Bulletin No. 21, Division of Botany. PLATE I. [Illustration: FIG. 1.--VANILLA IN FLOWER--SOME OF THE FLOWERS ALREADY GROWN INTO SMALL PODS.] [Illustration: FIG. 2.--VANILLA IN FAIR CROP, ON BARS AND POSTS UNDER SHADE.] BULLETIN NO. 21. S. P. I., No. 2. U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, DIVISION OF BOTANY. VANILLA CULTURE AS PRACTICED IN THE SEYCHELLES ISLANDS. BY S. J. GALBRAITH. [Illustration] WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1898. CONTENTS. Page. Introduction to Mr. Galbraith’s paper, by D. G. Fairchild 7 General conditions 9 Starting a vanillery 10 Preparing the vines for cropping 13 Pollination of the flowers 15 Curing the pods for market 17 Miscellaneous information and notes 21 Summary 23 ILLUSTRATIONS. PLATE. PLATE I. Page. Fig. 1, vanilla in flower--some of the flowers already grown into small pods; fig. 2, vanilla in fair crop, on bars and posts under shade Frontispiece TEXT FIGURES. FIG. 1. Hand pollination of the vanilla flower 16 FIG. 2. Plan of curing house 19 INTRODUCTION TO MR. GALBRAITH’S PAPER. By D. G. FAIRCHILD. The following paper on vanilla culture has been prepared by Mr. S. J. Galbraith, of Mahé, Seychelles Islands, who was for some time associated with Mr. W. T. Swingle, agricultural explorer of the Section of Seed and Plant Introduction, in the preparation of a joint memoir on the culture and disease of vanilla in those islands. As the second part of the report, which deals with the disease, has not been completed, it seems desirable not to delay longer the publication of this part, relating to vanilla culture, inasmuch as it is practically complete in itself. Although the vanilla is a plant native to America, its culture is now carried on most extensively and successfully in Bourbon, Seychelles, Mauritius, Madagascar, and other islands lying in the Tropics in the Indian Ocean east of Africa, as well as in the Island of Tahiti in the South Pacific. The vanilla industry is a very important one in the Seychelles Islands, and Mr. Galbraith, himself for many years a successful planter, is in a most favorable position to write on the subject of vanilla culture.