290 
Some  Commercial  Vanillas. 
( Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I       June.  1892. 
its  character,  clinging  to  forest  trees  for  support,  it  is  not  parasitic, 
obtaining  its  support  principally  through  its  aerial  roots,  which  drop 
to  the  ground  and  in  many  of  the  cultivations  in  the  islands  of  the 
Indian  Ocean  the  plants  are  supported  for  a  considerable  length 
upon  rude  trellises. 
The  products  of  the  Java  vanilla  cultivations  are  exported  to  Hol- 
land and  do  not  reach  this  country.  The  varieties  entering  our 
markets  being  the  Mexican,  Bourbon,  Seychelles,  Mauritius,  Tahiti, 
South  American  and  Vanillons,  with  occasionally  a  few  pounds  of 
unknown  origin  brought  in  by  trading  vessels.  The  products  of 
Mauritius  and  the  Seychelles  are  usually  shipped  to  London  while 
those  from  the  French  possessions,  Reunion,  Tahiti,  Mayotte,  etc., 
go  to  France. 
U.  S.  Consul,  Horace  G.  Knowles,  of  Bordeaux,  reports  (see  U.  S. 
Consular  Reports,  Sept.,  1891,  127),  as  follows:  "  Paris,  London  and 
New  York  are  the  markets  of  the  world  for  vanilla.  The  greater 
portion  imported  into  France  comes  from  her  colonies,  Guadaloupe, 
Madagascar  (Sainte  Marie),  Mayotte,  Reunion  and  Tahiti.  Just 
what  the  products  have  been  may  be  judged  from  the  following 
table  : 
Reunion. 
Guada- 
loupe. 
Mayotte. 
Sainte 
Marie. 
Tahiti. 
1880,  ...... 
1885,   
1886,  
1887,  ■ .  ■  
1888  
1889,  
pounds. 
164,289 
155,548 
361,587 
417,230 
462,660 
506,462 
pounds. 
9,532 
12,100 
6,820 
9,o44 
pounds. 
2,640 
4,774 
2,596 
19,195 
pounds. 
8,800 
18,260 
16,610 
19,195 
pounds. 
18,350 
5,5oo 
6,600 
6,490 
7,018 
Mexican  Vanilla. — The  finest  vanilla  is  still  produced  in  Mexico 
where  it  has  been  cultivated  for  nearly  a  century.  Mr.  C.  E.  Hires 
(loc.  cit.)  states  that  the  pods  are  collected  in  the  fall,  November  or 
early  December,  when  nearly  mature ;  the  processes  of  curing, 
sorting  and  packing  requiring  from  four  to  five  months,  the  crop 
of  this  year  reaches  the  market  in  the  spring  and  summer  of 
the  next.  The  erroneous  statement  is  still  made  in  the  U.  S.  Dis- 
pensatory that  the  fruit  is  collected  in  the  spring.  This  is  the  time 
of  flowering,  but  according  to  all  authorities  it  will  require  nearly 
