Feb. 1, 1904.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
very fine little rootlets like threads, and continnca 
tliein to the groand. So delicate are these threads 
running along the trunk of tho tree, an so pro- 
minent the rootedoff end of the stem, that it 
giyes the vine the appearance of living indepen 
dently of earth, thus giving rise to the theoiy 
that it is an air pUnt. It will sustain itself in a 
severed state, but to make material growth and 
fruitage it must connect itself with mother enrth. 
The new vine will commence bearing the third 
year from planting, and full crops may be ex- 
pected the fifth year. A vine will bear from 15 
to 45 beans a year. Some vines have been known 
to produce as much as 45 beans at one tiir.e. 
Barely do those who grow the beans cure and 
market their crops. Some buy the green beans 
and make a business of curing and exporting 
them. 
Various estimates have been furnished as to the 
cost per acre of converting wild lands into vanilla- 
producing plantations. Approximately, ±"17 per acre 
ia correct, which is very moderate for so profitable 
a plant. The two busy seasons of the year would 
be during the pollination months— March, April 
and May, and the gathering months — November, 
December, and part of January. During the 
balance of the year the plantation should have 
absolute reet, other than keeping down the weeeds 
and undergrowth. Many of the beans are gathered 
in October, sometimes before they reach their 
growth, by those who see an opportunity of gather- 
ing them unknown to the owner, or by the owner, 
for fear of losing them, because he has not his 
vines were he can watch them. Beans gathered 
too soon are woody and inferior in quality, lacking 
the oil that famishes the flavour. Good ripe beans 
lose but little of their weight while curing ; 5 lbs, 
of green beans will weigh 4^ lbs. when cured. The 
quality and flavour are increased by allowing them 
to mature and by the proper curing. The process 
adopted is slow and laboiious. The seoiet is to 
evaporate the water while retaining the oil, and to 
take care not to injure the flavour. Vanilla is ex- 
ported from Mexico, Brazil, the Seychelles Islands, 
•nd Eeunion in the Indian Ocean, Martinique in 
he West Indies, and Tahiti in the Pacific, — Jamaica 
Agncultural Society's Journal. 
THE CULTIVATION OP TOBACCO. 
METHODS IN THE WEST INDIES, 
BY JOHN PHILLIPS. 
In Trinidad there has long been grown a small 
amount of Tobacco from Cuban seed, but only 
within the last ten years, when an experienced 
grower was employed by the Government to teach 
the people the best methods of cultivating cigar 
tobaccos, has there grown up iu the southern 
district of the island, where the Government ex- 
periments were carried out, any considerable culti- 
vation. There are no accurate statistics, but probably 
the output is now somewhere near .50,000 lb. per 
annum, and increasing a little every year. The 
greater part of this is grown on new lands which 
are being cleared for cacao, but no grower cultivates 
tobacco with a view to getting the very beat 
possible results, his sole object being to produce 
something easily converted into money to enable 
him to carry on his cacao planting. 
It is of very great advantage to burn the ground 
selected so as to insure the killing out of the seeds 
of injurious weeds and the larv» of insects likely 
to be in it. On no account, however, should it 
be burned unless the surface is thoroughly dry. 
The ground should then be well forked up and 
pulverised and made into beds 3 feet wide by 20 
leet long. A bed this size sown with two level 
teaspoonfuls of seed mixed thoroughly with a quart 
of dry wood-ash will furnish plants to set out two 
acres, but it is always wise to sow twee the 
number of beds likely to bo required. They Rhould 
bo set across the slope of the hill parallel to one 
another with a path two feet wide between each. 
On three sides of the beds a good drain 12 inches 
by 12 inches should be made to protect them 
from washing, and the paths between must be 
sunk at least 6 inches to 8 inches below the level 
of the beds and led into the side drains. When 
made, they should be sowu broadcast on a dry 
day when there is no wind, with the seed and 
ashes mixed, and carefully pushed down with the 
hands or with a board lightly pressed on the sur- 
face, but on no account should the seeds be raked 
into the ground. When possible, it is strongly 
recommended to cover the beds after they are 
sown, with a light covering of palms to break any 
heavy rainfall. This should be light enough to 
allow the rain to pass through in a fine spray. 
At the same time there must be sufficient slope 
to prevent any drips, The best way is to build 
a light frame around each bed 30 inches high at 
the upper side and 20 inches at the lower, pro- 
jecting slightly over each end, and to lay the 
palm branches on this lightly yet thick enough 
to break the force of the rain and not so thick 
as to make a heavy shade, as the young plants 
require plenty of air and liglit, but are injured by the 
direct rays of the sun. 
As the success of the whole crop depends on 
the plant beds, it is absolutely necessary to use 
every care in this preparation, and they should 
be very carefully watched and looked after until 
the crop is out. The time of year most suitable 
for the maturing of the crop regulates the time 
when these beds are sown. It requires from 17 to 
20 weeks from the time the seed is sown until 
the crop matures. In 7 or 8 weeks after the beds 
are sown the plants should be 5" or 6" high with 
at least four well developed leaves, and are then 
ready to set out ; but as long as the stalk remains 
brittle the plant can be used. Large plants are 
less likely to be affected by heavy showers, and 
when they start will come on much faster than 
smaller ones. 
Two weeks before the plants are ready to be 
put out the covering should gradually be moved 
ofi the beds, every day allowing them to take 
more of the direct rays of the sun until they are 
properly hardened, so that the sun at midday 
will not wilt them. The coverings should always be 
ready to put on in case of a heavy dashing shower. 
When the plants are ready to be put out they 
should be drawn in the morning as early as possible 
and packed in shallow baskets lined with green grass 
or soft leaves, and put away iu a cool, shady place 
until ready to be set in the field, which should cot 
being until 3 p.m. A day after a heavy shower 
when the surface is full of moisture should be chosen. 
PLANTING OUT, 
For cigar tobaccos the plants should be set 24 
inches apart in rows at intervals of three feet three 
inches. It is important that the roots should go in 
straight and the plants should be put far enough 
down to get a good hold, but not so far that the 
bud is likely to be covered by washing, Uuless the 
weather is unusually dry, in three or four days it 
should have recovered from the shock of transplant- 
ing. From the time tobacco is set it requires con- 
stant attention. The field should be kept perfectly 
free from weeds and gra-s, which besides spoiling 
the body of the leaf, afford a hiding place for 
insects. 
The seed button should appear from 4 to 6 weeks 
after the plants have been set, and when this ia 
fully developed it should be taken out carefully so 
as not to injure the small leaves that are around 
it. This is called " topping the plaut. " No plants 
except those intended for seed should be allowed to 
flower, as the developing of flowers takes away a 
very large part of the body of the leaf and makes the 
