30 
SPICES 
CHAP. 
Selection of a Site . — In Mexico it is usual to select 
as a suitable place for the cultivation of vanilla a portion 
of forest, in which a clearing is made, a number of trees 
being left at a distance of from 15 to 20 ft. apart to 
act as supports to the vanilla plants. 
Delteil suggests a sloping hill-side covered with 
woods, which, of course, must be suitably thinned out 
so as to allow of sufficient light during the flowering 
and fruiting seasons, and such land, if procurable, 
would undoubtedly be convenient in many ways. 
Old orchards which have long been used for the 
cultivation of vanilla cannot be recommended, as the 
ground is liable to be infected with the vanilla disease, 
as will be explained later. In any case, it is preferable 
to open new ground for a fresh cultivation when 
possible, whatever the previous crop may have been. 
In new cleared ground which is not furnished with 
trees suitable for the support of the vines, it is necessary 
either to plant the support trees as soon as possible, in 
order that they may be ready to carry the vines when 
they commence to climb, or in default of trees the system 
of cultivation on trellises must be adopted. 
Mr. Macfarlane, in an article in the Trinidad Bulletin, 
vol. xxxii. p. 465, is strongly in favour of selecting as a 
site a valley with a moderate slope. He claims that 
the steep little valleys with which the Polynesian Islands 
abound are the ideal home for the vanilla, and states 
that in his own plantation in Tahiti, half a mile from 
the sea and a couple of hundred feet above it, the pods 
average in length over an inch more than those grown 
close to the beach or in an undrained soil. Vanilla, he 
says, revels in moisture, but it wants no stagnant water 
about its roots. 
Heavy dews, more or less moisture constantly 
descending from the hills above almost obviate the 
necessity of rain, while the natural drainage keeps the 
ground always sweet, no matter how heavy or how 
prolonged the rain is. The vine also delights to send 
its roots around and among rocks. Indeed, a rocky 
