12 
Another test was made in which 10 cuttings each of 12, 18, and 24 
internodal lengths were planted. A fungus in the leaf mulch de- 
stroyed a part of the covered stem of all but 3 of each length. The 
latter made an average growth of 61, 60, and 76 inches per vine, 
respectively, in the first 5 months after planting, showing the cuttings 
of 24 internodal lengths to have grown more rapidly than the shorter 
cuttings. 
Long cuttings should always be used, provided material for planting 
is abundant. However, where this is available in only a very limited 
amount, it might be advisable to use short cuttings in order to 
establish a vanillery more quickly, as the growth made by the shorter 
cuttings is greater in proportion to the length of the cutting than that 
made by the longer ones, but short cuttings should be used only 
because of scarcity of planting material. 
Soil-covered v. surface planting of cuttings. — In planting vanilla 
cuttings, the generally accepted method is to cover several of the 
lower nodes with soil or leaf mold. The experience of the writer 
has been that while in many instances no bad results have been 
observed to follow this practice, at other times the entire covered por- 
tion of the cutting has rotted, even though no break or injury was to 
be found in this part, the two uncovered ends of the cutting remaining 
green and unrotted. So much rotting and disease of one kind or 
another has been observed to originate in a covered-over portion of 
vanilla stem that after the cutting has been established the layering 
of additional runners should always be avoided as a potential source 
of trouble. A correspondent from Dominica writes that the Reunion 
practice, which is to lay the cutting into the ground an inch or two 
deep for a foot of length, will not do for Dominica on account of 
rotting. Instead, the vine is laid on the surface, secured with two 
crotched pegs, and merely covered with wilted grass. The trouble 
with rotting arises from placing below the surface what is by nature 
an aerial organ only. 
To test propagating by leaving the cutting entirely clear of the 
ground, 12 tip cuttings of 10 nodes each were simply tied to then- 
supports with the bottom node 2 inches above the mulch. Roots 
pushed out at approximately 5, 8, 11, 12, 15, 16, 18 (on two), and 20 
weeks, respectively, on nine cuttings; while at 27 weeks, at which 
time the final data presented were taken, three had still developed 
no roots. On seven of the rooted cuttings the root developed from 
the bottom node, on one instance being supplemented by an addi- 
tional root from the third node; on the other two cuttings it sprang 
from the second node. As aerially developed roots do not always 
travel directly toward the ground, but sometimes strike out at a 
considerable angle from the perpendicular, they require a variable 
length of time in which to reach the mulch. In most of the above 
