594 
THE TROPICAL AGRICtJLTlTRIST. [March 2, 1903. 
the capabilities of each oven are different. Upon 
removal from the oven the beans should have become 
of a uniform light brown colour. They are then 
spread between blankets and exposed to the sun for six 
or eight days being rolled up in the blankets at night. 
At the end of that time they should have become 
soft and wrinkled and are removed to the house and 
spread on frames to complete the drying process. 
They remain on the frames for about a month. 
By Uot Water. — The fresh ly-gathered beans, in 
small baskets are plunged for from fifteen to twenty 
seconds in water on the verge of boiling, that is at 
a temperature of from 185 degrees to 195 degrees 
Fahrenheit. They are then allowed to drain for a few 
minutes, but before the beans can become cold they 
are put in a pile and allowed to sweat for from 
twenty to thirty minutes. They are then treated as 
in the previous process, by exposure to the sun, &o. 
By Sun Alone. — The fresh beans are spread thinly 
between blankets and turned several times during 
the day and rolled up in the blankets ac night, for 
the first two or three days. The after treatment is 
the same as with the others. Id all these process the 
beans require to be rolled up in the blankets about 
three p.m., wliile still hot and packed in some tight 
receptacle which will retain the heat, until they 
can be exposed to the sun on the following day. What 
has been said about the sorting out of tlie .dry beana 
of V. pomvoiia applies equally to these. 
A 8 soon Es the dry beans have been picked out 
they are packed in tins and tightly covered, both to 
prevent any further drying and to render the ends 
of the beans as pliant as the rest, preparatory to the 
measuring, which is the next in order. For this 
a measuring board is required. The most convenient 
that I have found is simply a piece of quarter or 
half inch board, three inches wide and fourteen inches 
long, with a small quarter inch cleat nailed on one 
end. From this cleat a scale of quarter inch interval 
is marked on the middle of the board from four to 
elven inches. Neither of these extremes is frequently 
used. By drawing the halt-inch marks twice as long 
as the quarter inch and the inch marks as long again, 
they are more easily distinguished apart. However, 
even when cut in with a chisel the marks are very 
soon obliterated by the oil and coloured matter from 
the Vanilla. The difiiculty is obviated and the 
numbers can always be seen, clear and distinct, by 
simply marking the scale upon a piece of paper 
pasted upon a two inch strip of glass so that the scale 
can be read through the glass and bed the glass, paper 
side down, in soft putty in a hollow in the measuring 
board, so that the surface of the glass is level with 
the surface of the board. No matter how dis- 
coloured this may become a rub of a cloth brings 
out the scale as clear as new. Having his board 
prepared, the measurer sits at a table with the cleat 
end of the board next him and (having previously 
sorted the beans with the blossom ends all one way 
takes a handful in his left hand, places one of these 
with the blossom end touching the cleat, holds it 
there with the left and straightens out the stem end 
upon the scale and reads its length. Having previously 
arranged in his mind a place on the table for each 
size, the bean is put into its place and another 
measured and so on until all the beans are measured. 
It is convenient to arrange the work table as shown 
in the following diagram .— 
91, 8i, 9 in. Measuring 6 in., 6J, 6^, 6J 
8i, 8i, 8J, 8 in. Board. 5 in,, 5^, 5}, 51 
, 7J, 7i, 7 in. 4 in., 4J, 4J 4| 
A good plan for the beginner ia to write a label for 
each size and place these on the table as a guide. In 
a fhoit time however, nothing of this sort will be 
required. If one has a large quantity it is advisable to 
devote a seperate tin to each size. With small 
* Operator; 
quantities, when the day's measuring is finished, th 
beans are simply tied in large bundles by a strin 
around the middle and a label of the size ia attached 
to each. These bundles are then packed away together 
in a tin. With Vanilla as with all other things, the 
neatness of the package has a great deal to do in aiding 
the sale, and great care should be taken in the 
making up of the bundles. It is surprising how 
different the same beans will appear when carelessly 
tied and when proper care is taken. 
For different markets, different sizes of bundles are 
preferred. For the French, the beans are tied in 
bunches of fiHy beans and tied vi^ith three strings, one 
at each end and one in the middle. For the New York 
market, bunches of from seventy to ninety beans, 
tied at the two ends only are preferred, and for 
that of London, bunches of the same size, tied with a 
single string in the middle. For my part I prefer the 
bunches tied with two strings. Those tied with one 
string only, in the middle, look very neat, but if one 
has many crooked beana, it is almost impossible to 
make them look neat. Those tied with two strings 
cause no trouble, and " tell it not in Gath," it is besides 
possible to conceal a few split beans in each bunch. 
This ie necessary with V. pompona as there is but one 
grade and no market for splits. Of course with P. 
planifolia, where quality tells, I would bunch all the 
first class by themselves and would then tie with one 
string. To make a bunch, take first sufiicient beans 
to form a moderate handful. These will be found to 
range in number from seventy, for the longest, to 
ninety for the shortest beans. It is advisiible to have 
the bundles of the same thickness, both for looks and 
convenience in packing. Prom this handful select the 
best and atraightest beans (sixteen for a bunch of fifty 
np to twenty-one for a bunch of ninety) and lay them 
to one side. These are to form the wrapper. It will 
be found that the stem ends of the bean almost invari- 
ably turn to one side. In making up the bunch it is 
necessary that these should all be turned inwards to 
the centre. Thus, holding the bunch in one hand, 
squeezing and rubbing the beans together, with both 
hands and frequently tapping the flower end of the 
bunch upon the table, in order to keep the ends of the 
beans level, the other end is examined, and all beans, 
whose ends are seen to point outwards are turned so 
that they point to the centre. This being done and tha 
beans again squeezed together, the wrapper beans are 
put on one after the other until the bunch is encircled 
by them. After again squeezing the bunch and 
tapping the lower end, a string is tied moderately 
tightly around the middle^ in order to keep the beans 
in place untill ihe ends are tied. The flower end 
is tied first. By tapping this end on the table the 
ends of the beans are all brought level, when a string 
is tied fairly tightly around the bunch about a 
quarter of an inch np. The bunch is then drawn 
through the hand, using considerable presaure, from 
the flower end, watching at the same time that every 
wrapper bean ia straight and in place and then 
another string ia tied about the stem ends. The middle 
string ia then untied and the bundle is finished. Thia 
gives a neat bundle. 
The string usually used here is common white cotton 
twine. The best tying material is either Raphia or 
bast. I use the inner bark of the paper mulberry, 
soaked for a couple of days in water, and then bleached 
in the sun. This is nearly as good as Raphia and ia 
cheaper, costing only the labour to prepare it, the 
''pur&o" or paper mulberry being our most common 
tree. The French method slightly differs from mine. 
It is a good one when the bundles are to be tied with 
one string only. By it after selecting the wrapper 
three beans, others, the atraightest, are selected, to form 
a core and the others placed singly around these, oir 
cling round and round them and finishing off with the 
wrappers taking care always that the stem ends point 
to the centre. Mine is, however, the quickest and is 
fully as good when the bunches are to be tied with 
two strings. Here, for shipping the bunches a-re 
