32 THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [July 1, 190i. 
a great part of their medicinal properties, owing to 
voTatilisatioa of the oil which ia their active principle. 
Another representative of this genus— viz. B. CenteUa, 
a native South of Africa — ha?, astringent proprirties, the 
roots and stems being emploj'ed by colonists in decoc- 
tion against violent diarrhoe k. It is also said to ba o£ 
great service in the treatment of chronic dysentery. 
WILD VANILLA. 
In an interesting article in last March numbsr of 
Chambers's Jonrnal, Mr Rowland W Cater relates 
his experiences and adventures while gathering 
vanilla in Central America. The author, while 
staying at San Jose, casually fell in with a native 
trader, and together they undertook an expedition 
into the interior of Costa Rica with the object of 
collecting wild vanilla an I other forest products. 
Port Limon was the starting jjlace, whence train was 
taken to Jimenez, a small setllement on the branch- 
line to Carillo. Here the travellers*alighted and struck 
into the bush, the passage through which was compara- 
tively easy. On the second day out a wild vanilla 
vine was discovered, hanging from a huge zapotillo 
tree, from which twenty-two pods were obtained and 
by sunset that day the travellers had found nearly 
250 pods, or about twelve pounds, and that within a 
distance of little more than sixty miles. 
Mr Cater gives a description of the wild vanilla vine 
(Vanilla syloestrid), which he says often reaches over 39 
ft. in height, and is usually about the thickness of one's 
little finger. The vine is round, knotted at intervals, 
and covered with dark-green spear-shaped leaves. It 
throws out a number of thin arms or aerial roots as it 
rises, which, attaching themselves to neighbouring 
trees, appear to derive therefrom such nutriment that 
the vines are little dependent on the soih Occasionally 
the wild vines completely cover the branches of the 
tree, and, running from ic into adjacent ones, they will 
hang in huge fe&toons and arches so thick that they 
seriously impede one's progress in the bush. The vines 
blossom profusely — usually in the spring — the strange 
and delicate flowers, with their long, straggling, and 
pale-yellow petals, springing from the angles where 
the leaves branch off. After a few days' existence the 
flowers wither and fall ; and as their chance of fertilisa- 
tion through any of the outside agencies on which they 
dapend is a brief one, and precarious at best, very few 
of them ar* succeeded by fruit. This takes the form 
of a large pod, and, although the pods attain their full 
growth within fifty days from the fall of the petals, 
they take fully seven months to ripen. 
The pods vary from 5 to 12 inches in length, and are 
about an inch across. In shape they resemble a knife- 
sheath ; hence the word vanilla, which is a corruption 
of the Spanish wor3 vamiUa — a small scabbard. Each 
pod contains a quantity of small black granules, sur- 
rounded by a balsamic pulp whose peculiar combina- 
tion of oil and acid ii supposed to impart to the pods 
the delicious flavour and powerful aroma they possess. 
Altogether the travellers were in the bush eight days, 
and as provisions were giving out they hastened with 
their plunder to Tortugero, where Mr Cater sold his 
portion to his companion at the current price in the 
settlement, and, having paid hie'share of the expenses 
of the trip, became out financially so far to the go»d 
that he was prepared there and then to set out op a 
similar expedition, had the opportunity offered. Mr 
Cater winds up with a detailed description of the ayste 
matic cultivation and curing of vanilla in Central 
America ( Vanilla planifoUa), about which so much has 
been written in recent years by consuls and others. It 
is a fact not generally known, however, that Mexico 
produces the finest vanilla in the world, and that prac- 
tically the whole of it is consumed in the United 
Statea. — Chemist and Druggist, April 20. 
TURKEY'S PEARL PLSHERTES. 
A 8trori}< German syndicate is negotiating 
witli Llie J^orte for a monopoly of the pearl 
fisberieB along the Ottoman shores of the 
Red Sea and Persian Gulf, which are to be 
thoroughly developed by the most scientific 
methods. One-third of all pearls won will 
belong to the Porte.— Uonstantioople, May 
8th. — Daily Express. 
BANANAS RIPENED BY GAS. 
The West Indian banana, possessing a 
tougher skin and "keeping" fully a week 
longer than its rivals, has speedily popularised 
itself among the Loudon costers. Every 
fortnight ten railway tracks full are con- 
signed by Messrs. Elder, Dempster at Bristol 
to one of their agents, who has been ap- 
pointed a member of the Costers' Federation^ 
The fruit is stored, quite green, in the head 
offices of the federation in London, and 
ripened by tnany gas iets. Here the costers 
select their own bunches, and nre charged 
nothing for storage.— i5'a;press, May 9. 
NORTH BORNEO. 
The new Governor of North Borneo, Mr E \V 
Birch, CM G, leaves London on Sth inst. for Sin- 
f,'apore en route for his new post. He has liaji 
much experience in the Malay States of opening 
new cerritories in the tropics and is po.sses.sed of 
many qualities chat admirably fit him for the 
duties he will shortly undertake in North Borneo. 
Probably one of his first endeavours will be to 
devise means for increasina' the population of che 
territory. North Borneo, like other districts of 
the vase island, is very sparsely populated. The 
all-important question in relation to enterprises 
almost invariably relates to labour, which is one 
of the crying wants of the country. Fears have 
also been expressed that the railway contractors 
for the Beantort-Jesselton line may, to get their 
contracts through in time, raise the price of labour. 
It is not difficult to get up such rates by an abnor- 
mal and temporary demand but it is nearly ini- < 
possible to ge^ them back again to ordinary rates, 
unless an adequate supply is available. We be- 
lieve that the new Governor is authorised to gire 
assistance to the extent of 120 to $25 per man, 
which, though probably not sufficient to land a man 
in the country, goes a considerable way towards it. 
Free grants of land along the railway from 
Jesselton toTenom, or in the vicinity of the line, 
will also be made. When the line is working 
through to Tenom one of the first matters, as a 
corollary to its construction, will be to provide 
that back country, of which such glowing accounts 
have been given, with a population. The numbers 
in that district and up the Tanibunan Valley only 
total a very few thousands and will ueed largely 
supplementing, Chinese is the class to strikelfor, 
as they are enterprising, hardworking, thrifty, and 
immediately assist the revenue in various ways. 
If the development of North Borneo has not 
hitherto been as rapid as that achieved in the Malay 
States we must remember that it has not had such 
a fortune ready at hand as the tin deposits have 
supplied. But it possesses a soil and climate sin- 
gularly blessed in many ways. Its laud will pro- 
duce most tropical products, whilst, like the Malay 
Peninsula, it is remarkably free from devastating 
storms and great natural disturbances. Capital 
would come easier if the great difficulties at- 
taching to labour supply were not superadded to 
the other ordinary commercial or planting risks. 
— London and China Express, April 5. 
