VANILLA. 



499 



dry until the pod loses its green colour. Straw mats covered with 

 woollen blankets are spread on the ground, and when these are warmed 

 through, the fruits are spread on them and exposed to the sun. After 

 a time they are wrapped in blankets, and placed in boxes covered with 

 cloth, after which they are again exposed. In about twelve hours the 

 fruits should become of a coffee colour, but if they do not the process 

 is repeated. After about two months' daily exposure they are tied up 

 in bundles of fifty, and packed in tin boxes. Five qualities of vanilla 

 pods are known : the best is the primiera, the pods of which are twenty- 

 four centimetres long, and proportionally thick. The second quality 

 is called cMca prima, the pods are shorter, and two count as one ; 

 the third, sacate, and the fourth, vesacate, are still smaller, four of the 

 latter being reckoned for one ; they are gathered before they are ripe. 

 The fifth and poorest quality is called hasura ; the fruit is very small, 

 spotted, and .uch cut or broken about. 



The following is another method of preparing vanilla for the 

 market : About 12,000 of the pods are strung together by their lower 

 end, as near as possible to the footstalk ; " the whole are plunged for 

 an instant into boiling water to blanch them ; they are then hung up 

 in the open air and exposed to the sun for a few hours. By some 

 they are wrapped in woollen cloths to sweat. Next day they are 

 lightly smeared with oil by means of a feather or the fingers, and are 

 surrounded with oiled cotton to prevent the valves from opening. As 

 they become dry, on inverting their upper end, they discharge a viscid 

 liquor from it, and they are pressed several times with oiled fingers to 

 promote its flow. The dried pods, like the berries of pepper, change 

 colour under the drying operation, grow brown, wrinkled, soft, and 

 shrink to one-fourth of their original size. In this state they are 

 touched a second time with oil, but very sparingly, because with too 

 much oil they would lose some of their delicious perfume." 



In Guatemala the Indians of Vera Paz collect a good deal of vanilla 

 growing wild in the woods along the banks of the river Polochia, and 

 in the forests to the north-west of Coban, and this orchid is also 

 found growing on the coast of Suchitepequez. In 1874, 431 lbs. were 

 shipped from Guatemala. 



It appears somewhat remarkable that the cultivation of vanilla in 

 the British West Indies has not been largely undertaken, as it would 

 be attended with little difficulty, and might be made a source of much 

 profit to the inhabitants. But even in Caraccas and Guiana, where the 

 plant grows profusely in a wild state, it is almost entirely neglected. 

 It has been attempted in Jamaica. 



Guadeloupe. — Some small attention has been given to the production 

 in this French island. In 1869, 260 kilos, were gathered there ; in 

 1871, 149 kilos, were shipped to France; in 1872, 1496 kilos, were 

 raised ; and in 1874, 598 kilos. 



Brazil. — Vanilla is very badly prepared in Brazil ; in fact, no atten- 

 tion is given to the culture — the wild pods are merely collected in the 

 woods as they ripen. These vary in length in different districts. 

 The Brazilian pods are in general much larger than those grown in 

 Mexico. Those of the province of Sergipe are 8 to 10 inches long by 



2 K 2 



