32 
From a small plat the crop (which was marketed at less than four 
years from the time the cuttings were set) averaged about one-third 
pound cured beans per fruiting vine. The gross returns from the sale 
of this crop were at the rate of a little less than $400 per acre. The 
year following, the yield averaged more than one-half pound cured 
beans per vine. This crop was not sold, but from valuations placed 
on samples submitted to vanilla dealers it would have yielded gross 
returns at the rate of approximately $700 to $900 per acre. The 
crop of the following year from these and younger vines on a one- 
tenth acre plat amounted to 36.44 pounds and sold for $109.31. 
In starting a vanillery, the land should first be cleared and then 
planted with the trees which are to support the vanilla vines. 
The dwarf bucare (Eryihrina corallodendron) has proved well 
adapted for this purpose, and it is easily propagated from cuttings. 
On steeply sloping land the rows should run with the contour lines 
of the slope and should be terraced in order to retain a mulch around 
the vines, as vanilla roots grow much better in a leaf mulch than in 
soil alone, and the maintenance of a good mulch of decaying vegeta- 
ble matter is important. 
Long cuttings make much more rapid growth and come into pro- 
duction sooner than short ones. 
The shade trees must be pruned to avoid too dense a shade, which 
is detrimental to the development of the vines. A light shade ad- 
mitting checkered sunlight is preferable to full exposure to the sun. 
The rapid growth of the succulent, brittle vines demands frequent 
attention from the planter to keep them in proper shape and within 
easy reach for pollinating. 
Hand-pollination must be used with vanilla. The number of blos- 
soms pollinated has a most pronounced effect on the size of the beans. 
The pollinator may choose between a limited number of handsome, 
well-developed beans and a larger number of short, inferior, poorly 
developed ones, since the blossoms are generally produced greatly 
in excess of the number of beans which the plant is able to develop 
properly. 
Labor for pollination is needed principally in March and April; 
for picking the crop from September or October to January; and for 
curing and preparation for market from picking time to late spring. 
As the various operations require a considerable expenditure of 
time, care, and money, anyone who is unwilling or unable to give 
the requisite attention to this crop should not attempt its produc- 
tion. Under proper management, however, it should prove highly 
profitable. 
The small bulk and imperishability of the finished product com- 
mend vanilla culture, particularly for such districts as are accessible 
only by poor roads over which bulky and more perishable produce 
can not be carried. 
o 
