ii 



VANILLA 



27 



CULTIVATION 



Climate. Vanilla requires a tropical climate, hot 

 and moist, with frequent but not excessive rains. It 

 cannot stand dryness nor strong sea-winds, nor does 

 excessive regular moisture suit it. 



In the Singapore Botanic Gardens it grows very 

 well and strong, but as its period for ripening the fruits 

 coincides with the wet 

 season, it cannot be 

 cultivated in this region 

 with much success, for 

 if there should be heavy 

 rain-storms during the 

 ripening period, the 

 pods are apt to fall off 

 unripe and are spoilt. 



Both Vanilla plan- 

 ifolia and V. pompona, 

 however, have pro- 

 duced good pods there. 

 As the flowers are 

 usually produced in 

 June and July, and the 

 fruits ripen about De- 

 cember or January, it 

 is desirable to select a 

 climate for it where the 

 rains are not violent at 

 the end of the year. Curiously, a wild species of vanilla, 

 V. Griffiihii, common all over the Malay Peninsula, 

 flowers and fruits in almost the same months as the 

 American species, but the heavy rains of December 

 and January do not affect the ripening of its fruit. 

 Unfortunately, this species does not possess the aromatic 

 flavour and perfume of the American plant. 



The climates of the Mascarene Islands, the 

 West Indies, and parts of the Polynesian Islands, 

 such as Tahiti and Fiji, are those which suit it best, 



VANILLA FLOWERS. 



