COLLECTION AND TRANSPORTATION. 43 



tree has once fallen, the fall dislodges the reptiles which 

 may have harbored there, and the plants can then be 

 collected without danger. The collection, however, calls 

 for care and precaution ; if the branches on which the 

 plants are should be broken or rotten, the mass of the 

 plant should be detached, breaking or bruising the roots 

 as little as possible. If the branch is sound, it may be 

 cut on each side of the plant, taking care to leave suf- 

 cient wood for its growth on its arrival. It is noticeable 

 that plants, which in our stoves are still grown on the 

 same branch on which they naturally grew, are more 

 vigorous, flower oftener, and give stronger spikes of 

 bloom, and better flowers, than those which have been 

 changed. Where the plants grow on branches too large 

 and heavy for removal, the bark, with the plant attached, 

 may be removed, or a portion of the branch sawed off. 



The roots of the plant should, in every case, be pre- 

 served as far as possible, and should not be detached 

 from the bark or wood. The mosses and other little 

 plants which grow with the Orchids should in no case be 

 removed from them ; they help to keep the plants in 

 good condition during the voyage of importation, and are 

 in themselves often valuable additions to our stove plants : 

 in this way many interesting Begonias, Ferns, and Brome- 

 lias have been imported. 



It is important that collectors should use all possible 

 discrimination in the selection of plants, and as far as 

 possible ascertain the character of the flower, though, as 

 we have said, none should be discarded because the 

 flower is unknown. The species most desirable for our 

 hot-houses are those with brilliant flowers, but many with 

 insignificant bloom may be most interesting to the botan- 



