II 
VANILLA 
31 
slope seems as convenient a place for the plant as any- 
where, so long as it is not too dry. Macfarlane’s advice 
is to eschew level ground, and select a piece with a 
moderate slope, this being easier to work, for vanilla 
does not care how steep the slope may be, but the 
workman does. 
Mr. Howard Newport, in the Queensland Agricultural 
Journal, April 1910, p. 184, points out strongly the 
advantages possessed by the Queensland forest for 
growing vanilla, and illustrates this by photographs. 
The trees in this form of forest grow regularly and 
evenly, and by clearing out any undergrowth and un- 
necessary trees there remains a series of trees which can 
be connected with bars or poles on which the vanilla 
can be grown. 
There is enough and not too much shade in this 
forest, and the soil is rich in humus and the site seems 
an ideal one, requiring but little labour to make it 
perfect. In the ordinary tropical forest the trees are 
of all sizes, and so irregular in growth that it would be 
very troublesome to clear the undergrowth so that the 
trees could be connected by trellises or poles in a con- 
venient way. So readily adapted a Vv^oodland as the 
Australian bush appears to be, is rarely found. 
Trees for Supports . — Where there are already 
suitably branched trees on the ground, or trees that by 
topping and pruning can be utilised, it is best to use 
these, supplementing them where necessary by posts, 
trellises-, or additional planted trees. 
A considerable variety of trees have been recom- 
mended as suitable for supports of vanilla, but as what 
is most suitable in one country may not be adapted 
for another, the selection must depend to a large 
extent on local conditions. The ideal tree is a fairly 
fast grower, which is sufficiently strong to support the 
weight of the plant without breaking down, and which 
branches regularly and fairly low down, and does not 
give too dense or thick a shade, so as to interfere with 
the growth of the vine. One which grows from large- 
