CATTLEYA LABI ATA HOUSE 145 



plants remaining at 60,000 only. Some months ago he 

 issued quaint proposals for a Company (limited) to secure 

 the utmost profit on the collection of these. Business men 

 ' smiled and put the question by,' however enthusiastic they 

 might be as orchidists ; but I believe that the statement of 

 facts vi^as not altogether inaccurate. It is no longer worth 

 while to send out collectors of Odontoglossum crispum ; 

 natives of the country gather such as they find and store 

 them until the opportunity occurs to sell a dozen or so. 



I could give other instances ; some have been already 

 mentioned. But what is the use ? Unless governments 

 interfere, there is no remedy. Some indeed have taken steps. 

 Several years ago the Rajah of Sarawak decreed that no one 

 should collect orchids in his territory, for sale, without a 

 license. The exportation of Dendrobium Macarthiae from 

 Ceylon is forbidden, and the authorities of Capetown have 

 made stringent rules about gathering Disa grandiflora. But 

 I have heard of no other restrictions, and these, commendable 

 as they are, scarcely touch the mischief. But that is enough 

 upon a melancholy subject, with which I have no need to 

 meddle here. 



In this house and elsewhere we have some eleven hundred 

 labiatas. No Cattleya is more variable. From white to 

 deep crimson every shade of colour may be found, with 

 endless diversities of combination. Here are a few of the 

 most important. 



Imperatrix. — Rosy mauve. Distinguished by a broad 

 fringe of the same colour round the lip, which, inside, shows 

 a fine crimson. Next to it is one, unnamed, which makes 

 a good contrast. Very big and broad ; pale. The tube, 

 opening wide, is superbly striped with crimson over a gold 

 ground. The great lip all crimson. 



Nobilis. — Big and evenly rosy. The gold in the throat 

 is faint, and the lip, grandly frilled, has no lines, 



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