440 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Jan. 1, 1903. 
available in Ceylon, in enormcua quantities fiom 
Burma. The Straits, Borneo, the vast regions of 
ihe Congo and the, as yet, unexplored basins of 
huge Amazonian tributaries to which the rubber 
tree will undoubtedly be found endemic. They will 
probably', prefer to believe the pessimistic rumours 
that the present supplies are nearly exhausted in 
S. America and that the demand for the commodity 
must ever be insatiable. 
Yanillk is an article which should not be dealt 
in extensively. There must always necessarily be 
but a small demand, so that if it were largely planted 
np, it would very soon share the same fate as 
cinchona. Planters who take interest in new 
products might do well in an attempt to naturalize 
trees producing coik and paper. If they were 
found suitable to the country, our cheapness of 
labor should mske thtm very profitable products. 
An interesting experiment wou'd be for planters at 
different elevations to ascertain the length of time 
takrn by a tea shoot to develop accoid ng to the 
Fish, Half and Full leaf systems of pickii g and to 
compare results, I should be happy to give a basis 
to work on and data. 
It m^y be useful to mention hero that at a 
medium elevation Para EuBBEit seeds tnke about 
20 days from the time of planting, to appear hbove 
ground. 
Also, that it is ill-advised to grow vanilla vines on 
grevilleas as the suckers cling to the bask, which 
cracks and splits them. In Tahiti they are grown 
very successfully on guava trees, which growing 
wild, are ve'y handy for the purpose. 
A. T, FARMER. 
VANILLA CULTIVATION. 
Tlie following are the remainder of Mr. Galbraith'a 
miscellaneous notes on Vanilla cultivation in the 
Seychelles, and are iu continuation of those given on 
page 375 : — 
SUN CUBING, 
During early crop gathering, before ripe pods are 
numerous entugh to mske it worth while using the 
hot room they aie cured under blankets in the sun, 
but have to be taken iu at the hottest part of tho 
day if sunshine is continuous. This used to be 
the sole method of curing here and when used now 
gives excellent results in favourable weather ; but 
depandenco upon the sun is risky, and upon the whole 
the process is cumbsrsome and costly. Hand tiajs 
that can be piled up on top of each ether and 
carried between two men, Bre used to spread the 
blankets on, a fold beiny below as well as above the 
pod>-, and these are supported on low double rails to 
keep them clear of the ground. In unsettled weather 
showeis have to be watched for, and the trays 
carried under shelter till the weather again becomes 
fair. 
If there is a pinch for ppace in the curing house, 
pods in the hot room may be spread two or three or 
more deep on the shelves and tumbled up daily, 
that is such of them as are not taken cff and re- 
sorted. 
MULCHING AND SHADE. 
In mulching vanilla roots, and especially at crop 
time, the plants are much more benefited if the mulch 
be of two sorts, well-rotted leaf mould being put on 
first for immediate act'on, and above it a layer of 
withered fein or the like, which decays more slowly. 
When heavy top dressings of qnick-decaying manure, 
gras--, etc , have rotted down, they get beaten away 
by la'n, the net wnik of roots becomes exposed, and 
may with advantage be lightly covered with a thin 
sprinkling of gooa soil. Obviously it is better to 
apply this before the roots become bare or visible. 
The vanilla roots delight in twisting aming stones, 
Imge and small, and flattening against their lower 
surface when not eaibedded in the soil. When these 
are of a convenient size and handy in a plantation, 
the root circuit allowed to each vine may be ringed 
with them. Vanilla may be grown on trees of thick 
foliage if there are of a sort that will stand being 
well piuned annually. Wild cinnamon, which gives 
dense shade, is sometimes used for this purpose, 
the branches being nearly all cut cff each year about 
pod-ripening time, which also lets the sun get at the 
vines for flowering. The contrast between the former 
somewhat dense shade, which has grown since last 
branch trimming, and the strong light let in by the 
pinning seems to help toward blossoming. 
Under large, high trees, wide apart, where to plant 
vines on other small-growing wood between them 
would make the shade too close, vanilla may be 
fixed on tripods of durable wood, the three stakes 
being tied with wire crosswise some little way from 
their top ends, so as to furnish forks over which 
the vine creepers may climb. High up in the bills 
here the plants may bo grown in this way without 
any shade at all, but the plan is only suitable for 
level grounds or moderate slopes. 
SUMMARY. 
The foregoing account of vanilla cultivation, being 
the outcome of experience gained in the Seychelles 
alone, and there chiefly in the hills, may need many 
modifications to adapt it to different circumstances 
pertaining to other lands, and, indeed, possibly 
may be of little use for such. For instance, iu a drier 
climate irrigation might be needful, aud it would not be 
necessary with a reliable, sufficient annual dry period 
to prepare vines for flowering by checking their sap 
flow in certaiu branches, as it is in this colony. 
This is not found necessiry in certain districts where 
Ihe rainfall is not such as to keep plants growing 
continuously, for they stop growing of themselves and 
come into flower without coaxing. 
Again, under less favourable gi owing conditions the 
vines wouli need more nutriment and attention to 
stimulate giowth. 
These and similar considerations which will suggest 
themselves to the reader may serve to save a brief 
sumnibry from appearinL' too dogmatic. 
The following conditions of climate, method of 
growing, etc., appear to the writer to be most favour- 
able to the successful cultivation and handling of the 
vanilla crop. 
Climate. — With shade temperature ranging about 
80° F., never much above or below it, and a humid, 
still Htmosphere; a rainfall of 80 to 100 inches or more, 
evenly distributed through ten months iu the year, 
the remaining two months being dry, with occasional 
shoit and very light showers — '.he ten wet months 
for continous luxuriant growth, the two dry ones to 
check it and bring vines into flower. 
Snil.—A fkin of rich vegetable mould resting on a 
porous substratum. Failing that, with the above 
climate, vanilla should do well on any scil if the 
roots are kept covered with decaying vegetation. 
Situation. — Moderate slopes. 
Shades. — Small- leafed trees to let checkered sunlight 
through. 
PIan;s. — Cuttings 10 to 12 feet long of growing 
shoots, which should not cease growing if planted 
after the dry season, but go straight on and flower fully 
in two years. 
Planting. —Either in line on posts and bar.', or on 
shrubs of suitable size and leafage, at the risk of 
whole sale destruction from disease ; or plants well 
kept apart, each on its own support, so that any vine 
showing signs of sickness may be removed before in- 
fecting its neighbours. 
CM?tM)'c.— Plantations to be gone through bi-monthly 
shoots on the ground looped up ; climbing branches 
brought down ; decayed leaves, etc., laid on roots 
for manure, when needed. Preparations for flowering 
according to climate 
Cropping.— Vloweis to be pollinated in forenoon, 
preferably such as will hang clear and grow straight 
pods, quantity regulated according to mas^ and vigour 
