212 



THE aghicultuhal news. 



October 25, 1902. 



WEST INDIAN FRUIT. 



VANILLA CULTIVATION. 



The following are the remainder of Mr. Galbraitl. s 

 miscellaneous notes on Vanilla cuhivation in the 

 Seychelles, antl are in contimuitiou uf tho.se given 

 o:i ] age 197 : — 



SUN eUKINO. 



During early cri'ii i;alliering, before li] o [lods are 

 muiicrou.s enough to make it wortJi Avliile using the hot room 

 tliey are cured under blankets in the sun, hut have to be 

 taken in at the hottest part of tlic day if sunshine is contin- 

 uous. This used to be ;he sole method of curing here and 

 when used now gives excellent results in favourable weather ; 

 but dependence uiiou the sun is risky, and njion the whole 

 the process is cunibersonie and costly. Hand trays that can 

 be piled up on top of each other and carried between two 

 men, are used to s|iread the l)lankets on, a fold being below 

 as well as above the pods, and these are sui>ported 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 jiinch for space in the curing liouso, pods 

 in tlie hot room may be spread two or three or more deep on 

 the .shelves and tum))led up daily, that i.s, sucli lif them 

 as are not taken off and re-sorted. 



MULCHIN'i; AND SII.MU:. 

 In mulching v.uiilla mots, i,nd espccialjy at crop time, 

 the plants are much mori' benehted if the mulch be of two 

 sorts, well-rotted leaf mc)nld being put on first for iunncdiate 

 action, and idi)vo it a layer of withered fern or the like, 

 which decays more slowly. When heavy toj) dressings of 

 quick-decaying manure, grass, etc., have rotted down, they 

 get beaten away by rain, the net-work of roots becomes 

 exposed, an<l may with advantage be lightly covered with a 

 thin s[irinkling of good .soil. Obviou.sly it is better to apjil}- 

 this befo.e tlie roots becon c bare or visilile. The vandla 

 roots deliglit in twisting among stones, large and small, and 

 flattening against their lower surface when not embeddcil in 

 the soil. When these are of a convenient size and handy in 

 a jilantation, the root circuit allowed to each vine may be 

 ringed with them. Vanilla may be grown on trees of 

 thick foliage if there are of a sort that will stand 

 being well j.runcd annually. Wild cinnamon, which gives 

 <len.sc shade, is .sometimes used for this purpose, the branches 

 being nearly all cut oil each year about po<l-riiiening time, 

 which also lets the sini get at the vines for flowering. The 

 contiast between the former somewliat den.se shade, which has 



grown since last bianch trimming, and t'.ie strong light let 

 in by the pruning seenrs to help toward blossoming. 



I'nder large, high trees, wide a|iart, where to plant 

 •\ines 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 cro.sswise 

 some little way from their top ends, .so as to furnish fork.s 

 over which the vine creepers may clindi. High up in the 

 hills here the i>lants may be grown in this way without any 

 shade at all, but the plan is only suitable for level grounds 

 cr moderate slopes. 



SUMMAKV. 



The foregoing account of vanilla cultixation, being the 

 outcome of experience gainc<l in the .Seychelles alone, and 

 there chiefly in the hills, may need many moditications- 

 to adapt it to different circumstances prctaining to other 

 lands, and, indeed, possibly may lie of little use for 

 such. For instance, in a drier climate irrigation might 

 be needful, and it would not be necessary with a relialile, 

 sufficient annual dry period to jircfiare vines for tiowerinjj 

 by cheeking their sap flow in certain branche.i, as it is 

 in thi.s colony. This is not found neces.sary in certain 

 districts where the rainfall is not .such as to keep 

 plants growing continuously, for they stop growing of 

 thcm.selves and come into llower without coaxing. 



Again, under less favourable growing conditions the 

 vines would need more initriment and attention to stimulate 

 growth. 



ThciO and similar considerations which will suggest 

 them.sclves to the reader may .serve to save a brief summary 

 from appearing too dogmatic. 



Tlie foil )wing conditions of climate, method of growing, 

 etc., aj^iear to the writer to be most favourable to 

 the .successful cultivation and handling of the vanilla 

 crop. 



Cliiaiiie.- \\ itli .shade tcni|ieraturo ranging about 

 SO' v., never mucli above or below it, and a humiil, .still 

 atnio.spherc ; a raiid'all of SO to 100 inches or more, evenly 

 distributed thnaigh ten months in the year, the remaining 

 two months being diy, with occasional short and very light 

 showers- the ten wet months for continuous luxuriant 

 growth, the two dry ones to check it and laing vines into 

 fiowcr. 



Soil. — A skin of rich vegetable mould 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. 



Sil nation. — Moderate slopes. 



i 



