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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :--

LIL co. 882 10

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

saying that the output of the existing plantations can

probably be doubled within the next decade, if suitable measures of finance and instruction are provided. The industry is in the main sound, the interest of the better type of proprietor has been aroused, and I should regard the provision by the Government of adequate means of instruction,

experiment and demonstration as likely to be highly profitable.

The Vanilla Industry.

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11. In Appendix IV are given the annual value of vanilla exported from Seychelles for the past twenty-two years, the figures having been calculated for triennial periods in order "to mask the effects of those fluctuations which occur in this

crop from year to year. During the period the price per kilogram of prepared vanilla has fallen from Rs.30 to below Rs.3, and in consequence both the area planted in this crop and the exports have diminished. With the exception of a few minor plantations, vanilla has practically disappeared from the Colony.

12. Vanilla has been for years subject to the attacks of a severe root-disease. From examination of this disease

I have concluded that it is caused by a fungus or a bacterium, but I await further information from the Bureau of Mycology,

to whom specimens have been forwarded. No mention is made

of a disease of this kind in any publications dealing with this crop outside of Seychelles, so far as I have been able

to ascertain. It occurs in every plantation in the colony, and on practically every vine, as an instance of which I

may mention that of 351 vines at the Botanic Station 258

were found to be attacked in November 1921.

13. I take this opportunity of mentioning that the leaf- disease known as Calospora vanillae which is reported in the Kew Bulletin 1892 as being severe in Seychelles, is not in evidence now in the Colony. I have seen no cases of leaf- disease, and Mr.Ashplant, who reported on behalf of the

Beychelles Rubber Company two years ago, stated that he obsarved no cases during his stay in the islands.

14. In the case of plants which are propagated vegetative- ly, there is a tendency to attempt to explain the attacks. of now diseases by the assumption that the plant has 'degenerated'. This assumption, whether correct or no, appears to have hindered rational investigation into preventive and curative measures in the case of the root-disease of vanilla: no steps

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have been taken locally to have the disease examined, named and classified, nor have rational methods of cultivation been tried as a means of overcoming the attacks, work which should have been undertaken years ago by the local Department of Agriculture.

15. The average yield of cured pods per acre in the Colony is given as 50 pounds. In the island of Praslin I inspected

a plantation of 10 aores in which the average yield for 5 years has been 82 pounds per acre. This plentation is infected with the root-disease, and the owner is the sole individual who has tried the obviously sensible method of a complete clean-up and replantation every five years. His expenses have been Rs.75 per acre per year and his net profit has varied from Rs.170 to Rs.300 per acre per year. In the light of this result, I have little doubt that the disease can be kept in control by special but simple methods of Jultivation.

16. Besides cultivation trials, the Department of Agriculture should import new vines from other countries, endeavour to grow new varieties from seed, and also try the effect of Bordeaux mixture on the disease.

I have very

little doubt that even at a low price of Rs.2 per pound this crop can be profitably grown in the Colony, if special methods of cultivation are used. It is however unfair to leave experimental work of this sort to the individual planter, who oan ill afford to risk even small suma on such experiments. 17. To sum up the question, the decay of the vanilla industry appears to have been due to the marked fall in price of the commodity during the past decade. The crop might have survived and have remained profitable, had it been cultivated in a methodical and careful manner. As the majority of the vines were apparently not cultivated, but merely planted in the woods, and as there was practically no attention paid to questions of disease, the industry decayed under the combined effect of neglect and low prices.

Agricultural conditions in the Colony.

18. Three other industries which are of great enough importance to warrant mention are Soap, Essences and Guano.

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