COOK AND COLLINS—-ECONOMIC PLANTS OF PORTO RICO. 261 
islands where vanilla culture has been carried on have all a much more moist 
climate than Mexico. <A climate in which rain falls during the entire year is not, 
however, desirable, since comparatively dry weather is necessary to check the 
growth of the vines and cause them to flower. In the Seychelles two months of 
dry weather are usual, but in Mexico four or five months are the rule. During 
this time the vanilla plantations are. however, kept moist by the shade under 
which the vines are at all times planted and by the surrounding growth of dense 
vegetation which is necessary for thorough protection from the wind. 
The seeds of vanilla are extremely small and seedlings are never used for start- 
ing plantations, large cuttings from 6 to 12 feet long being found much more 
advantageous, as they yield earlier and larger crops. Thus a beginning of vanilla 
culture in Porto Rico would involve the importation of a large amount of stock 
from Mexico, or there would be a delay of several years necessary to permit the 
multiplication from asmaller quantity. Great care must also be exercised in such 
an importation. In the Seychelle Islands vanilla culture was threatened with 
extinction a few years since by a fungous disease. and although means of com- 
bating it have been found it is still a menace and requires constant vigilance on 
the part of the planter. 
The details of planting, pollinating, and curing vanilla as practiced in the 
Seychelle Islands have been described at length in Bulletin No. 21 of the Division 
of Botany, United States Department of Agriculture, which should be in the 
hands of any who may contemplate attempting vanilla culture in Porto Rico, and 
it is accordingly unnecessary to include such directions here. I was informed by 
Mr. J. D. Sulsona, of Mayaguez, that vanilla has been introduced in that vicinity 
and found to thrive, but that the necessary artificial pollination had not been 
practiced and consequently no fruit was obtained. The warm sheltered valleys 
behind Mayaguez might be a favorable location for further experiments with this 
crop, Which would have the advantage of employing a proportionally large amount 
of light labor, the work of pollinating the flowers being generally carried on by 
women and children. It is also an industry which does not require expensive 
machinery or other preliminary outlays, though considerable skill and experience 
are necessary in the process of curing. It would seem also that the questions of 
methods of shading and the employment of useful trees, or at least leguminous 
trees, for shade and wind-breaks have not yet received proper consideration from 
either the theoretical or the experimental side. From Mexico we have the 
specious proposition that vanilla be grown on coffee trees shaded by rubber, a 
proposition to which there would seem to be several serious objections overlooked 
by the promoters. 
Varital. See Bauhinia kappleri, Dipholis montana, and Drypetes glauca. 
Varvazco. 
A fragrant wood from the vicinity of Guanica. Used for closets because of its 
pleasant odor, and also to keep insects away. Said to injure the eyes of those 
who work with it. 
Vega blanca. See Brunfelsia lactea. 
Veldolaguilla. See Verdolaguiilla. 
Velvet bean. See Mucuna utilis. 
Verbena. 
A name used for a considerable number of small herbs, including Heliotropium 
parviflorum, Bouchea ehrenbergii, and the species of Valerianodes. 
Verbena urticifolia. VERBENA ORTIGA. 
Family Verbenaceae; an herbaceous annual. 60 centimeters high, found in 
stony, humid places. Common to the other West Indies and North America. 
(Stahl, 6: 208.) 
