IMPORTING ORCHIDS. 39 



condition than great numbers closely huddled together. In 

 the case of some epiphytal Orchids, it is possible to obtain 

 them thoroughly well established by lopping off the branches 

 of the trees on which they grow. The logs so obtained can 

 afterwards be trimmed, and if nailed or screwed firmly to the 

 sides of the cases in which they are to be sent home, there need 

 be but little fear of their reaching their destination in safety. 

 Phalaenopsis Parishi and P. grandiflora packed in this manner 

 have often arrived in excellent condition. 



In sending Orchids to this country from abroad, care should 

 be taken to ship them so that they will reach here during 

 warm weather. Inattention to this has disappointed many, 

 when the only cause for failure was their having been shipped 

 off too late in the season, and their having reached this 

 country during the winter months. The rigour of our northern 

 winters has ruined the contents of scores of cases of valu- 

 able plants, often after a large amount of both capital and 

 labour had been expended to collect them in their native 

 habitats. In the case of glass-roofed cases, it is a good plan 

 to make arrangements, if possible, with the captain or other 

 officer of the steamer on which they are placed, to have them 

 shaded during bright sunshine. These little details will soon 

 suggest themselves to the collector, but it is as well to know 

 and prepare against any adverse circumstances that may render 

 the importation of living Orchids less certain than it is at 

 present. Many bulbs, and the tubers of many terrestrial 

 Orchids, are best brought or sent over when at rest, packed in 

 their native earth. Many seeds of Palms and other tropical 

 plants and shrubs are best sent over packed in moist clay or 

 earth, as dryness is certain death to them. There are many 

 seeds that will keep for years in a dry place without their 

 vitality becoming impaired; but there are others, as the 

 Amherstia nobilis for example, that cannot be imported or 



