to insure the plants being kept distinct in
+less space. Where suitable trees are already growing on the land to be
+planted, these can be thinned out if too close, or they may be left in
+small lots of three or four or more together, a sufficient clear space
+intervening between each lot; but in that case if one vine of a group
+showed disease the whole would have to be removed. Many trees stand
+topping, and it is a great advantage when they do, for on being cut 7
+feet or so from the ground branches spring from near the cut part at a
+convenient height, and the best situated of those can be chosen to train
+the vines through, the rest that grow awkwardly being removed. About
+5 feet from the base is low enough to allow any to grow.</p>
+
+<p>Trees being in readiness, planting may be done at any time of year
+here. If during a wet spell, vanilla will sprout all the quicker; should
+it be dry, the plants will delay a little, but there is no fear of their missing
+if properly planted, and the one danger point to guard is where the
+vine leaves the earth. This part of the vine is burnt through if not
+shaded with grass or leaves. However, this also would only mean a
+little delay in the start of growth; for though they take some time
+longer about it, vanilla cuttings will grow well enough if merely tied
+to the trees with their lower ends some inches clear of the ground.
+Illustrative of the extreme vitality of plants under adverse conditions,
+it may be mentioned that in neglected plantations, where the vines
+have been allowed to climb well up into the branches of good-sized
+trees, and then been broken in attempting to get them down, the broken
+portions, sometimes partly swinging free, have remained green and
+capable of growth for upwards of a year, sending down long aerial
+roots 15 or 20 feet in length, and in some cases where these have
+escaped injury the broken plant may reestablish connection with the
+soil and start to grow again. If planted clear of the ground and
+merely tied to the supporting tree, it is advisable to tie two or three
+large leaves round each vine for the distance of 3 feet up; thus shaded
+the aerial roots quickly burst through the stem, and, getting something
+to cling to at once, soon make their way to earth without injury.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</span></p>
+
+<p>In starting a new vanillery, where the estate has no plants these are
+readily purchased here at small cost. From 2 to 3 rupees (55 to 90
+cents) per 100 fathoms is the usual rate for cuttings, the fathom being
+what a man can span with outspread arms, a good sweep of the vine
+hanging in a curve between his hands. Where choice is possible,
+although oldish cuttings will grow pretty well, it is best to have the
+plants of recent growth; in fact, growing shoots, cut off close to where
+they spring from the parent vine, are preferable. At their point of origin
+the nodes for some distance are close together, and though roots will
+strike from any joints, they have a natural tendency to do so quicker
+at the shoot’s base. As to the length of cuttings to plant, opinions differ;
+but there can be no question that the longer cuttings produce
+cropping plants sooner than the short ones. If a 2 or 3-foot branch is
+planted, the shoot it gives is invariably more slender and slower of
+growth than would be that from a 6-foot cutting, and up to 10 or 12
+feet every advantage lies with the longer plants, except the additional
+expense.</p>
+
+<p>The question as to whether cuttings of that length are to be planted
+whole or divided into two or three plants should be settled by their
+cost. It is usual here to loosen the soil with a hoe where vanilla is to
+be planted, and bury the end, laid horizontally, an inch or two in the
+earth. Quite as good a way is merely to press the lower part of the
+plant into the soft soil until it is flush with the surface. On sloping
+land loosened soil washes away sooner with heavy rain, and in such
+situations it is best to leave the ground quite undisturbed. In any
+case the leaves on that part of the vine which rests in or on the ground
+are cut off fairly close to the stem, and an arm full of leaves, fern,
+grass, or forest sweepings laid on top to the depth of 3 or 4 inches,
+for a couple of feet around the plant. Its roots will not need to be
+mulched for a greater distance than that for some months to come, and
+to cover a larger area would be useless. As new top dressings are
+laid on, which must be done when the first supply rots down and
+becomes thin, these can be gradually extended to allow of more root
+spread, till the limit of 4 feet radius is reached. If well covered, the
+roots do not run much; only starved vines run far with their roots,
+seeking nourishment; where this is plentiful they mat in and beneath it.
+Being entirely surface feeders, should any make their way beyond the
+cover they can be gently lifted and tucked under the decaying leaves,
+etc.; but this is a hint that the plant needs a new supply of top dressing.
+The number of joints laid on or in the soil will vary with the
+length of the plant, but should not be less than three for this mode of
+planting, while for long cuttings six or seven joints are needed for a
+quick start.</p>
+
+<p>If of sufficient length, the free end of the planted vine is hung through
+a fork of the supporting tree, but it is also advisable to tie it in two or
+three places to the tree to hinder swinging and chafing. The material
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</span>used for these ties here is a fiber called <i>vacoa</i>&#x2060;<a id="FNanchor_1_1" href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a>
+    which rots in about a year,
+by which time the plants should have tendril-like roots enough to steady
+themselves. When once properly planted, the cuttings will need little
+or no attention for some months, but when the growth becomes vigorous
+the shoots must be looked after. Such of them as have grown
+clear of their supports are hitched up and, if long enough, hung through
+one of the forks. An occasional tie here may also be necessary, but in
+general a leaf or two of the growing part can be hooked on to some
+other fixed part of the vine, and in a few days, unless blown loose, the tendrils
+will have fastened to the leaf, and thus support the plant. Shoots
+must not be allowed to climb very high among branches of the supporting
+tree, especially if there be many and close together, or there will be
+breakages in getting them down. For this purpose, when they get
+beyond hand reach, a forked stick 6 or 7 feet long is useful. The fork
+is worked between the tree and climbing vine, and its tendrils in succession
+are broken by pushing and twisting the stick when they are
+within the fork. The last two or three tendrils are easily broken or
+leave the tree without breaking, and care should be taken when the
+vine is nearly clear to catch the stem of it high up, within the stick’s
+fork; it can then be lowered gently without fear of breaking.</p>
+
+<p>Some judgment is necessary in selecting the fork of the tree through
+which each shoot is to hang, a fork whose height fits in with a natural
+bend of the vine, if it has one, being chosen; otherwise one whose
+height takes the vine between joints is best, since if bent at a joint the
+vine is apt to snap, especially so when in vigorous growth, being then
+full of sap and brittle. In good growing weather—i. e., warm, still,
+and moist—healthy, well-nourished vanilla vines grow very rapidly, an
+inch per day being no uncommon rate.</p>
+
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_1_1" href="#FNanchor_1_1" class="label">[1]</a> Obtained from a species of screw pine, <i>Pandanus utilis</i>.</p></div></div>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+<div class="chapter">
+  <h2 class="nobreak" id="PREPARING_THE_VINES_FOR_CROPPING">
+    PREPARING THE VINES FOR CROPPING.
+  </h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>If the plants have done well they should be ready for such preparation
+in about eighteen months, more or less, according to the season.
+Formerly in this colony they were allowed to grow on until a spell of
+dry weather set in prior to the usual blossoming time. The growing
+ends were then cut off and all new shoots removed as they showed till
+flowers began to come or till the season for them was past. When the
+dry spell proved a long one, this seemed to answer pretty well; and,
+indeed, under these circumstances flowers would come in any case,
+whether growth was checked or not. But now it is more usual to stop
+the growing ends some nine or ten months, in the first instance, before
+flowering time. In the majority of cases the terminal bud will push,
+and this new shoot should also be removed when 5 or 6 inches long—not
+earlier, else the next to the last bud is apt to grow.</p>
+
+<p>After the second checking most vines will shoot far enough back to
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</span>allow of the shoots being left. These grow on for the next year, and
+the stopped branches hang down with their lower ends a good foot or
+more from the ground, being generally from 4 to 6 feet in length, according
+to the heights of the forks through which they are hung and
+the positions of the new shoots, though these generally spring just before
+the last bends of the checked branches, which are to be the cropping
+parts. The new growths behind these are supposed to drain them of
+their sap, and thus conduce to flowering. However that may be, these
+checked hanging branches have certainly more tendency to flower than
+other parts of the vines. Flowers take some six weeks to develop from
+the moment they burst through the buds to their time of opening, but
+this period varies in length with the weather, continuous dryness
+retarding and moderate showers hastening their development when
+once started.</p>
+
+<p>The growing branches of vines should now be checked again for the
+following year’s crop. These will be less troublesome in putting out
+inconvenient shoots, as the plant’s sap is more apt to go into flowering
+branches, where nourishment is now more needed. Could the whole
+work be performed in a few days, this change in the direction of sap
+flow should be done preferably ten days or a fortnight before flowers
+begin to open. In a large plantation, unless the hands are very numerous
+or the shoots have been arranged beforehand so that there is little
+else to do than cut their ends, it will take some weeks to accomplish this,
+and therefore work must begin earlier or finish later. If the dry spell
+necessary for flowering has lasted a good while and can fairly be depended
+upon to continue long enough, the growing ends may be cut
+earlier; but it must be borne in mind that if rain in quantity comes too
+soon and, in addition to the stimulus given by it, the branches intended
+for flowering have also the sap from previously growing shoots poured
+into them, the chance of their cropping well will be much diminished.
+Many a promise of a fine crop is ruined by too early rain here. The
+country, climate, and the planters’ skill as a weather prophet must govern
+this undertaking.</p>
+
+<p>An abundant supply of leaf mold should be in readiness for laying
+on the roots at this season, and should be applied when flowers begin
+to open, or a little before. If previous dressings have been so timed
+that vines are in a somewhat starved condition when flowering is
+expected, the chances of a good blossoming are increased, but this
+practice needs judgment, or a poor quality of pods will be the result.</p>
+
+<p>There used to be a story current here, no doubt with some grain of
+truth in it, to the effect that in a very wet season the only vanilla planter
+who had any crop was one whose pigs had got adrift in his plantation
+and spent the night in grubbing up vanilla roots. This method of producing
+flowers is not recommended, but it is quite possible that careful
+and systematic root pruning might be carried on with advantage in wet
+years, if one could tell beforehand when these were coming.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</span></p>
+
+
+  <h2 class="nobreak" id="POLLINATION_OF_THE_FLOWERS">
+    POLLINATION OF THE FLOWERS.
+  </h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>The work of flower fertilization (pollination)—for they have all to be
+fertilized by hand, and that on the day they open—is mostly done by
+women and children. The operation is a very simple one, and an
+average negro will acquire the knack after being shown a few examples.
+(See fig. <a href="#Page_17">1</a>.)</p>
+
+<p>The flower is taken in the left hand, three fingers being placed at its
+back and the thumb in front, the column with organs of fertilization on
+top being supported against the middle sepal behind. A bit of hard
+wood, cut to the size of a toothpick and scraped smooth and flat at one
+end, is the only tool required; this is held in the right hand. To get
+at the organs of fertilization easily, the sack which grows from the side
+of the column enveloping its front and marking the sexual organs is
+pressed down by the bit of wood, or this is run through its base, and
+the sack torn up, or the whole sack may be plucked off with finger and
+thumb, it matters not how it is laid open, so long as this is done quickly
+and without injury to any other part of the flower. The smooth end of
+the fecundating instrument is then laid flat on the front of the column
+just beneath the organs of fertilization, and being pushed up it catches
+under the flap which keeps the pollen from coming into contact with
+the stigma. The flap is raised along with the stick till it lies flat
+against the upper part of the column, being held in that position by
+the bit of wood. The stamen, at first raised along with the flap, now
+falls down again in its original position, and the flap being out of the
+way the pollen comes into contact with the stigma, and a slight pressure
+of the thumb on the stamen lodges the pollen in the position
+required; the bit of stick being then quickly but gently withdrawn, the
+operation is complete.</p>
+
+<p>The whole affair is very much easier done than described, and with
+flowers fairly numerous an ordinary hand will fecundate a hundred or
+so per hour. Early morning, from 7 to 9, is the best time for fertilizing;
+but the work may be started with sunrise and carried on well into the
+afternoon, though about midday flowers begin to close some and the
+work goes slower. Most plants in full crop produce many more flowers
+than it is advisable to fertilize, for other parts of the vines, besides the
+checked hanging branches, blossom in favorable seasons, and the number
+of pods which a vine is able to mature properly must be estimated
+from the plant’s size and condition. In the course of four or five years,
+though by that time the planted cutting will be spent, if well cared for
+it will have grown a large quantity of vine; and as each new shoot,
+when long enough, sends down aerial roots in its own behalf, it becomes,
+so to speak, an independent plant and the parent of others. If none of
+the shoots from a strong growing vine have been removed the mass of
+growth in time becomes enormous, and may be equal to maturing a
+hundred or more good pods. When the supporting tree is stout and
+furnishes forks enough to admit of the vine being spread out so as to
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</span>let plenty of air through it the vine may be allowed to accumulate to
+this extent, and if it gives, say, 20 clusters, each yielding 10 or more
+flowers, 5 or 6 might be fertilized on each.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</span></p>
+
+<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="image016" style="max-width: 50.0em;">
+  <img class="w100" src="images/image016.jpg" alt="">
+  <figcaption>
+      <p><span class="smcap">Fig. 1.</span>—Hand pollination of the vanilla flower (after A. Delteil, La Vanille, Paris, 1897, Pl. 2).
+    <i>a</i> shows the position of hands, needle, and flower in the operation of pollination, first stage; <i>b</i>, operation
+    of pollination, second stage; <i>c</i>, flower with male organs raised (pollen masses shown at 1);
+    <i>d</i>, flower from which outer parts have been removed, showing pollen masses at 1, stigma at 2, and
+    the gynostemium at 3; <i>e</i>, perfect flower; <i>f</i>, longitudinal section through male and female organs of
+    the flower before hand pollination, showing pollen mass in the anther or male organ at 1; <i>g</i>, similar
+    section after hand pollination, showing the pollen mass applied to the stigma at 1.</p>
+  </figcaption>
+</figure>
+
+<p>But, generally speaking, about 30 pods to a vine is as many as should
+be left, and he would be a lucky planter who should average that number.
+In selecting flowers to fertilize those should be chosen which
+spring from the lower part and from the sides of the flower stalks,
+from which position they grow straighter pods than those coming out
+on top. In favorable weather, i. e., moist but not heavy rain (which
+latter often washes the pollen grains away before they germinate),
+only a small percentage of flowers will fail of fecundation. In case of
+failure, the flower drops off in three days or less, but otherwise remains
+attached to its stalk and slowly withers; the <i>gynostemium</i> adheres to
+most pods till they begin to ripen; thus it is easy to see the number
+successfully fecundated in each bunch, and where enough are secured
+the rest can be broken off. Later it is advisable to cut clean off with
+a knife the flower stalk a quarter of an inch or so beyond the last fertilized
+flower. Some planters plaster a bit of sticky clay on the cut
+surface to prevent it rotting back. Dry lime is perhaps better; this
+may be dabbed on with a piece of cloth dipped in the powder.</p>
+
+<p>Pods grow to their full size in five or six weeks, but take some eight
+months, more or less, according to the altitude at which they are
+grown, or the amount of shade over them, before they ripen. The
+indication of ripening is a slight yellowing of the whole pod, which is
+more marked near its free end. When under too much shade the
+change in color is less noticeable, and many pods grown in such places
+split before they are gathered, and for that reason lose in value. To
+guard against splitting, and yet gather them at perfect ripeness, they
+should be gone over every other day. In removing them from the
+flower stalks the pods are grasped one by one near their attached ends,
+very slightly twisted, and at the same time pressed aside with the
+thumb. They must be taken off quite clean. If a bit of the flower
+stalk comes away with a pod, as sometimes will happen, it should be
+cut off smoothly. Any break or crack in the pod itself, however, near
+its butt, ranks it as an inferior quality. Buyers are very particular in
+this respect. After each day’s gathering, before the pods are started
+on their first stage of curing, it is well to sort them roughly into four
+classes: 1, long; 2, medium; 3, short; and 4, split.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+<div class="chapter">
+  <h2 class="nobreak" id="CURING_THE_PODS_FOR_MARKET">
+    CURING THE PODS FOR MARKET.
+  </h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>There are many different modes of preparing vanilla, but for brevity’s
+sake one alone will be described; it is probably the simplest, and
+appears to be as successful as any other. About 400 of the longest
+pods are placed in a basket and plunged into hot water (190° F.) for
+ten seconds; this is repeated twice, the dips being increased to twelve
+and fifteen seconds respectively, with intervals of half a minute
+between each two. After the third dip, when most of the water has
+drained off, the pods are placed in a wooden box or barrel lined with
+blankets, and closely covered up with the same material. When lot 1
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</span>is finished, lot 2 is similarly treated, and for them the water may be a
+few degrees cooler, or the dipping times a trifle shortened; and so also
+with lot No. 3, while No. 4 may be treated as No. 2. Perhaps it is as
+well to add that 190° F. is not an absolutely essential heat, but is about
+as high as it is safe to go; while even the longest pods may be
+adequately treated in water at 170° F. if they are kept in it long
+enough. An experienced preparer will be guided more by the appearance
+of the pod after each dip than by any fixed formula. Where
+small quantities are dealt with less heat is needed, and the above
+figures are given for a boiler 22 inches in diameter by 12 inches deep.
+It is best to have good-sized boxes or barrels to sweat the pods in,
+those holding 2,000 or 3,000 each being preferable, for the more pods
+there are together the better heat is retained. The lots (1, 2, 3, and 4)
+should be kept apart, a fold of blanket being laid on each if all go into
+one box. By the following morning they should have changed to
+chocolate or puce color, and are then ready to spread on the drying
+shelves; but if there is a large number together, and the heat has been
+well kept in, they may be left for another twenty-four hours.</p>
+
+<p>A curing house for preparing a crop up to 2,000 pounds (dry) may
+have the following dimensions and fixings: 30 feet long, 15 feet broad,
+13 feet in height of walls. It should be divided into four compartments,
+two on the ground and two above, each being approximately 15 by 15 and
+6¹⁄₂ feet high. One compartment on the ground floor is used as a hot
+room, having a flue 2 feet wide covered with sheet iron running through
+the center. If the heat is too intense from this, sand may be sprinkled
+on top to reduce it. Above this flue and around two sides of the hot
+chamber tiers of shelves are fixed 6 inches apart, on which the pods
+are spread to dry. The shelves may be conveniently made of laths, on
+top of which mats or canvas can be laid; or fine-meshed wire netting
+would serve the same purpose, perhaps, better than anything else. The
+entire arrangement will be more easily understood by reference to fig. 2.
+Compartment No. 1 is the hot room. Dotted lines in it and in Nos. 3
+and 4 indicate where shelves are fixed; D, door; W, window, etc. The
+table is used for sorting green pods on, and is otherwise useful at final
+measuring time and when the pods are tied into packets. No. 3 is
+above No. 1, and is also a warm room, some heat from No. 1 coming up
+through the floor. The clear spaces in Nos. 2 and 4 have fiber mats
+spread on them when required, and on these the pods are handled and
+sorted as they progress in curing. The worker, sitting on the floor,
+keeps the four lots of pods—long, medium, short, and split—distinct on
+the shelves. This facilitates the sorting, the short and split pods needing
+to be examined sooner and oftener than the longer and sound sorts,
+as they dry more rapidly.</p>
+
+<p>A good average heat for the hot chamber is 110° F. A few degrees
+more or less does not matter, but pods are apt to dry too quickly if the
+heat is much greater. The slower the process the more uniform and
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</span>better is the result. As they begin to turn soft and show longitudinal
+wrinkles the pods are removed from room 1 to 3, and after reaching a
+certain degree of flexibility they pass on to the shelves in room 4 and
+there finish their curing. If kept too long in either a hot or a warm
+room the thin ends of pods shrink too quickly, and this is to be avoided.
+In a large crop there are always some inferior, ill-nourished pods, in
+which this occurs, but the last remark will be useful to a beginner.
+When fully cured the pods are much wrinkled and pliable, bending
+easily around one’s finger. There is considerable difference in the
+degree of dryness preferred by different curers. If the contents move
+easily all along a pod, without any unevenness being noticed when it
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</span>is drawn between the finger and thumb, it is nearly dry enough; but
+the right stage can only be learned by experience.</p>
+
+<figure class="figcenter illowp65" id="image019" style="max-width: 50.0em;">
+  <img class="w100" src="images/image019.jpg" alt="">
+  <figcaption>
+      <p><span class="smcap">Fig. 2.</span>—Plan of curing house. (Dotted lines indicate where drying shelves are fixed.)</p>
+  </figcaption>
+</figure>
+
+<p>When finished the pods are well wiped with bits of soft flannel and
+then kept in boxes with close-fitting lids. It is better to sort them
+roughly into lengths as each day’s lot is put away and tie up the
+various sizes in bundles of about 200 each if the numbers allow of it,
+for they have to be examined once or twice a week in order to remove
+the molded ones, and this is much more quickly done with bundles than
+when they are loose. Moreover, it makes the ultimate accurate measuring
+easier. Either at this time or later the different qualities are
+more exactly separated, none but faultless pods, without scar or defect
+in curing, being allowed in the first quality. The rest rank as seconds,
+etc. The split pods and the pods that have been cut on account of mold
+are also kept distinct. It is well to keep a crop at least three or four
+months before marketing. By that time nearly all shaky pods that are
+liable to mold will have shown themselves. All are then measured
+and tied up in neat bundles of 50 pods each of even length, the pods
+varying in length not more than one-eighth of an inch.</p>
+
+<p>The general sightliness of a marketed crop has much influence on the
+price it will bring, and whatever whims buyers get into their heads the
+producer must conform to or suffer in pocket. Bundle tying is something
+of an art, and a deft hand at it is valuable. Sixteen or thereabouts
+of the shapeliest pods in each 50 are selected for the outside;
+the rest are tied up as a core, being kept in position with a few turns
+of the fiber tying cord, while the chosen 16 are carefully placed round
+them. The bundle is tied in either three places, near each end and in
+the middle, or in two places, an inch or more from the ends, according
+to the length of bundle. The core-holding string is pulled out before
+the final tie is fixed. Two-tie packets are boxed as they are. With
+those of three ties buyers prefer that the end cords be removed before
+packing, to enable them to examine the bundles inside and see if the
+contents are of uniform quality. If kept tied some time before being
+packed the bundles set, as it were, and retain their neat shape. The
+tin boxes used here for packing vanilla in measure 12¹⁄₂ by 8¹⁄₂ inches in
+width, are 4¹⁄₂ inches deep, and hold about 12 pounds. Each box has
+a label pasted on it which bears the grower’s trade-mark, the length
+and number of packets, their quality, and net weight, and a similar
+label is put inside. As some chemical action is set up when vanilla
+rests in contact with tin or iron, thin vegetable parchment paper is
+placed in the boxes to keep the two apart. The lids are then sealed
+close with pasted paper and the tins packed in wooden cases, 6 in each,
+and thus dispatched to market.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</span></p>
+
+
+  <h2 class="nobreak" id="MISCELLANEOUS_INFORMATION_AND_NOTES">
+    MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION AND NOTES.
+  </h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>A fair crop should average about 100 cured pods to the pound.</p>
+
+
+<table id="log">
+<tr>
+<td class="no-border-right" colspan="3">———————————————————————</td>
+
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="no-border-right-center" colspan="2">Pods per pound.</td>
+
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="no-border-right" colspan="3">———————————————————————</td>
+
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdr">Fresh gathered</td>
+<td class="no-border-right"></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdc">(about).</td>
+<td class="no-border-right">Dry (about).</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="no-border-right" colspan="3">———————————————————————</td>
+
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl">9-inch pods</td>
+<td class="tdr">20</td>
+<td class="no-border-right">65</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl">8-inch pods</td>
+<td class="tdr">25</td>
+<td class="no-border-right">80</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl">7-inch pods</td>
+<td class="tdr">33</td>
+<td class="no-border-right">110</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl">6-inch pods</td>
+<td class="tdr">50</td>
+<td class="no-border-right">160</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="no-border-right" colspan="3">———————————————————————</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+
+<p>The following crops, produced on one estate during the last five years,
+will serve to show how uncertain are the returns from vanilla growing
+here:</p>
+
+<table class="autotable">
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdr">Pounds.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl">1893 (long dry spell for flowering time in 1892)</td>
+<td class="tdr">1,800</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl">1894 (rain came too soon and spoiled good promise)</td>
+<td class="tdr">120</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl">1895 (next to no dry spell for flowering in 1894)</td>
+<td class="tdr">40</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl">1896 (excellent promise mostly spoiled by too early rain)</td>
+<td class="tdr">500</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl">1897 (similar to the year before)</td>
+<td class="tdr">600</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+
+<p>Expenses for labor during these years would be about 7,000 rupees
+(about $1,800 to $2,000). Present price of vanilla (June, 1897) in London
+market averages about $6 (25s.) per pound. The currency here is in
+Indian money—that is, rupees; nominal value of rupee, 1s. to 2s., but the
+actual value varies with price of silver and at present ranges between
+1s. 2d. and 1s. 3d.</p>
+
+<p>The day begins at 6 a. m. and work continues until 5 p. m., or to 4 p. m.
+on some properties; 11 to 12 is breakfast time. Rough work is quickest
+got through by giving “tasks,” when the negroes become energetic.</p>
+
+<p>Ordinary estate laborers are paid 12 rupees ($3.40) per month; women
+for crop curing, etc., are paid 9 rupees ($2.60) per month; women and
+children for flower fecundating, one-fourth rupee (7 cents) per day, the
+“day” being when work is over, early or late. Vanilla packet tying, 2
+rupees (58 cents) per 100 bundles of 50 pods each; vanilla measuring, 2
+rupees (58 cents) for same quantity (5,000 pods).</p>
+
+<p>Straight-stemmed palms, if stout, may be used for supporting the
+vanilla vines. By driving hard-wood pegs into them obliquely at suitable
+heights the vines can be hung about them as in tree forks.</p>
+
+<p>When long vanilla cuttings are planted near blossoming time, some
+of them often give flowers soon afterwards. It is best to cut these off,
+as cropping a vine when newly planted lessens the growing power, and
+it may hang for many months, but in a regular plantation vines flowering
+too heavily may be relieved by cutting off one or more of the flowering
+branches. These may be planted for the one small crop they will
+give—3 or 4, or up to 10 or 12 pods, according to length and vigor. For
+this they may be planted close together on low bars and posts, and
+need well-rotted manure for immediate and abundant nourishment.
+The best time to plant for this is a few days before the first flowers
+open; if cut earlier many of the flowers will die back.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</span></p>
+
+<p>Cropping branches may be allowed to flower for two years if they
+have not missed a season, but never more than that, as the pods they
+then give are invariably very inferior; the best are on young wood a
+year or so old at flowering.</p>
+
+<p>Prunings, when not too old, may be set out to rear new plants from.
+When extending the plantations it is better to plant the shoots from the
+prunings rather than the prunings themselves, if they are over 2 years
+old. If flung into jungle, especially among rough ground, rocks, etc.,
+where there is shade and decayed leaves, they grow in a wonderful way
+without any attention and yield the best of cuttings. When shoots
+are checked for cropping branches, some of their tendrils occasionally
+elongate into aerial roots, and should then be cut off, or they will keep
+the branch full of sap and hinder its flowering.</p>
+
+<p>Short varieties of grass seem rather beneficial in a plantation; cumbersome
+weeds should be hand pulled, never hoed.</p>
+
+<p>During early crop gathering, before ripe pods are numerous enough
+to make it worth while using the hot room, they are cured under blankets
+in the sun, but have to be taken in at the hottest part of the day
+if sunshine is continuous. This used to be the sole method of curing
+here, and when used now gives excellent results in favorable
+weather; but dependence upon the sun is risky, and on the whole
+the process is cumbersome and costly. Hand trays, that can be piled
+up on top of each other and carried between two men, are used to
+spread the blankets on, a fold being below as well as above the pods,
+and these are supported on low double rails to keep them clear of the
+ground. In unsettled weather showers have to be watched for, and
+the trays carried under shelter till the weather again becomes fair.</p>
+
+<p>If there is a pinch for space in the curing house, pods in the hot room
+may be spread two or three or more deep on the shelves and tumbled
+up daily, i. e., such of them as are not taken off and re-sorted.</p>
+
+<p>In mulching vanilla roots, and especially at crop time, the plants are
+much more benefited if the mulch be of two sorts, well-rotted leaf mold
+being put on first for immediate action, and above it a layer of withered
+fern or the like, which decays more slowly. When heavy top dressings
+of quick-decaying manure, grass, etc., have rotted down, they get beaten
+away by rain, the network of roots becomes exposed, and may with
+advantage be lightly covered with a thin sprinkling of good soil.
+Obviously it is better to apply this before the roots become bare or visible.
+The vanilla roots delight in twisting among stones, large and
+small, and flattening against their lower surface when not embedded in
+the soil. When these are of a convenient size and handy in a plantation,
+the root circuit allowed to each vine may be ringed with them.
+Vanilla may be grown on trees of thick foliage if these are of a sort that
+will stand being well pruned annually. Wild cinnamon, which gives
+dense shade, is sometimes used for this purpose, the branches being
+nearly all cut off each year about pod-ripening time, which also lets the
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</span>sun get at the vines for flowering. The contrast between former somewhat
+dense shade, which has grown since last branch trimming, and
+the strong light let in by the pruning seems to help toward blossoming.</p>
+
+<p>Under large, high trees, wide apart, where to plant vines on other
+small-growing wood between them would make the shade too close,
+vanilla may be fixed on tripods of durable wood, the three stakes being
+tied with wire crosswise, some little way from their top ends, so as to
+furnish forks over which the vine creepers may climb. High up in the
+hills here the plants may be grown in this way without any shade at
+all, but the plan is only suitable for level grounds or moderate slopes.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+<div class="chapter">
+  <h2 class="nobreak" id="SUMMARY">
+    SUMMARY.
+  </h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>The foregoing account of vanilla cultivation, being the outcome of
+experience gained in the Seychelles alone, and there chiefly in the hills,
+may need many modifications to adapt it to different circumstances pertaining
+to other lands, and, indeed, possibly may be of little use for such.
+For instance, in a drier climate irrigation might be needful, and it would
+not be necessary with a reliable, sufficient annual dry period to prepare
+vines for flowering by checking their sap flow in certain branches, as it
+is in this colony. This is not found necessary in certain districts where
+the rainfall is not such as to keep plants growing continuously, for they
+stop growing of themselves and come into flower without coaxing.</p>
+
+<p>Again, under less favorable growing conditions the vines would need
+more nutriment and attention to stimulate growth.</p>
+
+<p>These and similar considerations which will suggest themselves to the
+reader may serve to save a brief summary from appearing too dogmatic.</p>
+
+<p>The following conditions of climate, method of growing, etc., appear
+to the writer to be most favorable to the successful cultivation and
+handling of the vanilla crop:</p>
+
+<p><i>Climate.</i>—With shade temperature ranging about 80° F., never much
+above or below it, and a humid, still atmosphere; a rainfall of 80 to
+100 inches or more, evenly distributed through ten months in the year,
+the remaining two months being dry, with occasional short and very
+light showers—the ten wet mouths for continuous luxuriant growth,
+the two dry ones to check it and bring vines into flower.</p>
+
+<p><i>Soil.</i>—A skin of rich vegetable mold resting on a porous substratum.
+Failing that, with the above climate, vanilla should do well on any soil
+if the roots are kept covered with decaying vegetation.</p>
+
+<p><i>Situation.</i>—Moderate slopes.</p>
+
+<p><i>Shade.</i>—Small-leafed trees to let checkered sunlight through.</p>
+
+<p><i>Plants.</i>—Cuttings 10 to 12 feet long of growing shoots, which should
+not cease growing if planted after the dry season, but go straight on
+and flower fully in two years.</p>
+
+<p><i>Planting.</i>—Either in line on posts and bars, or on shrubs of suitable
+size and leafage, at the risk of wholesale destruction from disease; or
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</span>plants well kept apart, each on its own support, so that any vine showing
+signs of sickness may be removed before infecting its neighbors.</p>
+
+<p><i>Culture.</i>—Plantations to be gone through bimonthly; shoots on the
+ground looped up; climbing branches brought down; decayed leaves,
+etc., laid on roots for manure when needed. Preparations for flowering
+according to climate.</p>
+
+<p><i>Cropping.</i>—Flowers to be pollinated in forenoon, preferably such
+as will hang clear and grow straight pods; quantity regulated according
+to mass and vigor of each vine, but not such as to hinder the start
+of new growth for more than two or three months. Pods should be
+gathered every other day.</p>
+
+<p><i>Curing.</i>—The slower the better, beginning in a heated room at about
+110° F. for some days, then in a cooler one, 90° to 100° F., finishing at
+ordinary temperature; humidity of air kept down if need be by charcoal
+braziers.</p>
+
+<p><i>Marketing.</i>—Qualities and lengths kept distinct, made up in packets
+of 50 pods, and neatly packed in tins holding about 12 pounds each.</p>
+
+<p><i>Labor.</i>—Cheapness and intelligence are of the greatest importance
+in vanilla production. The cultivator must himself have his eyes
+everywhere; the best of labor known here deteriorates quickly if left
+to itself.</p>
+
+<figure class="figcenter illowp75" id="image024" style="width: 1.5625em;">
+  <img class="w100" src="images/image024.jpg" alt="">
+</figure>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+<div class="chapter">
+<div class="tnote">
+  <h2 class="nobreak" id="Transcribers_note">
+    Transcriber’s note
+  </h2>
+
+<p>Minor punctuation errors have been changed without notice.</p>
+
+<p>In this version, the illustrations are placed differently on the page
+than in the original.</p>
+
+<p>Spelling was retained as in the original except for the following changes:</p>
+
+
+<table class="autotable">
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl">Page &nbsp;<a href="#Page_6">6</a>: “2. Plan of curing”</td>
+<td class="tdl">“Fig. 2. Plan of curing”</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl">Page <a href="#Page_22">22</a>: “and upon the whole”</td>
+<td class="tdl">“and on the whole”</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77026 ***</div>
+</body>
+</html>
+
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+This book, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
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+
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for book #77026
+(https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/77026)