50 



Some precaution is required in separating the pods from the stem. 

 The fruit should be grasped with the right haad towards the butt-end, 

 and removed from the stem by a gentle twist from right to left. Some 

 persons take the pod by the middle or by the end and draw it roughly 

 towards them ; when so treated it often breaks, or the entire bunch is 

 detached from the tree with the pods still unripe. Other persons 

 gather it by pinching it ofi with the nails, but then the but-end no longer 

 existing prevents uniformity in the packets and raises difficulties for the 

 sale. 



CURING THE FRUIT. 



The odour of vanilla does not exist iu the fruit a? it is gathered, 

 but is developed by a process of fermentation in the curing. When a 

 pod is allowed to fully ripen on the plant it splits into two unequal parts, 

 becoming first yellow, then brown, and finally black. While it is dry- 

 ing it exudes an unctuous liquid of a dark red colour, called balsam of 

 vanilla and when quite Iry the pod becomes brittle and devoid of all 

 perfume. 



The following are the various processes for curing vanilla and pre 

 paring it for ihe market : — 



Guiana process. — The beans are placed in ashes, and there left till, 

 they begin to shrivel ; they are then wiped, rubbed over with olive oil, 

 and their lower end having been tied they are left to dry in the open 

 air. 



Peruvian process. — The beans are dipped into boiling water, tied at 

 the end, and hung in the open air. After drying twenty days they are 

 lightly smeared over with castor oil, and a few days afterwards tied up 

 into bundles. 



Mexican process. — As soon as gathered the beans are placed in 

 heaps under a shed protecting them from sun and rain, and in a few 

 days when they begin to shrivel, are submitted to the " sweating " pro- 

 cess ; this is carried on in two different ways according to the state of 

 the weather. If it happens to be warm and fine the beans are spread 

 out in the early morning on a woollen blanket and. exposed to the direct 

 rays of the sun. At about midday, or one in the afternoon, the blanket 

 is folded around them and the bundle is left in the sun for the remain- 

 der of the day. In the evening all the vanilla is closed in air-tight 

 boxes so that it may sweat the whole night. The next day the beans are 

 again exposed to the direct action of the sun ; they then acquire a dark 

 coffee-colour, the shade being a deeper brown in proportion to the suc- 

 cess of the sweating operation. Should the weather be cloudy, the 

 vanilla is made into bundles, and a number of these are packed together 

 in a small bale, which is first wrapped in a woollen cloth, then in a 

 coating of banana leaves, and finally the whole is enclosed in a thick 

 matting and sprinkled with water. The bales containing the largest 

 beans are now placed in an oven heated to 60 ® C. (140 ^ F.). When 

 the temperature of the oven has fallen to 45 *^ C. (113 *^ F.) the sma'ler 

 beans are introduced, and the oven closed tightly. Twenty-four hours 

 afterwards the smaller beans are taken out, and twelve hours later the 

 larger ones. During this process the vanilla has sweated and acquired 



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