Edible Products. 



320 



[Oct. 1906. 



as the nut increases in age up to three months of storing, i.e., when they are 

 beginning to sprout. In nuts kept for six months, though the meat is practically 

 the same, there is a marked decrease in the proportion of copra and oil, due to 

 decomposition or other causes. Thus both in very fresh and in over-ripe nuts there 

 is a considerable deficiency in oil. 



In planting in the nursery the practice in the Philippines appears to be to cut 

 a small section of the husk off the top of the nut to afford more easy egress for the 

 sprout. 



As a protection against wild pig, a pit 4 or 5 feet deep is dug and the nuts 

 planted at the bottom. 



"Grill-dried" copra is not so liable to be attacked by insects and moulds, 

 though it is considered inferior owing to its dark colour and smoky flavour. 



VANILLA INDUSTRY IN THE SEYCHELLES. 



A British Colonial Office report for 1905 on the trade of the Seychelles 

 Islands gives the following particulars of the vanilla industry :— 



EXPORTS OF VANILLA. 



1904. 1905. 



Rs. Rs. 



United Kingdom ... 130,592 137,185 



France ... ... 148,446 136,462 



Mauritius ... ... 8,987 64 



Switzerland ... ... 8,400 8,400 



Germany ... ... — 765 



The striking feature in the foregoing statement is the continued collapse 

 of vanilla, the staple export of the Colony for many years. Vanilla may have 

 a future ; in no place are the conditions of nature more favourable than in 

 Seychelles, but for the present it is of little value, and the crop of 1906 is so 

 small that it cannot be expected to exceed 20,000 kilos. Vanilla has long held the 

 pride of place at the head of the products of Seychelles. In 1905, it has been 

 displaced by coconut products, which have been exported to the value of Rs. 413,951, 

 whereas vanilla has fallen in value to Rs. 282,876. The quantity exported was 

 more than anticipated, being 48,208 kilos., or over 100,000 lbs., but the actual crop 

 did not exceed 36,000 kilos., the surplus consisting of the balance of the crops of 

 1903 and 1901, which had been held up for better prices. The crop for 1906 will not 

 exceed 20,000 kilos., and there is only a very small stock of old vanilla held locally. 

 The cause of the falling-off in crops in 1904, 1905, and 1906 is the period of 

 drought in 1904, which destroyed one-third of the vines and reduced the vitality of 

 the remainder. The crop of 1904 had been expected, judging from the flowering 

 season of 1903, to be normal, viz., 60,000 kilos., but in consequence of the drought 

 it reached 45,000 kilos only. The drought of 1904 checked the flowering for 1905, 

 and a crop of 36,000 kilos, was the result. A repetition of the period of drought 

 in 1905 led to an almost complete failure of the flowering season for the crop of 

 1906, when the total amount cured will not exceed one-third 'of an average crop, 

 and will be as small as that for 1900, without the saving grace of high prices. 

 Favourable weather in 1906 promises a good flowering season for the crop of 1907 ; 

 the vines are in good heart, and it is probable that— as far as a forecast is 

 possible— the crop should be up to 50,000 kilos. 



What the failure of the vanilla means to Seychelles may be illustrated by 

 the fact that, for the term of ten years before 1904, the average crop represented 

 an output of 38,476 kilos., valued at Rs. 714,096, and selling at an average price of 

 Rs. 17*95 per kilo. In 1905, the export of vanilla was valued at Rs. 282,876, with an 

 average price of Rs. 5 - 87 per kilo. And the failure means more than this, for 

 planters had been living on a scale commensurate with their recent good fortune, 



