OC EE ae 
482 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Juve, 1899. 
pods are not in fit condition to be gathered at one time, and care is required at 
the first gatherings not to touch pods which are unripe; if gathered too early 
the pods or beans will mostly shrivel during the process of drying, and lean 
shrivelled beans do not realise so good a price in the markets. At the same 
time the pods must not be left on the plants after they have ripened, or the 
valves will open, sometimes nearly an inch, and split beans are of inferior value. 
DRYING AND PREPARING THE PODS FOR MARKET, 
Without doubt the most difficult and anxious time in the culture of vanilla 
is the process of drying and completing the preparation of the pods. 
All the care and success during the early cultivation may easily be lost if 
through want of knowledge or watchfulness the drying process is imperfect. 
The successful operation of drying the beans at the time our information 
refers to was as follows: 
A large oven (similar to an ordinary bakehouse oven) is heated by fire 
underneath, until the thermometer fixed on the iron door in front registers a 
heat of 108 degrees to 105 degrees Fahrenheit. The fire is then withdrawn; 
meantime pieces of wood should be prepared, laid crossways, to fit the bottom 
inside the oven, so as to prevent the pods actually coming in contact with the 
oven ; uponthese cross-laid pieces of wood about 70 to 751b. weight of vanillapods 
should be placed, well wrapped in banana leaves, which are again covered with 
a woollen cloth, and the whole placed in the oven, where they are allowed to 
remain until the thermometer falls to about 85 degrees Fahrenheit ; they are 
then removed and placed in a wooden box for the moisture to exude and the 
pods cool gradually ; when nearly cold they are placed on blankets, which have 
been lying on boards and warmed by the sun, and the pods spread on these 
blankets are exposed to the sun. We have known some growers, who instead 
of exposing the beans to the direct rays of the sun, prefer to cover the pods 
with a black woollen cloth, which, by absorbing a considerable amount of heat 
from the sun as well as moisture from the vanilla pods, assist the process of 
drying, and, some state, impart to the pods a superior flavour and colour than 
they otherwise would have. After thus bemg exposed for 2 or 8 days they 
should be of a dark-brown colour. The pods are next Jaid on perforated shelves 
in an airy room, where they are allowed to remain for 2 or 3 weeks, or until 
properly dry, when they should be of a good black colour. 
SORTING AND PACKING THE BEANS IN LENGTHS AND QUALITIKS. 
We find all merchants are careful in keeping the size of the beans in 
the bundles arranged regular and even, and also the weight of the bundles are 
fairly correct, and upon these points they do not require any information, but 
we often notice the tins contain very mixed sizes; for instance, one-half of the 
bundles will measure 6 to 7 inches, and the other 4 to 5 inches. This is a 
mistake, and where practicable should be avoided. If the parcel in hand igs 
large enough for careful division, the measurements of the bundles in a tin 
should not vary more than 34-inch, or | inch at the outside, thus 8 x 9 inches 
together, 7 x 8 inches, 6 x 7 inches, 5 x 6 inches, &e. 
In bundling the beans we are well aware that it is easier to make the tie 
with damp rafia than when the fibre is dry, but the former should not be allowed 
on any account. We have seen bundles of vanilla arrive in London quite 
mouldy round the tie, caused, we feel certain, by the rafia being damp when 
used for tying the beans together. This, we feel sure, only requires to be 
pointed out to be avoided in future. 
Bundles of split beans should always be sent in separate tins by themselves, 
and not mixed with sound beans, as this prejudices the sale; we found this 
mixture in some parcels we recently inspected. 
