176 VANILLA OF THE ISLAND OF BOURBON. 
utility the vanilla of Bourbon is scarcely inferior to the 
best vanillas met with in commerce. 
It has been long since stated, that on account of the 
high price of vanilla, its culture was worthy of attention. 
I shall presently show that the purposes to which this 
delightful aromatic may be applied are more important 
than is generally imagined. But the difficulties in its 
cultivation seem to be great, for in the different countries 
it has, as yet, not extended beyond experiments. 
M. Morren has, nevertheless, in the greenhouses at 
Liege, cultivated some vanilla with success. He states that 
the plants he possesses have yielded vanilla to the value of 
600 francs in one year. A single plant, about three yards 
high, cultivated in the greehouse of the Museum in Paris, 
yielded, in 1840, 117 pods of vanilla, having a sweet odor, 
and ripened in about a twelvemonth. 
The following are the principal difficulties relating to the 
cultivation of vanilla: — 1, The proper choice of the species 
or best variety ; 2. The necessity of having an elevated 
temperature ; 3. The determination as to the most favora- 
ble conditions for the development of this plant ; 4. A good 
mode of preparing the pods. 
The species or variety producing the best commercial 
vanilla is not yet determined. The Vanilla aromatica of 
Swartz, figured by Plummier, and ascribed by Linnaeus to 
the Epidendrum vanilla, does not appear to be the vanilla 
of commerce. Indeed, Plummier states that his plant, 
which is from St. Domingo, is without odor, the fruit small, 
thin, and cylindrical; thus does not resemble the true 
vanilla. On the other hand, MM. Splitgerber and Morren 
assert that the long vanilla of commerce is furnished by the 
Vanilla planif alia. That which makes the latter appear 
to be the most probable opinion is, that the same species, 
cultivated in the houses of Liege and Paris, artificially 
produced by the pollen of another species^ has produced 
pods equal to those of the best commercial vanilla. Thus 
