7 



Buildings required. A platform must ho constructed. This may 

 be made of stone, coral or cement, should slope slightly towards the 

 south and be protected from the wind by a wall running east and 

 west. This wall should be whitewashed to reflect more heat onto the 

 platform. A drying house must be built. This should be provided 

 with shelves on which the cured vanilla is laid out to dry, also with 

 stands where trays loaded with vanilla may be arranged one above 

 the other. Portable sweatboxes are made of wood. They should be 

 2 feet deep, 2 feet long and from 16 to 18 inches wide and have a de- 

 tachable cover. A supply of mats and dark colored woollen blankets 

 must also be provided. 



Curing. On a clear warm day. when the platform is dry and warm, 

 mats are spread evenly on the floor of the platform and covered with 

 dark colored blankets. The mats and blankets are previously hung 

 out in the sun. At 9.30 or 10 a. m. the vanilla is spread out quickly 

 and carefully. The first row is started along the wall, the pods laid 

 evenly without touching one another, the stem end farthest from 

 the wall. The pods are left in the sun until thoroughly heated — they 

 should be too warm to be 'held in the hand. The more quickly the 

 sun heats the fruit and the warmer they get, the better it is. The 

 sweatboxes and dark colored blankets are set out in the sun, and must 

 be warm when the vanilla has reached the proper stage. This 

 should be not later than 2 p. m. The blankets are used as lining and 

 the edges hang over the sides of the box. The heated pods are taken 

 up by handfuls and laid in the boxes, stem end inside, care being 

 taken to put the colored pods at the bottom. The green ones are laid 

 on over these. The box must be filled as quickly as possible, the 

 overhanging blanket edges are covered over the contents and enough 

 warm blankets added on top tc competely fill the box. When the cover 

 is securely fastened the box is carried to the drying house and left 

 until the next day. During this time the vanilla turns dark brown 

 and sweats freely. The vanilla remains in the box from. 2 p. m. until 

 10 a. m. The box is then opened, the vanilla examined, spread on 

 the platform and repacked as during the preceding clay. This is re- 

 peated until sufficiently sweated. This may be accomplished in 4 

 days, but with unfavorable wec/ther it may require two weeks. 



Pods which have remained partly green after the first sweating 

 should be separated, spread out in the sun, the colored parts covered 

 with several thicknesses of white cloth, so as to expose only the 

 green parts to the sun. This is done to cure all parts of the pods equal- 

 ly. Pods which have split during the first sweating are wrapped with 

 thread and the split part covered with white cloth when exposed to 

 the sun. 



The sweating having been completed, the vanilla is spread out 

 on trays in single layers. The following days the trays with the va- 

 nilla are set out in the sun for a few hours and otherwise dried in the 

 shade. The last drying is done only in the shade, and the trays are 

 covered with cheesecloth to keep off the dust. Fully dried vanilla is 

 packed in tin boxes and coveerd with cloth. 



The finished article has a well developed aroma, feels dry but 

 pliable and has a dark brown color. After remaining in the tin boxes 

 for several weeks, the vanilla is classified and put up in bundles. 

 These bundles are packed in tin boxes, which are lined with oiled 

 paper of correct dimensions. One month later these boxes are opened, 

 carefully examined, damaged packages removed, opened and cared for, 



