478 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Juxx, 1899. 
SOIL AND CLIMATE. 
A rich, vegetable soil, such as is found in the dense forests of the tropics, 
is the best for the vanilla. Sands are too light, and clays are either too dry in 
hot weather or too wet in the rainy season. An undrained, water-logged soil 
will cause the roots to rot, and it is therefore quite unsuited to the cultivation 
of the orchid. The climate should be hot and moist, and sheltered situations 
are indispensable, but the plants must not be too much shaded, or the fruits 
will not ripen. 
PROPAGATION, 
The plants are raised from cuttings, and it is not necessary to set them in 
nursery beds to strike root. Cuttings 4 or 5 feet long are planted at the foot 
of trees or other supports used for the vine to grow on, and if the weather be 
fayourable they will soon take root. The cuttings may be got from any part of 
the vine; and ‘in cases where it is impossible to obtain a sufficient number of 
long cuttings, shorter ones may be employed, but the plants will sooner come 
into bearing if the cuttings be the proper length. 
CULTIVATION. 
The vanilla vine, as we have seen, requires a support to grow on; and as 
the fertilisation of the flowers will have to be done artificially, it will be 
necessary for the plant to be trained so as to bring the flowers within reach of 
the hand. When the cultivation is carried on in gardens, stone walls, trees, or 
wooden trelliswork ean be utilised for supports ; but in cases where the plants are 
erown on a larger scale, trees will have to be specially planted, or posts will 
have to be fixed in the ground for the vines to attach themselves to. These 
posts should be of some hardwood which will not rot in the earth, and to that 
end the lower portion may be charred and afterwards tarred. 
‘Unbarked log-wood, calabash, or tree-fern stems may be employed, and the 
portion out of the ground should be about 5 feet high. It is far better, 
however, that the supports should be living trees, and the best for the purpose 
is the Physic-nut (Jatropha Curcas), which may be raised from seed or grown from 
live posts, which, if put in the ground in rainy weather, will, in most instances, 
soon take root. ‘The distances at which the supports are planted should not be 
more than 6 feet. The holes should be filled in with rich loam mixed with sand 
and decayed leaves; and if the plantation be in the vicinity of the forest, the 
rich humus found on the surface of the ground should be used for filling up 
the holes. The soil must be heaped up so as to prevent stagnating moisture ; 
indeed, it is better to form a bed about 6 inches aboye the level of the ground, 
and this bed may be prevented from washing down during the rains by encircling 
it with a rough wall of stones. 
The three lower leaves of the cuttings are removed, and that portion of the 
stem planted 3 or 4 inches below the surface. The remainder of the stem is 
then tied to the post or tree by a flat band of plantain fibre, or by a cocoanut 
leaflet. Round cord must not be used, as it is hable to cut into and injure the 
green, succulent stem of the vanilla. 
The ground oyer the buried part of the cutting is then mulched with leaves 
or light brush-wood; and, if dry weather come on, frequent waterings will be 
necessary, until the vine has taken root. 
The ground must be kept free from weeds, and, unless it be lightly shaded. 
by the growing physic-nut trees, it will be adyisable in dry weather to keep the 
roots constantly mulched. 
When the vines have reached the tops of the trees or other supports, 
bamboos may be fixed horizontally from tree to tree or from post to post, and 
the vines trained along them. The trees must be kept down low, so that the 
vines do not get out of reach, and the branches must be judiciously lopped, in 
order to prevent too much shade. No animal or artificial manures should be 
used, but rotten leaves and vegetable soil may be applied to the roots after each 
crop is gathered. . 
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