38 COOL ORCHID GllOWING. 



collector going out to India should understand something of 

 the language, or else make up his mind to take into his employ 

 a native who understands some English, or innumerable diffi- 

 culties will be thrown in his way. Many persons in this 

 country have resident correspondents in India, who could in 

 some favourable instances send over a case or two of choice 

 Orchids. Plants that are known to grow in any special locality 

 may be obtained by giving the native tribes graphic coloured 

 drawings of them, and offering a certain small sum to the 

 first who succeeds in bringing them from the hills. In addition 

 to the plants mentioned above, different species of Iris, Myo- 

 sotis. Delphinium, and Fritillarias were noticed in the vicinity of 

 Panchoa. Panchoa is a small village near to the Oontadoora 

 Pass, at an elevation of nearly 17,500 feet. The Orchids 

 do not reach that elevation, but many herbaceous plants 

 scarcely less beautiful or interesting might be obtained from 

 that locality. Many parts of the Himalayan range might be 

 thoroughly well investigated, with both pleasure and profit, by 

 any well-qualified collector. 



Collecting plants, however, is but half the duty of a collector, 

 for if great care is not taken in packing and transporting 

 them, there is every probability of their being lost on their 

 journey to this country. If possible Orchids and bulbs should 

 be packed when at rest, or during the dry season. Packed 

 tightly in a common packing case, among dry fibre or shavings, 

 at that season they generally reach this country in good con- 

 dition. If the plants are growing, it becomes necessary to 

 pack them more carefully in a glass-roofed plant-case, allowing 

 the growths plenty of room. It is of but little use to crowd 

 growing plants together in a case, for if one commences to 

 decay the evil soon spreads, and a mass of stagnant rottenness 

 is the result. A few robust plants carefully packed have a 

 much greater chance of reaching this country in excellent 



