VANILLA 



73 



cultivation ever since 1894, in a few places. No returns 

 of export have been recorded. 



The plant has also been introduced into the 

 Cameroons, San Thome, Sierra Leone, Lagos, and 

 German East Africa. In Bagamoyo, in the last men- 

 tioned district, it was exported by the missionaries, who 

 grew it with some success, and its cultivation seemed 

 very promising, but the plantations have not increased, 

 and in the other localities it is also stationary. 



Seychelles. In this group of islands vanilla was 

 for many years the main production, but lately the 

 cultivation has fallen off very considerably. The cause 

 of this has been attributed to a severe drought in 1904, 

 which destroyed half of the vines and injured the 

 vitality of the rest. The low price, due to a certain 

 extent to the artificial vanilla, contributed to the 

 diminution of the cultivation. 



The chief islands in which it was produced are 

 Mahe, Praslin, La Digue, and St. Anne. 



The exports for the past years have been recorded 

 as follows : 



1891 

 1892 

 1893 

 1894 

 1895 

 1896 

 1897 

 1898 

 1899 

 1900 

 1901 

 1902 

 1903 

 1904 

 1905 

 1906 



It will be noticed that the export of this spice varies 

 very much in quantity, as also in price, which is doubt- 

 less due to the variations in climate in the Seychelles, 

 and the occasional occurrence of serious droughts. 



