58 SPICES 



CHAP. 



folded over all, and the lid put on. The boxes are 

 put into halves of wine-barrels, which are filled with 

 water up to the lids of the boxes, care being taken 

 that no water gets into the boxes. The barrel is then 

 covered with a piece of sacking and left for the night. 

 Next morning the pods are taken out and exposed 

 to the air to dry, and then for two or three days kept 

 under woollen coverings in full sunlight. 



Now the pods are ready for the drying process, 

 which is effected by the use of closed boxes of galvanised 

 iron containing chloride of calcium. The boxes are 1 

 metre square, with a hinged door, closing on an india- 

 rubber edging to ensure air-tightness. Each box has 

 eleven trays. In the sixth tray and on the bottom of 

 the box are placed 18 kilos of calcium chloride. The 

 rest of the trays contain 45 kilos of vanilla. The trays 

 should not be made of resinous or strong-smelling wood, 

 as vanilla absorbs and retains odours it meets with. 

 The bottom of the tray is made of split rattan in the 

 form of a hurdle. Several layers of vanilla are placed 

 in each tray. The calcium chloride is put in double- 

 bottomed vessels, the inner one perforated to allow the 

 escape of the liquid calcium chloride. Whenever the 

 boxes are opened the chloride is examined and replaced 

 or added to, as may be required. The doors are 

 hermetically closed. 



The vanilla is examined every two or three days, 

 and damp pods removed and put aside to be sunned. 

 In twenty-five or thirty days the pods will be sufficiently 

 dry. 



After being taken out of the box the vanilla is put 

 on frames in a covered, well ventilated place for several 

 days, and then transferred to tin boxes, each containing 

 15 to 20 kilos. There it remains for several weeks, 

 being examined every few days, and any pods showing 

 mildew are carefully wiped. 



When it is thought that it has reached perfection 

 and the perfume is well developed, it undergoes a treat- 

 ment to remove any dust and spores of mildew upon it. 



