254 TROPICAL AGRICULTURE 



the pods. For this purpose the pods are exposed in a ven- 

 tilated drying room for a period of I to 2 months. Various 

 other processes have been adopted for sweating and fermenting 

 the vanilla pods to develop the proper aroma. 



The vanilla plant flowers once a year and begins to bear 

 at the age of 3 years. The world's vanilla crop amounts to 

 about 600 tons of pods annually. Vanilla-producing coun- 

 tries at present stand in the following order: Tahiti, Mexico, 

 Reunion, Comores, Madagascar, Seychelles, Guadeloupe, Mau- 

 ritius, and Ceylon. Vanilla is used chiefly in flavoring choco- 

 late liqueurs, and confectionery. The artificial vanillin has 

 been made synthetically from eugenol, the characteristic prin- 

 ciple in oil of cloves. Artificial vanillin is much cheaper than 

 real vanilla but has not succeeded in displacing the latter to 

 any great extent. Vanillon (V . pompona) of Mexico yields 

 a low-grade vanilla. This product is much more easily cured 

 than the commercial vanilla and the pods do not show a ten- 

 dency to split during the process of curing. The flowers are 

 larger and the pods considerably thicker. 



