42 
CULTIVATION  OF  VANILLA  IN  MEXICO. 
(the  refuse  or  offal.)  These  four  kinds  are  tied  up  differently, 
in  order  to  be  readily  distinguished  in  commerce.  The  large 
best  is  usually  22  centimetres  long,  and  each  bundle  weighs,  in 
Misantla,  10 J  ounces  ;  in.Coliba  9  to  10  ounces.  The  small  va- 
nilla is  17  centimetres  long,  and  is  about  half  as  valuable  as 
the  former.  The  Zacate  is  a  very  long,  but  a  thin,  moist  pod, 
and  must  be  examined  and  aired,  particularly  after  a  long  sea 
voyage,  before  it  goes  into  the  European  market.  The  offal, 
or  refuse,  serves  as  an  under  and  upper  layer  in  the  chests  in 
which  the  better  classes  are  packed  for  exportation.  Each 
bundle  of  this  sort  consists  of  100  pods.  There  are  also  two 
other  sorts  of  vanilla,  but  which  are  now  scarcely  ever  seen  in 
commerce,  viz.,  the  wild  vanilla,  (la  vainilla  cimarona,  or  de 
palo,)  a  very  thin,  dry  pod ;  and  the  showy  or  splendid  vanilla, 
(la  vainilla  poposa,)  with  very  fine,  large  fruit,  but  of  a  differ- 
ent smell  from  that  of  the  best  vanilla,  on  which  account  it  has 
not  met  with  a  favorable  reception  in  Europe  nor  in  the  East. 
The  neighborhood  of  Papantla  produces  comparatively  little 
vanilla,  which  is  besides  generally  not  well  dried,  but  is  always 
very  aromatic  ;  the  purchasers  are,  therefore,  obliged  to  dry  it 
carefully  over  again.  The  locality  of  Teutila,  in  the  Sta.te  of 
Oaxaca,  has  acquired  a  deserved  reputation,  on  account  of  the 
celebrated  vanilla  growing  in  its  surrounding  forests.  In  this 
place  the  inhabitants  prepare  the  pods  with  great  care,  perfo- 
rating them  with  needles  on  all  sides,  in  order  to  facilitate  the 
exudation  of  the  milky  juice,  and  dry  them  strung  upon  threads. 
The  forests  of  Quilates  yield  in  good  years  about  800,000 
pods  ;  in  very  wet  years  the  yield  falls  to  200,000.  The  average 
annual  production  in  Misantla  and  Coliba,  is  about  700,000 
pods,  in  Papantla  100,000,  in  Teulita  110,000.  The  harvests 
of  Santiago  and  San  Andres  de  Tuxtla  are  very  various.  The 
above  mentioned  productions  of  the  provinces  of  Oaxaca  and 
Vera  Cruz  have  remained  almost  the  same  for  a  century.  In 
1802  1,793,000  pods  were  exported  from  Vera  Cruz  ;  to-day 
the  amount  exported  is  no  larger. 
