Feb. 2, 1902.] 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
521 
about the first or middle of Jnly and lasts until 
September. The second begins nsualiy iu January 
ai>d runs thionsh February into March. Thii^ flowei iiig 
gives the longest beans. This is doubtle.ss owiog to 
the fact thiit the July bloom comes in mid-wiuter 
and the cold checks the growih of the bean. In 
Tuljnui, one of the Austral Group, four hundred miles 
south of these island;; and whcie a limited quantity 
of Vauiila is grown, the July crop is frequently a 
fnliure, « Krircession of Sdiulierly winas causing liie 
fluwers to d op liom the vine. 
V. plahtfoHa blooms only once, the sesson lasting 
from Si-pteiuber. through October and into November. 
During the height of the blooming season, the 
planter must procure extra labour, as the flowers 
remain open but one day, and nil have to be fertilised 
on that day. Here we principally employ women 
and girls as they are more nimble-fiugered and 
quicker th"n men. The flowers are very enatic in 
their opening. Some days the bunches may have 
two or three flowers open and the work people will 
be taxed to finish by three p. m., at which time 
the flawers begin to dose. Upon another diiy there 
will be but a scatteiii g of bloom, and the day's 
work will be ended by ten or eleven a.m. 
The following record of my last flowering will give 
Eome idea of this vai iation : — 
•'an. 
24 
510 
Feb. 7 
Ruin 
Feb. 21 
12,500 
25 
520 
8* 
3110 
22 
6.940 
X 
27 
l.OSO 
„ 10 
2,320 
>1 
24 
14,7J0 
28 
960 
„ 11 
460 
)) 
25 
9,6.0 
It 
1 OiO 
-> 12 
2,141) 
26 
7,840 
fl 
30 
1.820 
„ 13 
?,2(iO 
27* 
8,040 
31 
1,400 
,. 14* 
3,120 
28* 
3,600 
Feb. 
1 
Bain 
:: \7 
s.nso 
March 
1* 
2 360 
>• 
8 
Ni ne 
48,40 
3 
4,920 
II 
i< 
■1 
4 
1 560 
., 18* 
4,06 -» 
4 
3,240 
5 
l,2i 0 
„ 19* 
5,84() 
5 
2,800 
8 
2,140 
„ 20 
8,220 
6 
1,700 
7 
1,280 
On 
the 
days 
marked 
with a 
star, 
worked was 
stopped by lain. Febuary 3 was a most remarkable 
d*y as there were absolutely no flowers open upon 
any of the phintations in this neighbourhood. 
Many statements are extant regii ding the number 
of flowers that a single indiviiUial can fertilise in 
a dxy* Tl ese range hU the way from one to six 
thousai d. This Inst figure is regarded as quite fal- 
lacioua as it is not considered possible that it can 
be reached. Experience teaches thnt a quick worker 
with vines growing close together and in heavy bloom, 
can fertilise three thousand in the day, but I think 
that is about the limit. Two thousatid three hundred 
is my beat day's work, and it meant a hard day 
From fifteen hundred to two thousand is a good 
average.! 
The operation ie simpleneps itself and can be 
learned in five minutes if one has the opportunity of 
wa ching one who already knows how. To explain it 
in writing is more difficnlt. In the first place the 
only tiiol rr-qiiiied is a small poin'ed stick, similar 
in size and shape to a wooden toothpick. This can 
be made of almost anything in the shape of wood; 
and is so made by the Knakas. The best however 
is either a silver of bamboo, or the mid-rib of a 
coconut leaflet, sharpened at both ends (this simply 
for convenience as th^n it does not matter which 
end is uppermost in 'he hand). We make half a 
dozen in advance and carry thrm stuck in our hats 
and if one is dropped, no time is lost in looking for 
it, but another pulled out of the hat. As to the 
operation itstlf. Holding the flower in the left hand; 
the ■' petticoat " or lip is stripped down, exposing 
the column, ti.e top of nhich is then held between 
the finger and thumb. The point of the operating 
• Taking the day as ciyht hours, viz., from seven a.m. to 
three p.m. 
t In the height of the season fee breakfast when the 
flowers are Hnished, 
stick is now drawn upward, raising the cover of the 
stigma and the anther, which by a gentle pressure 
of the finyer and thumb holding the column are kept 
Open, while with the point of the stick the pollen 
mass is removed from the anther and pl iced under 
the cover of the stigma. The pressure of ihe fingers 
being removed this flies back i.ito place ai)d holds 
tlie pollen securely and the flower is fertilised. By 
this mf thod 1 he operator sees ttiat the mars of p lien 
reai hes ih" s-'figma. Another nie'liod which irr,l,gh ly 
mi tf rapid i.s the f llowing: A very thin slick ia 
used. Instead of using the point the side is made 
use of. With thi?, the cover of the stigma is raised 
and pressed flat against the column under the anther, 
which is then pressed downward by the thumb and 
by this pres.sure the pollen ma^is is transferred to 
tlie stigma. My objection to this method (I won't 
allow it to be used on my flowers) ia that the operator 
does not see the pollen enter the opening of the 
B'.igma. It ought to and in most cuses does, but 
sometimes fails to remain and the flower is lost. 
With the other method every part of the operation 
is visible and there is no possibility of making a 
mistake. The diff renoe in rapidity is but slight; 
and is more than made up by the certainty of the 
first method. It requires but a very slight touch to 
disengage the pollen mass from the anther, and it 
adheres to the stick not one in a hundred falling. 
When placed on the stiptna it at once leaves the 
stick as there ia an adhesive substance which re- 
tains it. Ttie planter who h\s several work-people 
fertilising his flov\er8 will do well to occasionally 
examine fl iwers which have been finished, in order 
to see that the pollen has been placed upon the 
Bt'gma. Jt has frequently happened here that, whea 
a woman has been behind or Is in a hurry to 
finish, sho simplv breaks the " petticoat " and goes 
on, leaving the flower unfertile, although to outv/ard 
appearance properly finished. 
"The fl 'Wer is upon the end of a slim round stem, 
usually about tv/o inchfS long. This is the bean 
in embryo, and is upright while the flower is open, 
but upon the following day is found to have bent 
over and to be hanging down. By the second or 
third day there is no mistaking the flowers which 
have taken. If the operation is carefully performed, 
very few fail. The bean in the meantime will have 
grown sensibly longer, and the petals have withered 
about the co nmn. In the case of an unfertilised 
flowfT, the column falls off together with the faded 
flower. The co'uinn remains attached to the growing 
bean until it is nearly ripe, that is for seven or 
eight months. There are, however, exceptions. 
Flowers fertilised late in the day, say after three 
o'clock or when they have begun to close, will still 
take, but I am of opinion that they are respon.^ible 
for a number of the beans, the cohims of which 
have fallen off. Sometimes a bean has only grown 
two or three inches long when its column falls off. 
This appears to have an evil effect upon the future 
growth, for while the bean continues on the vine and 
eventually ripens with the others, it is always short. 
1 have never yet seen a long bean which had lost 
its column early in its growth. There may be a 
spell of rainy weather just when the vines are in 
bloom. A little rain makes no difference, but a 
hi avy downpour of half an hour or more causes 
the pollen to rnn, an instead of a dry mass put 
upon the stigma, it is a kind of yelljW soup. These 
or some of these beans take, but the .softened pollen 
masses have not apparently givrn them the necessary 
amount of vitality to carry them to full growth 
and the column drops off. In fact it indicates partial 
fertilisation. 
From the time the flower is fertilised the bean 
grows very rapidlv. attaining its full length in about 
three months. Thus npcn one bunch the first bean 
may have attained a length cf four or five inches 
before the last llo^er blooms. This is the time 
to see that they grow in the way they should go. 
In turning from the upright position of the flower 
