172 



amount ofl,400 tons annually, and a Seychelles planter has suc- 

 ceeded in making a sample of citrate containing 65 per cent, 

 citric acid. The lime industries are specially adapted to Sey- 

 chelles labour and to the shipping difficulties of the Colony, and 

 there is also a certain amount of profit to be derived from them 

 by the production of hand-press oils (worth 3s. 6d. on the London 

 market). The future of this Colony lies in tree-planting on a 

 greater scale than it is at present, and not in cultivating herba- 

 ceous plants which are so susceptible to climatic variations. 



Owing to the fall in the price of vanilla, the Curator was asked 

 to prepare an extract from inferior vanilla in order to try to avoid 

 exporting low-grade beans as such. The experiments are not yet 

 completed, and the extracts will soon be forwarded to the Imperial 

 Institute for valuation. A simple maceration of 400 grammes of 

 vanilla in four litres of alcohol is not sufficient, and the modus 

 operandi which has given the best results, is the following : — The 

 vases containing vanilla arranged in the form of a battery and 

 alcohol at 8o° to 85 ' allowed to remain one week in one vase 

 before being transferred to the next containing fresh vanilla. A 

 sort of diffusion is then practised until the four or six vases have 

 received the alcoholic solution four or six times each. 



CURING VANILLA PODS FOR MARKET. 



RIPENING. 



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 colour 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. 



HARVESTING. 



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 : I, long ; 2, medium , 3, short, and 4, split. 



DIPPING IN HOT WATER 

 An iron pot or boiler of some kind is necessary in which the 

 water is heated nearly to boiling point — 190 F., is recommended. 



* Notes chiefly from article by S. J. Galbraith. See Bulletin of the Botanical De- 

 partment, Aug. 1902, page 113. 



