C 466 ] 



they are spread out on blankets and exposed to the sun. 

 Every evening they are rolled up in the blankets and shut, 

 up in light boxes to ferment. The sunning process is 

 continued for a week, or until the pods become brown and 

 pliable, when they are squeezed between the ringers to 

 straighten them, and so cause the seeds and oily substance 

 inside to be evenly distributed. Should any of the pods split, 

 they should be closed up and bound round tightly with 

 silk thread or narrow tape. As they dry and shrivel, the 

 thread should be unwound, and the pods tied up again. 

 When the pods are brown, the drying process should be 

 finished in shade, which may take many weeks. 



739. Packing. The dried beans are to be sorted according 

 to their length, the long, then, ones being the most valuable. 

 Beans of the same length are to be tied in bundles of 25 or 

 50, the ligatures usually being applied close to each end of 

 the bundle. The latter are then, packed in closely fitting tin 

 boxes, which are enclosed in rough wooden cases. 



740. The Vanilla plants flower very irregularly, and, in 

 consequence, all the pods are not in fit condition, to be gath- 

 ered at one time, and care is required at the first gatherings 

 not to touch pods which are unripe ; if gathered too early the 

 pods or beans will mostly shrivel during the process of dry- 

 ing, and lean shrivelled beans do not realise so good a price 

 in the markets. At the same time, the pods must not be left 

 on the plants after they have ripened, or the valves will open, 

 sometimes nearly an inch, and split beans are of inferior 

 value. 7 to 33 shillings per pound are obtained in the London 

 market according to the size and quality of the beans. 



