Guatemala

by William Tufts Brigham

To the family of orchids the collector is sure to turn with eagerness; but I must confess that the brilliant colors and bizarre forms of these flowers are not attractive to me. They are parasites; and although possessing a commercial value far above many more beautiful and honest flowers, only the vanilla has any useful qualities, so far as known. The vanilla moreover is an article of luxury, not necessity; for doubtless the chemist will discover, if he has not already done so, a substitute in some of the thousand and one products of the decomposition of coal-tar.

All along the coast the Epidendrum bicornutum and the Schomburgkia tibicina are very common, affecting mangroves especially. On orange-trees in the Motagua valley grows a bright little yellow Oncidium, the flower being the largest part of the plant. In the mountains is an orchid which bears several long spikes of rich purple flowers, which with the pure white clusters of a ground orchid care much used in church decoration. So little is popularly known of the vanilla (V. planifolia) that I may be pardoned for quoting from Mr. Morris the directions lately issued from his Botanical Department of Jamaica, which are entirely applicable to the plant in Guatemala. In the Chocon forests it grows abundantly and fruits naturally, the insect needed to fertilize the flowers being present; and the pods are of excellent quality.

Vanilla.—“This is a vigorous, soft-stemmed vine, the cured fruits of which are the valuable vanilla-beans of commerce. If cuttings are taken, their upper ends, or portion to appear above ground, may readily be determined by examination of the base of the attached leaf, in the axil or upper face of which is a small growth-bud. Cut the stem with say three or four joints at one fourth of an inch below the basal node or joint, then place the base of each cutting shallowly in prepared soil against the bole or trunk of a rough-barked, low-branching tree, as, for instance, calabash, or on a low-trellised frame three or four feet high, the supports of which should be unbarked logwood, yoke, or calabash.

“If the insect which fertilizes the flowers of this orchid in its natural habitat is not present, in order to secure a crop of fruit it is necessary that the flowers should be artificially fertilized. This may be easily accomplished as follows. In the flower is a central white column, at the summit of which is a detachable cap or anther, which if touched on the lower front edge with a sharpened pencil or knife-blade will adhere to the implement. The pollen masses contained in the anther must then be made lightly to touch the sticky disk situated on the front of the column. Each flower must be so treated at or about noon of the day on which it opens.

“To cure vanilla-beans, gather when full, steep for about two minutes in boiling water, and place in flannel to dry in the sun. When perfectly dry, place them the next day on plates of iron or tin, anointing once or twice with sweet oil, to keep them soft and plump. Complete the curing process by exposing them carefully in the sun for several days [weeks]. When quite cured they should have a uniformly rich brown color, and the full fragrance of this valuable product.”

In my own experience I have found it very difficult properly to dry the pods in the damp atmosphere of the rainy season on the coast, and prefer to use the hot-air dryers now generally used for tea, coffee, cacao, etc.

Of the family of ferns little need be said. The gold-fern (Gymnogramma aurea) is a common weed at Livingston, and adiantums, lygodiums, and selaginellas are found everywhere in the forests. While the small ferns are abundant, tree-ferns are very scarce, only one specimen being seen (in the forests of El Mico), and that not a fine one.

Mahogany.—From the small extent of coast-line possessed by Guatemala, her mahogany exports are perhaps not so extensive as those of the two Hondurases on either side of her. In 1884 there was exported of all woods (mahogany being the chief) from the port of Izabal (Livingston) a measurement of 352,066 feet, valued at four cents a foot, or $14,082.64; while the shipments from Belize for the same time were about 3,000,000 feet, worth $150,000. This is not because the Guatemalan forests yield less of this valuable wood; on the contrary, mahogany-trees are very abundant in the Chocon forests, on the smaller tributaries of the Polochic, and in the Motagua valley. I have myself seen hundreds of immense trees deep in the forests, while along the larger watercourses the trees have generally been cut. In British Honduras the origin and existence of the colony is due to mahogany-cutting. The mahogany-lands are in the hands of a few proprietors who will not sell nor allow settlers, since the young trees grow rapidly; and it is said that in thirty years from a clearing, logs of large size may be cut from the shoots which spring from the stumps. The business of mahogany-cutting is thoroughly organized and made the most of. In the neighboring republic, much of the mahogany-land belongs to the Government, which allows any one to cut the timber on pretended payment of five dollars stumpage. A few private individuals cut here and there and in a desultory way. The work at a mahogany bank is generally done by Caribs, who are skilful woodmen. The hunter or montero strikes alone into the forest and searches for trees. If he finds enough of a suitable size (squaring not less than eighteen inches) within reasonable distance from the “bank,” a road is opened from the tree to the river. Often the buttresses are immense, and the platform, or “barbecue,” is raised a dozen feet from the ground. The log is roughly squared, hauled to the river, usually by night, by the light of pine-torches, and only when floated to port is it trimmed into its final shape for the market. The best mahogany comes from limestone regions.

With the mahogany is usually found the cedar (Cedrela odorata), from which cigar-boxes are made, and which is also used (as is mahogany) for single-log canoas, dories, and cayucos.