

VANILLA 35 



formerly subterranean roots bare and also taking away 

 their nutriment. 



Then when the weather is hot and dry, the ground 

 cracks under the blazing sun, breaking across any young 

 roots which may be in the line of the crack, and the 

 surface soil loses its moisture and the roots beneath, even 

 if not broken, are dried up. 



In spite of these obvious objections, there are many 

 planters who insist on having a perfectly bare, dried-up, 

 sun-cracked soil for whatever plant they are cultivating, 

 in fact, what is known as a clean estate. Plants, how- 

 ever, are not accustomed to this condition, and it is 

 quite an unnatural state for any form of tropical 

 cultivation. 



Draining. Whether draining is necessary or not 

 on the estate depends entirely upon the position and lie 

 of the land. Where hill slopes are used there will, of 

 course, be no necessity for any drainage system. In 

 low-lying ground where the soil is at all water-logged, 

 the ground must be drained, but such soil is not good 

 for vanilla, however it is treated, and should be avoided. 



Much of the injury caused by the fungus disease in 

 Mauritius was attributed to bad or insufficient drainage. 



Manuring. Where the soil is rich in humus of 

 sufficient depth it is unnecessary to add anything in 

 the way of manure, but the ground should be dug over 

 and broken up before planting. If the soil is poor in 

 humus, leaf-mould or decaying leaves may be spread on 

 the ground, and burnt earth may be liberally used. 



As burnt earth is widely used in the tropics for 

 many different crops, and will be mentioned again, I 

 will here describe the method of making it. Low scrub, 

 bushes, boughs of trees and other such vegetation are 

 cut, and partly dried by being left in the sun, A 

 quantity is laid on the ground and covered with soil, 

 adding alternately more branches and more soil, until 

 a good-sized pile is made. This is then ignited and 

 allowed to smoulder for some days or even weeks, until 

 the vegetable matter is charred. After being allowed 



