Pods grow to their full size in five or six weeks, but take some eight months, more or less, according to the altitude at which they are grown, or the amount of shade over them, before they ripen. The indication of ripening is a slight yellowing of the whole pod, which is more marked near its free end. When under too much shade the change in color is less noticeable, and many pods grown in such places split before they are gathered, and for that reason lose in value. To guard against splitting, and yet gather them at perfect ripeness, they should be gone over every other day. In removing them from the flower stalks the pods are grasped one by one near their attached ends, very slightly twisted, and at the same time pressed aside with the thumb. They must be taken off quite clean. If a bit of the flower stalk comes away with a pod, as sometimes will happen, it should be cut off smoothly. Any break or crack in the pod itself, however, near its butt, ranks it as an inferior quality. Buyers are very particular in this respect. After each day’s gathering, before the pods are started on their first stage of curing, it is well to sort them roughly into four classes: 1, long; 2, medium; 3, short; and 4, split. CURING THE PODS FOR MARKET. There are many different modes of preparing vanilla, but for brevity’s sake one alone will be described; it is probably the simplest, and appears to be as successful as any other. About 400 of the longest pods are placed in a basket and plunged into hot water (190° F.) for ten seconds; this is repeated twice, the dips being increased to twelve and fifteen seconds respectively, with intervals of half a minute between each two. After the third dip, when most of the water has drained off, the pods are placed in a wooden box or barrel lined with blankets, and closely covered up with the same material. When lot 1 is finished, lot 2 is similarly treated, and for them the water may be a few degrees cooler, or the dipping times a trifle shortened; and so also with lot No. 3, while No. 4 may be treated as No. 2. Perhaps it is as well to add that 190° F. is not an absolutely essential heat, but is about as high as it is safe to go; while even the longest pods may be adequately treated in water at 170° F. if they are kept in it long enough. An experienced preparer will be guided more by the appearance of the pod after each dip than by any fixed formula. Where small quantities are dealt with less heat is needed, and the above figures are given for a boiler 22 inches in diameter by 12 inches deep. It is best to have good-sized boxes or barrels to sweat the pods in, those holding 2,000 or 3,000 each being preferable, for the more pods there are together the better heat is retained. The lots (1, 2, 3, and 4) should be kept apart, a fold of blanket being laid on each if all go into one box. By the following morning they should have changed to chocolate or puce