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must first be planted. In selecting trees those should be chosen which 

 do not grow too large, but give moderate f oliaga (a bout half shade) 

 without ever losing all their leaves at once, and h aving plenty of 

 branches from 5 to 7 feet from the ground, affording forks enough to 

 train the vines through. 



No hard and fast rule can be laid down as to the distance trees 

 should be kept apart Here formerly, as above stated, vanilla was 

 grown in dense masses with great success for a time. Elsewhere it 

 may be advantageously so grown now. However, it is safe to state 

 that overcrowding in any kind of planting invites disease, and the 

 farther plants are kept apart the more likely are they to remain healthy. 

 A 4-foot radius would be a moderate allowance for the roots of a vi- 

 gorous vanilla plant, and if one foot is kept clear around the circle 

 allowed to each plant's roots this would give 9 feet as the distance 

 between the trees. It would be difficult to insure the plants being kept 

 distinct in less space. Where suitable trees are already growing on the 

 land to be planted, these can be thinued out if too close, or they may 

 be left in small lots of three or four or more together, a sufficient clear 

 space intervening between each lot ; but in that case if one vine of a 

 group showed disease, the whole would have to be removed. Many 

 irees stand topping, and it is a great advantage when they do, for on 

 being cut 7 feet or so from the ground branches spring from near the 

 cut part at a convenient height, and the best situated of those can be 

 chosen to train the vines through, the rest that grow awkwardly being 

 removed. About 5 feet from the base is low enough to allow any to 

 grow. 



Trees being in readiness, planting may be done at any time of year 

 here. If during a wet spell, vanilla will sprout all the quicker ; should 

 it be dry, the plants will delay a little, but there is no fear of their 

 missing if properly planted, and the one danger point to guard is where 

 the vine leaves the earth. This part of the vine is burnt through if 

 not shaded with grass or leaves. However, this also would only mean 

 a little delay in the start of growth ; for though they take some time 

 longer about it, vanilla cuttings will grow well enough if merely tied 

 to the trees with their lower ends some inches clear of the ground. 

 Illustrative of the extreme vitality of plants under adverse conditions, 

 it may be mentioned that in neglected plantations, where the vines 

 have been allowed to climb well up into the branches of good-sized 

 trees, and then been broken in attempting to get them down, the broken 

 portions, sometimes partly swinging free, have remained green and 

 capable of growth for upwards of a year, sending down long aerial 

 roots 15 or 20 feet in length, and in some cases where these have 

 escaped injury the broken plant may re-establish connection with the 

 soil and start to grow again. If planted clear of the ground and 

 merely tied to the supporting tree, it is advisable to tie two or three 

 large leaves round each vine for the distance of 3 feet up; thus shaded 

 the aerial roots quickly burst through the stem, and, getting something 

 to cling to at once, soon make their way to earth without injury. 



In starting a new vanillery, where the estate has no plants these are 

 readily purchased here at small cost. From 2 to 3 rupees (55 to 90 

 cents) per 100 fathoms is the usual rate for cuttings, the fathom being 

 what a man can span with outspread arms, a good sweep of the vine 



