ql 1 May, 1900.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 891 
VANILLA IN REUNION (BOURBON). 
|. Corsur Benvyerr, in a report to the Marquis of Salisbury on the agricul- 
talindustries of the island of Réunion (or Bourbon, as it is also named), 
(piblished in a bulletin (Vol. VII., part 2) of the Botanical Department, J. amaica, 
| 88 something to say about vanilla which should be “made a note of” by our 
| *orthern planters. Few of either our planters or farmers think of going in for 
| Yhat the French eall la petite culture, not as a substitute for sugar, coffee, or 
| “Nanas, but in connection with it. Mr. Bennett says :— 
__ But Réunion would be in a far worse plight to-day than she actually is if 
she had depended entirely on sugar. It is hardly too much to say that her 
Planters, or many of them, have been saved from ruin by haying a second string 
| their bow. Many a deficit on sugar has been covered by a handsome profit 
| vanilla, backed up by sales of manioc (cassava), coffee, tobacco, perfumes, 
} “oves, and market garden produce. 
|. The largest of all these secondary products is undoubtedly vanilla. There 
a hardly a sugar estate in the island which has not more or less land under 
| Yanilla, varying naturally in extent according to the nature of the locality. On 
@ other hand, in certain districts are to be found large planters who cultivate 
Nothing but vanilla; and as regards the quarters of Ste. Rose, St. Philippe, and 
t. Joseph, it is no exaggeration to say that the mainstay of the people is 
| {nilla. The yards and courts and little plots of ground round the huts are 
| “Vered with the vanilla creepers. When the pods are ripe they are sold green to 
| *Neighbouring merchant, realising quite a small fortune for the grower. The 
ny drawback to this crop is that it gives rise to an immense amount of theft 
} ‘nd dishonesty. The pods are stolen by night, and in spite of stringent 
: las are passed from hand to hand, and finally lost for ever to the grower. 
| “lany considerable fortunes are known to have been accumulated by illicit 
| Yanilla buyers, but the detection of the culprit is almost as difficult as that of a 
amond thief at the mines. aes 03 
In a separate report attention is drawn to the treatment of vanilla by 
| ‘hloride of calcium. We print this latter report in full, as it may yet prove of 
Value to some enterprising sugar-planter of North Queensland :— 
EXPLANATORY NOTES AS TO THE DRYING OF VANILLA BY 
CHLORIDE OF CALCIUM. 
The object aimed at in the treatment of vanilla is to endow it with keeping 
Properties, and at the same time to develop the perfume which has not yet 
“ome into being at the moment of cropping. 
Pods of the best quality should be perfectly smooth, and without excres- 
‘ences or holes. The longer the pods, and the more perfumed they are, 
_ Mithout acidity, the more valuable the vanilla. 
| The success of the treatment of vanilla depends upon the care bestowed 
Xon it, and especially upon the state of maturity of the pods. 
. If the vanilla is picked too green, its treatment will be difficult and its 
eeping qualities doubtful, the pods will be thin and poor after drying, whilst 
_ the perfume will not be properly brought out, and what there is will be lacking 
N quality. 
Tf plucked when too ripe, the treatment will be easy, it will be of good 
me and highly perfumed, but it will split, and thus lose much of its commercial 
ue. 
On a well-ventilated ‘and properly exposed plantation, the pods are ripe 
_ | When the lower part begins to turn yellowish. 
TDi nh Th 
Won 
