ORCHID PRICES 



SOME years ago Mr. Ballantine, who has charge of 

 Baron Schroder's peerless collection, made some 

 remarks upon the beauty and value of Cypripedium 

 Sanderce, which were published in the Pall Mall 

 Gazette. The comments of that lively journal 

 tempted me to write a couple of letters in explana- 

 tion which may properly be quoted here. In the 

 first place, they contain some facts of general 

 interest ; in the second, they point the moral 

 thereof. 



" SIB, Mr. Ballantine is modest in describing 

 Gyp. Sanderce as ' finer by far than any other 

 " Lady's Slipper " known,' and his estimate of one 

 thousand guineas should be understood as a con- 

 ventional phrase for priceless (1894). But the true 

 story of the plant is more interesting than that you 

 have heard, and not less dramatic. I chanced to 

 be at St. Albans when it opened, and we have not 

 nearly reached the last chapter. 



" Messrs. Sander had imported a vast quantity of 

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