Title: Vanilla culture in Puerto Rico
Identifier: CAT31289489 (find matches)
Year: 1948 (1940s)
Authors: Childers, Norman Franklin, 1910-
Subjects: Vanilla; Orchids
Publisher: Washington, D. C. : U. S. Dept. of Agriculture
Contributing Library: U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Library
Digitizing Sponsor: U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Library

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16 CIRCULAR NO. 2S; FEDERAL EXPERIMENT STATION As shown in figure 4, most of the vanilla, except for Mexico, is pro- duced on islands from within a few degrees of the Equator to about 25 degrees north and south of it. Puerto Eico is bisected by the 18th parallel of latitude north of the Equator and falls within these limits. In Puerto Rico vanilla is grown from sea level to an altitude of 2,500 feet or more. In the West Indies vanilla is growing successfully under annual rain- fall conditions varying from about 75 to 200 inches.7 Value of the rainfall, however, is measured not so much by the total inches as by the distribution throughout the year. At Mayaguez, in most years, the dry periods have been too extended during the winter season for
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Figure 9.—Vanilla barbellata Reich, is relatively weak in vigor as evidenced by the small leaves and low production of beans. The flower has a dark purple fringe around the labellum. The beans are short and taper to both ends. successful vanilla growing, except in the most sheltered areas or where irrigation is available. One exceptionally dry period during the life of the vanilla plant may either result in death or so weaken the plant that it will be of little economic value thereafter. In Puerto Kico, as well as in Mexico (10), drought is probably the worst enemy of vanilla. One of the more successful regions for production of vanilla in Puerto Rico, as demonstrated over some 35 or more years, is near Morovis, where the annual rainfall is more evenly distributed than at Mayaguez (fig. 10). The climate is undoubtedly too dry for vanilla 7 Personal communication from Louis de Vertueil, Superintendent of Agricul- ture of Dominica, British West Indies. 1946.

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