— I3» — 



De Cordemoy 1 ) reports on the experience of the Reunion vanilla 

 planters with regard to the supports used for training the vanilla plant. 

 According to the author wooden or metal poles- have been entirely 

 discarded there, and in the course of time the planters have adopted 

 the use of trees as natural supports for the vanilla. The kinds which 

 come especially under consideration are Casuarina equisetifolia Forst, 

 called "filao", and further Jatropha Curcas L. and Pandanus utilis Bory. 

 The "filao" soon came out of use, as during the growth its bark 

 peeled off, and the vanilla shoots lost their support. The experience 

 with the Jatropha was favourable, but in the case of heavy shoots it 

 was found too feeble and had to be supported by poles. The most 

 satisfactory was the Pandanus, which through its numerous adventive 

 roots offers a sufficient resistance to the cyclones which occur so 

 frequently in Reunion. It is usual to plant the vanilla cuttings close 

 to the roots of a Pandanus, when the shoots very rapidly twine them- 

 selves round the roots and trunk. This method appears to be the 

 one generally employed. Very remarkable is the occurrence of 

 a microscopic fungus between the aerial root and bark of the living 

 support, whose mycelian filaments penetrate not only the root-bark 

 of the vanilla, but also the bark of the supporting tree, and, according 

 to de Cordemoy, are important for the nutrition of the vanilla plant. 



x ) Journ. d' Agriculture tropicale 4 (1904), 104. 



Schimmel & Co. 



J.J. Weber, Leipzig. 



