HISTORY OF ORCHID CULTURE IN AMERICA. 139 



plants. In 1867, that I might successfully grow this 

 charming family of plants, I built a house exclusively for 

 Orchids ; and now I have a collection that will compare 

 favorably with any in America. As to my success in 

 flowering, let me briefly say that I have flowered sin- 

 gle plants : Dendrobium nobile, 476 flowers ; Phalcenop- 

 sis amabalis, 85 flowers ; Phal&nopsis Schilleriana, 156 

 flowers ; Angrczcum eburneum, 30 flowers ; Angrczcum 

 sesquipedale, 12 flowers ; Odontoglossum grande, 48 flow- 

 ers ; Ccelogyne cristata, 216 flowers; Cyrtochilum macula- 

 turn^ in flowers ; and numbers of Cattleya Mossice, with 

 from fifty to seventy flowers each." 



General Rathbone's collection contains now 686 plants, 

 all of choice kinds, and many in superb specimens. We 

 may mention ten species of Aerides, twenty-seven of 

 Cattleyas, ten of Cypripediums, twenty-five of Dendrobiums^ 

 fifteen of Odontoglossums, fifteen of choice Oncidiums, 

 six of Saccolabiums, four of Phalcenopses, in splendid speci- 

 mens, and eight of Vandas. 



There may be other collections in the country which 

 have not come to our notice. Orchids are becoming pop- 

 ular, and it is a common thing to partition off the warm 

 end of the greenhouse and grow a few of the free-bloom- 

 ing species, and there is hardly a greenhouse where a 

 few Orchids cannot be found, if only Phajus grandifolius 

 and Cypripe Jht in insigne. 



The Orchids which have been imported from England 

 have generally come from Messrs. James Veitch & Sons, 

 King's Road, Chelsea, London, who have a fine collec- 

 tion, and Messrs. Hugh Low & Son of Clapton Nursery, 

 London. Our importations have been. from the latter 

 house, which is one of the largest importers of Orchids, 



