ii VANILLA 25 



V. pompona is a native of Southern Mexico, 

 Nicaragua, Panama, Surinam, Venezuela, and Trinidad, 

 and has been cultivated in Martinique and Guadeloupe. 

 The pods are thicker and more fleshy than those of V. 

 planifolia, and fetch a lower price. 



HISTORY OF THE PLANT 



Vanilla was used by the Aztecs for flavouring 

 chocolate before the discovery of America, and its use 

 was adopted by the Spaniards. It was, according to 

 Morren, brought to Europe about 1510, and first 

 described by Hernandez in 1651, in the Rerum 

 Medicarum Novae Hispanae Thesaurus. 



It was introduced into England in the beginning of" 

 the nineteenth century, it is said, by the Marquis of 

 Blandford, and flowered and fruited in 1807. In 1812 

 plants from the gardens of the Eight Hon. H. C. 

 Greville were sent to Dr. Somme", Director of the 

 Botanic Garden of Antwerp, who in 1819 sent two 

 plants to Buitenzorg in Java, where one that had 

 survived the voyage flowered in 1825, but did not fruit. 

 Professor Charles Morren of Lie"ge was the first to 

 produce fruits in quantity, and proved that Vanilla 

 planifolia was the true vanilla of commerce. He 

 showed the method of fertilisation by hand, and 

 suggested that vanilla might be readily cultivated in 

 tropical countries. 



Vanilla cultivation on a systematic basis was intro- 

 duced into Java by M. Teysmann, Director of the 

 Botanic Gardens at Buitenzorg, in 1846. In Eeunion 

 cultivation commenced between 1850 and 1856, and in 

 1857, 1917 kilos were exported to France, increasing to 

 44,000 kilos in 1874, of the value of 4,098,600 francs. 

 From Ee"union it w r as introduced into Mauritius. It 

 was also cultivated in Tahiti, Fiji, Zanzibar, and Java. 



The cultivation of vanilla soon became of great 

 importance. In 1875 the British Consul at Eeunion 

 states in his Eeport (May 1, 1875) : 



