170 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Sept. 1, 189«. 
A FORTUNE IN VANILLA? 
No wonder though our friend Mr. Hamilton 
Traill of Victoria expressed liiniself well satisfied 
with his Vanilla property in Seychelles when 
the Administrator Mr. Cockhurn Stewart -who 
will be remembered by old residents as 
Private Secretary to Sir Hercules Robinson 
and for a time, to Sir AVilliani Gregory— reports 
an "estate" there (none are of larrre extent) 
as yielding,' £5,000 wortli of vanilla. He further 
adds that " some of ihe Seychelles vanilla sent home 
last year was pronounced by experts to be the 
finest ever seen in the London market." Mr. 
Chamberlain sends the letter and sam|)Ies to 
Kew, and Mr, Thistleton-Dyer gets an expert's 
opinion as follows : — 
Report by Mr. A. C. Meyjes, of the Chemist ami 
JJiugyist, on a .sample of vanilla grown in Seychelles, 
and received through the ( olonial Office, Ueceniber 
7 1397 ; — •' The pod you have sent is an unusually 
fine and long one. Vanilla of this character would 
probably realise about 26s or 273 per lb. gross in the 
London market at the present time. From that 
figure must be deducted certain trade allowances 
brokerage, &c. amounting altogether to about 10 per 
cent. But your friends bliouid be careful to tie the 
vanilla together in bundles containing pods all ot 
the si\me length, or at leabt not varying more than 
J-inch, because the pods are paid by length as well 
as by appearance. And further, I am afraid that 
the prices of vanilla are on the decline. They have 
been unusually high this year, and after Christmas 
the trade demand is apt to drop. Moreover, vanilla- 
growing mu^t have been a very profitable busiuess 
during the past few seasons aud the usual result, 
viz., over-production is sure to follow. Strange to 
say, vanillin (the coal-tar product) has never been 
BO cheap as now. The cousnmptiou of vanilla pods, 
however, is increasing every year and likely to 
continue to do so for a long time." 
Then the pursuit looks very attractive wlien 
described by the Administrator in his Annual 
Keport :— 
"The Mexican system of allowing the vines to grow 
under trees nearly wild is almost universally adopted 
at present, and is a decided improvement on the old 
system of training the vine on artificial supports. 
Nothing pays better than vanilla. Its production 
costs the planter R3 per pound, and as prices vary 
from R8 to R16 the pound, a net profit of from R5 to R13 
is the result. This year the average price was R15 
the pound. The yield may be taken to be 'iOOlb* 
an acre. Taking, therefore, an average of RlO, an 
acre of vanilla should produce R2,000. Most of the 
land in Seychelles is in the bauds of private owners, 
and it is difficult to estimate its cost, but it may be 
taken that land can be bought at from RlOO to R200 
the acre, it has been stated that landowners are 
reluctant to part with their land, but not much 
difficulty need be apprehended on this score provided 
that purchasers are prepared to pay ready money. 
There is some land belonging to the Government well 
adapted for vanilla cultivation which can be leased for 
periods varying from nine to 21 years. Seychelles is, 
unfortunately, almost a terra incognita, but there is 
little doubt that if the scores o? young Englishmen 
who leave the Mother Country year after year for 
other lands knew of it, they would give the pieference 
to an English colony which offers advantages not to 
be met with elsewhere for the investment of small 
capital, say £1,000." 
But there is the prospect of further extensions 
of planting in the Seychelles (only these islands are 
out-of-the-way) and the possibility of over-produc- 
tion ; for Mr. Stewart further tells us in his Annual 
Report for 1896 :— 
" The vanilla crop of last year is the largest that has 
ever been grown in Seychelles— 63,0001b. The prices 
rnling during the year on the London and Paria 
Markets have also been moat favourable, and the value 
of the crop has been declared at R'J36,0o0." 
" The large output of vanilla haa given a freeh 
impetus to its cultivation and a very Targ*^ qa«otity 
has been planted during the past year. When the 
country is opened up by means of roads, as will shortly 
be the case, many acres of vanilla laud will no doubt 
be taken up which at present are uncultivated, owing 
to the difficulty of transport. In one district alone, 
the Mare aux Cochone, to which a new road will be 
opui ed, there are about 5,000 acres of virgin Boil well 
suited to vanilla. The cultivation of vanilla only date* 
back to about 20 years ago, aud is only now beginning 
to be thoroughly understood." 
Still, there ought to be room in Ceylon— in 
Dunibara, around Kandyor in tlie low-country and 
even near to Colombo — for producing poiue of tlie 
preciou.'s pods. Mr. \V. H. Wright of Mirigama is 
indi.sputably the oldest cultivator of vanilla in 
Ceylon and lie lias always been very successful. His 
experience and that of some other cultivators will 
be found recorded in our planting review in the 
forthcoming " Hand book and Directory" and we 
really think there is room for several tliousand 
jiouiids sterling worth of v.anilla pods being added 
to our Ceylon exports without disturbing the 
Kurojiean markets: We are glad to learn that 
Mr. Wright has recently liatl a demand for 
vanilla cuttings. 
PROGRESS OF CEYLON TEA: 
ADVICE TO PLANTERS. 
An absent proprietor, writing to us by last 
mail, olFers the following remarks for local con- 
sideration, and we think they deserve to W 
thought over : — ■ 
" With regard to tea matters I am hopeful that the 
Currency Commission will do ns some good. Mean- 
time, we should do alt we can to improve matters 
ourselves. We should keep down expenditure on the 
estates as low as possible. The superintendents 
should give increased attention to the plucking and 
the factory, in order to improve the quality of tea. 
By combination, coast advances may be greatly re- 
duced and crimping may be stopped. 
" We should pluck a little finer and keep down the 
output of tea to something hke 100 million lb. I think 
Mr. Mackenzies's advice, to make a certain proportion 
of our crop (iiccn tea for the American market, is 
excellent, as it will take so much tea off the London 
market. Planters should not send home so much 
inferior tea, — Dust, fanuings, etc., fetching 2d to 3d 
per lb. It should be sold locally. If we were to act 
on these lines, we would soon again be paying 10 to 
15 per cent dividends." 
— ♦ 
P.VPER Floors. — Paper floors are enjoying a 
steadily increasing popularity, which is readily ex- 
plained by the many advantages they po.ssess over 
wooden flooring. An important advantage consists 
in the absence of joints, whereViy accumulations of 
dust, vermin and fungi dangerous to health are done 
away with. The new- paper floors are bad con- 
duclo-s of heat and sound, and, in spite of their 
hardness, have a linoleum-like soft feel to the foot. 
Their cost is considerably lower than that of floors 
made of hard wood. The paper mass receives a 
small addition of cement as binder, and is shipped 
in bags, in powder form. The mass is stirred into 
a stilt paste, spread out on the floor, pressed down 
by means of rollers, and painted with oakwood, 
nutwood or mahogany colour, after drying. — 
Scientific American. 
