“If the insect which fertilizes the flowers of this orchid in its natural habitat is not present, in order to secure a crop of fruit it is necessary that the flowers should be artificially fertilized. This may be easily accomplished as follows. In the flower is a central white column, at the summit of which is a detachable cap or anther, which if touched on the lower front edge with a sharpened pencil or knife-blade will adhere to the implement. The pollen masses contained in the anther must then be made lightly to touch the sticky disk situated on the front of the column. Each flower must be so treated at or about noon of the day on which it opens. “To cure vanilla-beans, gather when full, steep for about two minutes in boiling water, and place in flannel to dry in the sun. When perfectly dry, place them the next day on plates of iron or tin, anointing once or twice with sweet oil, to keep them soft and plump. Complete the curing process by exposing them carefully in the sun for several days [weeks]. When quite cured they should have a uniformly rich brown color, and the full fragrance of this valuable product.” In my own experience I have found it very difficult properly to dry the pods in the damp atmosphere of the rainy season on the coast, and prefer to use the hot-air dryers now generally used for tea, coffee, cacao, etc. Of the family of ferns little need be said. The gold-fern (_Gymnogramma aurea_) is a common weed at Livingston, and adiantums, lygodiums, and selaginellas are found everywhere in the forests. While the small ferns are abundant, tree-ferns are very scarce, only one specimen being seen (in the forests of El Mico), and that not a fine one.