12 



coal is used in the mill furnaces ; and according to its vicinity to town 

 or railway can make a considerable yearly income by the sale of markes 

 produce, etc. 



Continuous efforts are made to substitute Indian corn, peas, beans, 

 lentils and mandioca, for imported rice, and one of the results of the 

 plague at Bombay has been to very largely aid in forcing the inhabitants 

 to look to native products in view of the great rise in the price of rice. 

 As a rule, however, the market gardener is sadly hampered by want or 

 means of communication ; he can grow beautiful produce, but before 

 he can reach the consumer, freight has eaten up the profits ; neither 

 are export duties charged at the ports favourable to the development of 

 a trade with foreign or neighbouring countries. 



Something has been done to save the island from depending solely 

 on sugar, but there is room for improvement. Reunion ought to grow 

 all its own corn on its fertile upland plains. Horse and cattle rearing 

 could be profitably extended and sheep-raising on a smaller scale with 

 the bye-products of soap, candles and manures. But in a country 

 where routine is all-powerful and capital somewhat short, it is difficult 

 for people to get out of the ordinary rut unless initiative and funds 

 come from outside. At the same time what has been done is to the 

 credit of Reunion, and her example may well be held up to British 

 tropical colonies as one to be followed. 



• ••••••• 



Explanatory Notes as to the Drying of Yanilla by Chloride 



OF Calcium. 



The object aimed at in the treatment of vanilla is to endow it with 

 keeping properties, and at the same time to develop the perfume 

 which has not yet come into being at the moment of cropping. 



Pods of the best quality should be perfectly smooth, and without 

 excrescences or holes. The longer the pods, and the more perfumed 

 they are, without acidity, the more valuable the vanilla. 



The success of the treatment of vanilla depends upon the care 

 bestowed upon it, and especially upon the state of maturity of the pods. 



If the vanilla is picked too green, its treatment will be dif- 

 ficult and its keeping qualities doubtful, the pods will be thin and 

 poor after, drying, whilst the perfume will not be properly brought out, 

 and what there is will be lacking in quality. 



If plucked when too ripe, the treatment will be easy, it will be of 

 good size, and highly perfumed, but it will split, and thus lose much of 

 its commercial value. 



On a well ventilated and properly exposed plantation, the pods are 

 ripe when the lower part begins to turn yellowish. 



The treatment by chloride of calcium, CaCl2, as indeed do all the 

 other methods of treatment, consists of several operations: — 



1. Stoppage of vegetation. 



2. First drying and colouring. 



3. Drving. 



4. Watching. 



