VANILLA CULTIVATION IN TAHITIThe cultivation of the aromatic vanilla-bean is one of the principal industries of Tahiti. The bean grows luxuriantly in the shady forests in the lowlands along the coast, and requires but little care. The climate and soil of Tahiti are specially adapted to the cultivation of the vanilla-bean, as the very best quality is grown here. TheVanilla aromaticais a genus of parasiticOrchidaceæ, a native of tropic parts of America and Asia, which springs at first from the ground and climbs with twining stems to the height of from twenty to thirty feet on trees, sending into them fibrous roots, produced from nodes, from which the leaves grow. These roots, drawing the sap from the trees, sustain the plant, even after the ground-root has been destroyed. Flower white; corolla tubular; stigma distant from anthers, rendering spontaneous fructification difficult; leaves oblong, light green, fleshy, with an exceedingly acrid juice; flowers in spikes, very large, fleshy and generally fragrant. The fruit is a pod-like, fleshy capsule, opening along the side. The ripe bean is cylindrical, about nine inches in length, and less than half an inch thick. It is gathered before it is entirely ripe, and dried in the shade. It contains within its tough pericarp a soft black pulp, in which many minute seeds are imbedded. The plant is cultivated by cuttings. In Mexico and South American countries, the insects effect impregnation; in Tahiti, this is done artificially. With a small, sharp stick the pollen is conveyed to the stigma of the pistil. Artificial impregnation of fifteen hundred flowers is considered a good day's work. Allusion has been made elsewhere to the fact that the shrewd Chinamen have depreciated the vanilla industry in Tahiti and ruined the reputation of the product. If the natives could be induced to stop their dealings with the scheming Chinese merchants and traders, and the government would release them from export duty, the cultivation of vanilla would soon regain its former importance and would yield a very profitable income. The Tahitians are not agriculturists; they are averse to hard manual labor; they areOf proud-lived loiterers, that never sow,Nor put a plant in earth, nor use a plough.CHAPMAN.and hence are anxious to obtain what little money they need with as little effort as possible. Vanilla, once planted, requires very little attention, and it grows most luxuriantly in the dark shadow of the dense forest, where the natives engaged in artificial impregnation of the flower and in gathering the bean are protected against the direct heat of the sun. The great advantage of vanilla-cultivation to the island consists in the fact that this valuable article of commerce can be grown without deforestation, so essential in the cultivation of much less valuable products of the soil of the tropics.BRIDGE ACROSS FAUTAHUABRIDGE ACROSS FAUTAHUA NEAR THE WATERFALL
VANILLA CULTIVATION IN TAHITIThe cultivation of the aromatic vanilla-bean is one of the principal industries of Tahiti. The bean grows luxuriantly in the shady forests in the lowlands along the coast, and requires but little care. The climate and soil of Tahiti are specially adapted to the cultivation of the vanilla-bean, as the very best quality is grown here. TheVanilla aromaticais a genus of parasiticOrchidaceæ, a native of tropic parts of America and Asia, which springs at first from the ground and climbs with twining stems to the height of from twenty to thirty feet on trees, sending into them fibrous roots, produced from nodes, from which the leaves grow. These roots, drawing the sap from the trees, sustain the plant, even after the ground-root has been destroyed. Flower white; corolla tubular; stigma distant from anthers, rendering spontaneous fructification difficult; leaves oblong, light green, fleshy, with an exceedingly acrid juice; flowers in spikes, very large, fleshy and generally fragrant. The fruit is a pod-like, fleshy capsule, opening along the side. The ripe bean is cylindrical, about nine inches in length, and less than half an inch thick. It is gathered before it is entirely ripe, and dried in the shade. It contains within its tough pericarp a soft black pulp, in which many minute seeds are imbedded. The plant is cultivated by cuttings. In Mexico and South American countries, the insects effect impregnation; in Tahiti, this is done artificially. With a small, sharp stick the pollen is conveyed to the stigma of the pistil. Artificial impregnation of fifteen hundred flowers is considered a good day's work. Allusion has been made elsewhere to the fact that the shrewd Chinamen have depreciated the vanilla industry in Tahiti and ruined the reputation of the product. If the natives could be induced to stop their dealings with the scheming Chinese merchants and traders, and the government would release them from export duty, the cultivation of vanilla would soon regain its former importance and would yield a very profitable income. The Tahitians are not agriculturists; they are averse to hard manual labor; they areOf proud-lived loiterers, that never sow,Nor put a plant in earth, nor use a plough.CHAPMAN.and hence are anxious to obtain what little money they need with as little effort as possible. Vanilla, once planted, requires very little attention, and it grows most luxuriantly in the dark shadow of the dense forest, where the natives engaged in artificial impregnation of the flower and in gathering the bean are protected against the direct heat of the sun. The great advantage of vanilla-cultivation to the island consists in the fact that this valuable article of commerce can be grown without deforestation, so essential in the cultivation of much less valuable products of the soil of the tropics.BRIDGE ACROSS FAUTAHUABRIDGE ACROSS FAUTAHUA NEAR THE WATERFALL
The cultivation of the aromatic vanilla-bean is one of the principal industries of Tahiti. The bean grows luxuriantly in the shady forests in the lowlands along the coast, and requires but little care. The climate and soil of Tahiti are specially adapted to the cultivation of the vanilla-bean, as the very best quality is grown here. TheVanilla aromaticais a genus of parasiticOrchidaceæ, a native of tropic parts of America and Asia, which springs at first from the ground and climbs with twining stems to the height of from twenty to thirty feet on trees, sending into them fibrous roots, produced from nodes, from which the leaves grow. These roots, drawing the sap from the trees, sustain the plant, even after the ground-root has been destroyed. Flower white; corolla tubular; stigma distant from anthers, rendering spontaneous fructification difficult; leaves oblong, light green, fleshy, with an exceedingly acrid juice; flowers in spikes, very large, fleshy and generally fragrant. The fruit is a pod-like, fleshy capsule, opening along the side. The ripe bean is cylindrical, about nine inches in length, and less than half an inch thick. It is gathered before it is entirely ripe, and dried in the shade. It contains within its tough pericarp a soft black pulp, in which many minute seeds are imbedded. The plant is cultivated by cuttings. In Mexico and South American countries, the insects effect impregnation; in Tahiti, this is done artificially. With a small, sharp stick the pollen is conveyed to the stigma of the pistil. Artificial impregnation of fifteen hundred flowers is considered a good day's work. Allusion has been made elsewhere to the fact that the shrewd Chinamen have depreciated the vanilla industry in Tahiti and ruined the reputation of the product. If the natives could be induced to stop their dealings with the scheming Chinese merchants and traders, and the government would release them from export duty, the cultivation of vanilla would soon regain its former importance and would yield a very profitable income. The Tahitians are not agriculturists; they are averse to hard manual labor; they are
Of proud-lived loiterers, that never sow,Nor put a plant in earth, nor use a plough.CHAPMAN.
Of proud-lived loiterers, that never sow,
Nor put a plant in earth, nor use a plough.
CHAPMAN.
and hence are anxious to obtain what little money they need with as little effort as possible. Vanilla, once planted, requires very little attention, and it grows most luxuriantly in the dark shadow of the dense forest, where the natives engaged in artificial impregnation of the flower and in gathering the bean are protected against the direct heat of the sun. The great advantage of vanilla-cultivation to the island consists in the fact that this valuable article of commerce can be grown without deforestation, so essential in the cultivation of much less valuable products of the soil of the tropics.
BRIDGE ACROSS FAUTAHUABRIDGE ACROSS FAUTAHUA NEAR THE WATERFALL
BRIDGE ACROSS FAUTAHUA NEAR THE WATERFALL