868 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[June 1, 1899. 
THE VINE NEEDS NO CUTTING OH PBUKING, 
and all other wild vines are cut oat and kept from 
chokiuK the vanilla vines. The trees should be topped 
to prevoat too high a growth, so that the flowers 
eiin Lib reached fro-a the ground. Light and ventila. 
tiou beneath, Bbade from the sun above, rest and 
plenty of moisture— but free from standing surface 
watei"— are the prime requisites fbr the growth of 
vanilla vines. One peculiarity of the vino is that 
ufcer three or four venrs planting:, the stem will rot 
off at the roots, and continue to ]0t three to four 
feet up the vine, while the top looks greeu and 
flourishiug. In the msantime, from above where it is 
{^oing to rot, it ahools out tine little rootleta lika 
thieada, aad continues them to the ground. So deli- 
cute are these threads i nnninK along the trui.k of the 
tree, and so prominent the rotted off end of the stem, 
that it gives the vine the appearance of living inde- 
pendent of the earth, thus giving rise to the theory 
that it is an air plant. It wLil sustain itself in a 
severed state, but to make material growth and 
fruitage it must connect itsel? with mother earth. The 
new vine will commence bearing the third year from 
planting, and full crops may bo expected the fifth 
year. A vine will bsar from 15 to 40 beans a year. 
"Some vines have been known to produce as much as 
65 beans at one time. Twenty beans to a vine is a 
good average. Rarely do those who grow the l)ean8 
cure and market their crops. Some buy the green 
beans and make a business of curing and exporting 
them. OonsulJones says that judging from the way 
they all get rich at the business, and the difference 
between the price at which they buy the green bean 
and the price at whio'i they sell the cure^, there 
must be moro profit in the curing than in the grow- 
ing. Still, in view of the pricu of vanilla, and the 
demand for it all over the world, there are large pro- 
fits for both parties. Wild lands suitable for vanilla 
can be bought for f I to £2 per acre. There 
are vanilla-producing plantations in the vicinity of 
Papantla that could not bo bought 
rOR .4100 PER ACRE. 
Various estimates have been furnished as to the cost 
per acre of converting wild lands into vanilla-pro- 
ducing plantations. Approximately, £17 an acre is 
correct, which is very moderate for so profitable a 
plant. The greater part of the vanilla in the district 
of Tuxpan is grown about Pa pantla, much of which is 
exported from Ver^x, Cruz, it being easier to reach 
Vera Cruz by water than Tuxpan by laud. The two 
busy seasons of the year are during the p-^Uenation 
months -March, April and May, and the gathering 
j-nonths -November, Ueoember, and pttrt of January. 
Daring the balance of the year the plantation should 
htive absolute rest, other than keeping down the 
weeds and undergrowth. INIany of the beans are 
gathered in October, sometimes before they reach 
l.heir growth, by those who see an opportunity of 
patliering them unkaown to the owner, or by the 
mvner, for fear of losing them, because he has not his 
vines where he can watch them. Beans gathered too 
soon are woody and inferior in quality, lacking the oil 
that furuishes the flavour. Good ripe beans lose but 
little of their weight while curing; 5 lb. of green 
beans will weigh 4h lb. when cured. The quality 
and flavour are increased by allowing them to matuie 
and by the propsr curing. The curing is principally 
done by Spaniards who have followed this business. 
Tf.e process adoi)ted is slow and laborious. The 
sjoiet is to pvo,pcr:ite the water while retaining the 
o''l and 1)0 trie c»iro not to injure the flower. V-i,iilla 
is principally sxpo'.'ted from Mexico to the Qnited 
gt,itos— about £100,1100 worth annually.— o^Oifrna? of 
the Society of Arts, April 21. 
CINCHONA,- A RCTKOSPECT AND A 
PROSPECT. 
There is no need to tell regular readers of the 
B & G D that cinchouo, bark and quinine are now at 
oiie of the most interesting periods of their history 
since the introduction of the former to Europe in 1G40 
and the discovery of the latter about 1820. For the 
benefit of those, however, who have missed the oppor- 
tunity of following recent developments ii> theee druf^s 
a few succinct notes on these will be worth giviu^, 
and we may at the same time add somcihiug new id 
the chape of information as lo the courbe of event* 
in the future. 
The situation of the moment is this. Quinine bs« 
seen a peiiod of active Kpeculation, during which its 
Erice in the " second-hand " market (that is in the 
uying end sailing of Geinian quinine in Loudon that 
ni '.iuly takes place in Mincing Liin«; and between 
parties none of which are m.^kers) has gone up lo 
Is 9^d per ounce, and since teuedad to 1« 4d. This 
advis.uce was anticipaie^l in the Ji. 6: C D. of January 
27ih, at which time q'oiuine wai, exciting no attention, 
and was ouiy worth iU^d pci cuucu. The natural 
causo of Each an advance was, according to our 
articles of that and subsequfcut dates, the short 
supplies of bark that continental makers of quinine 
posBCBsed, in spite of the huge shipments from the 
producing countries in 189*<. 
The course of events that has led up to this state 
of affairs is remarkable. Sooth America, the home of 
the cinchonas, has for some years been almost a 
negligible source of supply for cinchona bark. Since 
the cultivation of the cinchona trees was taken up in 
Java, India, and Ceylon, prices have declined so 
ranch as to discourage the exporters and collectors in 
South America from pursuing their labours. India 
and Ceylon, once started on the caltivation, rapidly 
grew, the latter especially extending its output so 
quickly as to cause most venturesome prophecies of 
its future. But prices became too low even for it, 
and Java, which was longer in getting on its feet, 
when it did stand took a firmer footing, and so has 
been able to endure the cutting down of pricts. The 
Dutch in this island laid hold of the best kind of tree, 
and then made tremendous strides in securing the 
hark market, which was thus transferred from London 
to Amsterdam. Ceylon planters at last found pricea 
BO unremunerative that they began uprooting trees, 
and turning their attention to other things. India 
reached her height inl889, and has since then been 
going down fast, her planters also being disgusted 
with tlie reward of their outlay. And all this time 
Java has not only managed to hold ou but to grow. 
While all this has been going on the consumption 
of quinine has been enlarging. The reduction of the 
price of bark was to a large extent the result of a 
combination of the quinine manufacturers. At 
length the worm turned ; the bark importers in 
Amsterdam made a stand, and supported by the 
strength of the market that had now been attained 
(through the fact that Java exports had not grown 
enough to make up for the loss from India and Ceylon 
and the increased consumption) they secured a slight 
advance in the price of bark. This encouraged India 
and Ceylon to ferret cut all their stores, and ship aa 
much as they could. Hence it came about that in 
1898 there was more quinine in bark form shipped 
from the growing countries than ever there has been 
before. Yet, today, stocks of bark in the]3ublic ware- 
houses of Amsterdam and London are lower than 
they have been for years. So that the observant ask, 
What is to become of the price of quinine ? Where 
is the bark to come from ? And that is a subject for 
another paragraph. 
If it be true that Indi i and Ceylon last year put 
forth as big an effort as they are capable of, then we 
cannot look to them for increased supplies unless they 
begin ag dn to extend plantations, aud the crop from 
these would not be ready for five yea s a: least. 
Javu, appears (^hougu tiia statement here is more 
doubtful) to be in tho same condition. It looks then 
as if we must turn our attention to the original source 
of bark once more. Aud here we are dealing with a 
mysterious factor. No one cxu speak except hnzily 
abcuc the supplies America holds. Judging by the 
history of past years, it would seem thit we mast 
depend on Columbia for most of the natural Siuth 
American bark. And it will not piy Columbia to 
start collecting again until bark is niuch dearer than 
