II 
VANILLA 
43 
are cut off. The result of this pruning is that flower 
spikes appear from all the leaf axils, and at the same 
time branch-buds appear lower down in great numbers. 
The most vigorous of these branch-buds is kept and all 
the others removed. The next year’s flowers will be 
produced from this side shoot. 
When the pods are ripe the whole of the branch 
which carries them is cut off, and only the new shoots 
of the previous year are kept, so that there is no waste 
of nutriment on the useless portion. As soon as the 
flower-buds appear on the second stalk, the tip of that 
is removed. This treatment is continued as long as the 
plant produces sufficient pods. 
Plants that have been pruned in this manner require 
a heavy manuring of burnt earth, leaf-mould, rotting 
leaves, lime and ashes. 
To get full success in this way, it is necessary 
to plant a little at a time, to leave no more stems 
than are required for the fruit, and to manure the 
plants not less than twice a year, to give plenty of 
light and air, and to avoid excess of moisture. Water- 
ing the plants, however, is necessary in the dry 
season. 
Vines grown in this manner are usually exposed to 
the full sun. They have a yellowish tint and are more 
slender, contrasting strongly with the rich deep green 
foliage of plants grown in the shade, but they produce 
a greater amount of fruit, as good in every way as that 
of the shade -grown plant. Delteil points out that 
pruning also has the advantage of keeping the plant 
free and light, thus avoiding the risk of accidents from 
high winds and hurricanes such as are common in the 
Mascarene and Polynesian Islands, where vanilla has 
been so long and extensively cultivated. 
DISEASES 
The most serious disease to which vanilla is subject 
appears to be one due to the attacks of a fungus described 
