Vol. XI. No. 262 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



149 



first soaked. Simplicity is claimed for the method, but it is 

 expensive. 



A process for drying vanilla with the aid of calcium 

 chloride is described in the Keiv BxiUe.tia for 1898, f. 43, 

 and the account is abstracted in the work^hat has been 

 employed in presenting the following detailj. 



The pods are placed on end, close enough to secure 

 pressure without damage by rubbing, in tins fitted with lids 

 closing on tlie outside of the tin, the pods in the last layer 

 being placed on their .sides They are then covered with 

 a woollen cover, and the lids put on. The tins are put into 

 halves of wine barrels, which are filled with water up to the 

 lids of the tins, care being taken that no water gets into the 

 latter. After the barrels have been left for the night, covered 

 with a piece of sacking, the pods are taken out and dried in 

 the air, and then placed under woollen coverings in full 

 sunlight, for two or three days. • 



This is the preliminary curing process, used before 

 the method of drying with calcium chloride that is 

 described. For drying, there are used closed bo.xes, 

 made of galvanized iron and containing calcium chlo- 

 ride. Each bo.x is about a yard square, and fitted with 

 a hinged, air tight door, closing on an india-rubber edging. 

 There are eleven trays in each box, in the sixih of which, 

 as well as on the bottom of the box there are placed about 

 40 11). of calcium chloride, while the remaining trays 

 contain about 100 B). of vanilla; the bottom of each tray 

 is perforated. The receptacles for the calcium chloride are 

 double bottomed, the inner bottom being perforated in order 

 to allow the calcium chloride that has absorbed water to run 

 away from the rest; more calcium chloride is added ;is it is 

 wanted. Every two or three days the vanilla is e.xamined, 

 and any damp pods are placed in the sun. Twenty-five to 

 thirty days is required for this part of the process. 



The vanilla is next put into frames, in a covered, well- 

 ventilated place for several day.s, and then into tin bo.xes 

 each containing a weight of about 40 B). It remains in these 

 for several weeks, during which time any pods that show 

 mildew are carefully wiped. 



When the perfume is well developed, the vanilla is 

 subjected to treatment for the purpose of rerhoving any dust 

 and spores of mildew upon it. For this purpose, 40 lb. of 

 the vanilla is put into about 6 gallons of water at 140'F, 

 and vigorously stirred by hand. Lastly, the pods are taken 

 out, wiped lightly, and put to dry in the shad6. 



A process called Macfarlane's process is employed 

 specially for Vani.Ua Pompona, as that for V. p/anifolia 

 cannot be used for the former without loss through splitting 

 of many of the pods. In this, the pods are placed in the 

 shade in layers 6 or 8 inches deep, for about three weeks, 

 until they turn to a uniform, deep, red-brown colour, when 

 they are exposed to the sun in wooden trays, 3 feet by 6 feet 

 and 2 inches deep, in layers of about li inches. They are 

 turned two or three times a da}', and at about 3 p.m., or 

 whenever rain threatens, the trays are stacked one upon 

 another, under cover, and blankets are placed over them. 

 In three or four days the pods are packed while hot into old 

 40-ft). biscuit tins, in which they remain for two days, when 

 they are then spread out in the trays, and covered with 

 blankets. From this time the processes are alternated, one 

 day in the sun and one or two in the tins, until the pod« 

 have become soft and pliant, when they may be left for 

 a couple of weeks at a time in the tins, as long as the latter 

 are fairly air-tight. The chief [irecautions to be observed 

 are the frequent turning of the pods, and care never to 

 spread them singly in the tray.'. 



A safer plan, but one requiring more house room, is to 

 remove the pods when they have lost about half their weight, 

 aad are distinctly wrinkled, to frames covered with wire-cloth 

 or thin .sacking, the frames being placed in a well-ventilated 

 building so that the pods may become dry. 



THE TONKA BEAN. 



Information concerning the tonka bean has been 

 given, more recently, in the Agriculiural News, Vols. V, 

 p. 212; and IX, p. 149. The following additional 

 details are taken from an article appearing in the 

 Journal of tlie Royal Society of Arts for March 15, 

 1912:— 



The tonkin, tonqua or tonquin bean of commerce is sup- 

 posed to have first reached ICurope from the Province of 

 Annam, Tonquin. It is the dried seed of the fruit of the 

 leguminous tree called by botanists Dipteryx odorata, which 

 grows in the forests of the northern part of South America. 

 The tree attains a height of 80 feet, and the fruit is an 

 oblong, fibrous pod that contains one seed, almond-shaped but 

 larger, and covered with a shiny black skin. The seeds have 

 the sweet odour of new mown hay. Tonka trees Houri.sh in 

 the Guianas, in the state of Para, Brazil, and the Orinoco 

 basin of Venezuela. 



The tree is found scattered singly throughout the forest, 

 rarely in groves Experience has shown that the third-year 

 crop is generally the best, although it is almost impossible to 

 forecast the harvest of any one j-ear. In Venezuela the tree 

 is known as the 'Serrapia', from which the men engaged 

 in collecting the beans earn their name 'serrapieros'. 



.Men, women and children all take part in the collection. 

 The fruit is much like the mango in appearance, and serves 

 as food for the natives. It has but little pulp, which is sticky 

 and of insipid taste, while the seed is covered with a hard, 

 fur like substance. When the serrapiero has gathered suffi- 

 cient fruit, he carries it to some open spot in the forest, where 

 he can get the benefit of strong sunlight; he here carefully 

 breaks open the hard shell and extracts the single oblong, 

 dark-brown bean. The seeds are then spread to dry on large 

 granite slabs common in Venezuela. The dried beans are 

 then shipped to Ciudad Bolivar and sold to local merchants, 

 who may subject them to the process called crystallization, or 

 who may send the beans on to Trinidad, where this process 

 can be carried on much more cheaply. Crystallizing is an alco- 

 holic treatment. Open casks are ranged side by side and 

 filled with beans to within 1 foot of the top. Strong rum is 

 then poured over them until the casks are quite full, when 

 they are covered with gunny bags At the end of twenty- 

 four hours the ruin not absorbed is run off, and the beans are 

 spread out to dry where the air circulates freely. When first 

 emptied from the casks the beans are of a dull black colour 

 soft and swollen, but, on drying, shiny white crystals appear 

 on their surfaces, and bj' the time they are ready for packing 

 they seem to be sugar-coated. The beans .shrink in drying, 

 and present a wrinkled appearance when ready for final 

 exportation. Tonka beans, pulverized, are mixed with snufF 

 and tobacco to give a bouquet, and their sweet scent finds 

 them a ready market with perfumery and soap manufacturers. 

 Somtimes they displace the vanilla bean, but strictly speak- 

 ing, it is the fragrant odour that gives value to the fruit. 



The tonka bean is also found scattered through the 

 forest lands of Colombia. 



