148 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



Mav 11, 1912. 



FRUITS AND FRUIT TREES. 



THE CURING OP VANILLA. 



The increased interest that is being shown in certain 

 parts of the West Indies with regard to the production of 

 vanilla has made important the consideration of the question 

 as to the best way of carrying out the process of curing, on 

 which the ultimate value of the product so much depends. 

 In view of this fact, it may be well to give an abstract of the 

 information that is presented concerning the subject in 

 the publication issued recently under the title Spices, by 

 H. N. Ridley, M.A., C.M.G., F.R.S., F.L.S , late Director of 

 Botanic Gardens, Straits Settlements. 



The objects of the artificial methods for curing vanilla 

 are to hasten maturity, to produce a uniform and simultaneous 

 ripening of all parts of the pod, and to prevent splitting of 

 the pod and consequent loss of the perfume. The means for 

 artificial curing include the employment of hot water, sun 

 heat, and stove heat. Particulars of the best known among 

 them are as follows. 



THE GUI.A.NA PROCESS. After the pods have been placed 

 in a.shes until they begin to shrivel, they are removed and 

 wiped, rubbed with olive oil, and tied at the lower end in 

 order to prevent them from splitting They are then left to 

 dry in the open air. 



THE PERUVIAN PROCESS. The pods are hung in the open 

 air for twenty days, after being dipped in boiling water and 

 tied at the end. They are then smeared lightly with castor 

 oil, and tied in bundles a few days afterwards. 



THE .MEXICAN PROCE.ss. The pods are allowed to shiivel 

 under cover, and then are sweated in two different ways, 

 according to the weather at the time. In warm and fine 

 weather, they arc exposed to the rays of the sun, on a woollen 

 blanket, in the early morning. At mid-day, or soon after- 

 wards, the blanket is folded over the pods, and the bundle 

 left in tlig sun until evening, when the vanilla is sweated in 

 airtight boxes during the whole night. On the next day 

 they are again left in the sun, after which time their colour 

 turns to a dark coffee shade, the depth of the shade varying 

 with the success of the sweating. In cloudy weather, the 

 pods are made into bundles, which are formed into small bales 

 covered first with a woollen cloth, then with banana leaves, and 

 finally in a thick matting, which is sprinkled with water. The 

 bales containing the largest beans are placed in an oven at 

 a temperature of 140 F., and the temperature is allowed to 

 fall until it reaches 113° F., when the smaller beans are 



introduced, and the oven closed tightly. The smaller beans 

 are kept in the oven for twenty-four, and the larger for 

 thirty-six, hours, when they acquire a fine chestnut colour. la 

 order to dry them, the pods are exposed to the sun on mat- 

 ting, every day for nearly two months, and then the drying 

 is completed in the shade. This process is said to have been 

 employed successfully in Ili-union for some years; it requires, 

 however, care and skill. 



THE BOILING WATER I'RocEss. This has also been found 

 successful in Ik^inion. In the first stage the pods are placed 

 in cylindrical baskets of rattan and lowered into large iroa 

 cauldrons containing water nearly at boiling point (about 

 194'F.). The time of dipping varies: sometimes it lasts for 

 fifteen to twenty seconds, when it only takes place once- 

 and at others two or three dippings are given, each lasting 

 three or four seconds. The water is then allowed to drain 

 away from the pods, on tables covered with black cloth, or 

 on mats. After all the pods have been scalded, they are piled 

 together, covered up, and put into an oven for a quarter 

 of an hour. In the next stage, they are exposed to the sun, 

 on tables covered with lilankets, until two or three o'clock 

 when they are rolled up in the blankets and either kept 

 warm in a closed room, or put to retain their heat, into 

 cases lined with wool. Four, six or eight days are required 

 for this stage of the process, according to the weather, and 

 the pods are e.xamined from time to time in order that those 

 which are ready may be removed, the condition being 

 recognized by the pod becoming flexible, and the skin of 

 a uniform deep chocolate-brown, and marked with longitudinal 

 furrows. Drying is carried out on tables, made of rattan or 

 perforated, placed in a drying house usually roofed with zinc, 

 and with windows that are open during the middle of the day. 

 They remain here for about a month or a little longer, and are 

 turned frequently in order that they may dry easily. The 

 completion of the process is shown by the fact that the pods 

 have become black and may be twisted easily round the finger 

 without cracking. Before they are sorted they are passed 

 through the fingers repeatedly in order that the oil that they 

 exude during fermentation may give them the proper supple- 

 ness and lustre. 



potier'.s PROCESS. After having been soaked in rum 

 for twenty to thirty days, the pods are exposed to the air for 

 thirty-six to forty-eight hours, without becoming completely 

 dry. They are then shipped in the rum in which they were 



