12 
VANILLA INDUSTRY. 
The crop of vanilla for 1915 amounted to 2^ tons only and 
is the lowest on record since 1895. It can be said that no good 
vanilla crop has been obtained for the last eight years to the 
great prejudice of the up country planters. The small crop 
under review is due to the bad distribution of the rain during 
1914 ; no dry weather having been experienced of sufficient 
duration to promote a good flowering. There was a dry spell 
in August but heavy rains fell in September, just at the wrong 
moment; so the vines put forth new growth instead of flower¬ 
ing. The same can be said of this year’s flowering (1915) but 
a second spell of dry weather, although of short duration, was 
experienced after the vines had opened their flower buds with 
the result that a second flowering took place after the first and 
a corresponding increase is anticipated for the future crop. On 
the hills of Mahe and in Praslin District a small average crop 
of about 15 tons will probably be obtained in 1915. The price 
will also be better next year, as it is reported that in Mexico 
and the Wed Indies hurricanes caused the destruction of a 
large part of the crop for 3 916. 
A prolonged period of heavy rains has kept vanilla growing 
well for the last 3 years and better crons are anticipated in the 
future. It must however be confessed that although the 
disease which was prevalent last year seems to have made no 
progress and can be made good by care and attention, 
vanilla does not grow as vigorously in Seychelles as formerly. 
This is due to want of manuring and also to the absence 
of humus from most soils in which this substance was found 
in abundance in ancient times. More attention has been devo¬ 
ted to coconut planting for the last 8 years and the humus 
forming material, which formerly accumulated in these coconut 
plantations, is no longer to be found. Vanilla then was inter- 
planted with coconuts and benefited largely from the humus 
derived from the trees, bushes and shrubs used as props. The 
tendency is now to keep coconut plantations free from foreign 
trees and io devote poorer soils to vanilla plantations, outside 
the “cocoteries”. This is agriculturally a better policy but it 
is clear that vanilla, for this reason, has to be manured more 
extensively than formerly. 
The experiments on the manuring of vanilla have been 
continued and at the end of the year the following plots had 
been arranged and manured :— 
No. of 
bed. 
Treatment. 
No. of 
times 
manured 
1. 
Control 
2„ 
Leguminous mulch 
1 
3. 
Ordinary mulch 
1 
4. 
Lime (2 lbs to each vine)... 
1 
5. 
Phosphate (5 lbs to each vine) 
1 
8. Complete Fertilizer Truffaut (200 In of soil cont : 2 o/o fertilizer) 
7. Complete Soluble applied in solutions of 0.5 o/oo 
8. Potassium Sulphate „ „ 
9. Potassium Chloride „ „ 
10. Ammonium Nitrate ,, „ 
11. Sodium Nitrate „ „ 
12. Complete Fertilizer Truffaut (200 lb of soil cont: 2 o/o fertilizer) 
13. Control ... ... ... ... . 
14. Potassium Phosphate, Ammonium Nitrate and lime. Applied in solutions 
of 0.5 o/oo except lime which is applied as coral. ... ... 9 
15. Potassium Phosphate, Ammonium Nitrate without lime. Applied in 
solutions as above ... ... ... ... 9 
16. Potassium Phophate and lime. Applied in solution except lime which is 
applied as coral ... ... ... ... 9 
17. Ammonium Nitrate, Potassium Chloride and lime. Applied in solution 
except lime which is applied as coral ... ... 9 
18. Ammonium Nitrate, Rock guano and coral ... ... 9 
19. Sea weed (200 lbs) ... ... ... ... 1 
20. Whale manure and sea weed ... ... ... 1 
21. Coconut busk (200 lbs) ... ... ... ... 1 
22. Complete fertilizers (200 lbs! of fern roots containing 2 o/o fertilizer ... 1 
23. „ (200 lbs) „ „ ... 1 
24. „ (200 lbs) „ „ ... 1 
25. „ (200 lbs) „ „ ... 1 
