40 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



taking the box away there remained a scjnare firm package. In this 

 way I moved the cargoes considerable distances to phices where I 

 could pack the ])lants in wooden boxes. 



I will speak of the various South American countries chiefly as 

 they are the home for all of our Cattleyas. Those orchids occur 

 all the way from Honduras, Guatemala and Costa Rica in Central 

 America, and down through Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, some 

 in Peru, and again in the Guianas and Brazil. 



The collecting of the orchids and the preparing and packing them 

 for shipment are more or less the same in any of the South American 

 countries. ^Nlen are sent out in every direction, covering as large a 

 territory as possible, in order to secure the plants in the least space 

 of time. As a rule two or three men band themselves together, and 

 take provisions enough to last a week or more. They are armed 

 with the indispensable machette, and axes occasionally, also with 

 shot guns; and carry string bags in which to bring out the plants. 

 These men bury themselves in the woods, and when plants are 

 sighted the trees are as a rule cut down, unless the plants are found 

 quite low down. To climb the trees is no easy task in the tropical 

 forests where there is a network of climbers and other vegetation 

 around the trunks. There is also the possibility of poisonous 

 insects, snakes, and scorpions being hidden in the plants; hence 

 very few men will undertake the climb; but, whatever mode is 

 chosen, the plants are loosened from the trunk or branches by run- 

 ning the maclu'itc under the plants; when once loose they are tied 

 together with some kind of string, put in the bag, and the march 

 continued until another plant is found. Towards night the men 

 return to their camp, where the plants are spread out under some 

 tree to protect them from the sun, and at the end of the week's 

 labor the plants are carried on their backs to the ranch. Here 

 they are spread out on shelves made of stakes to await the proper 

 time for the packing. 



The most interesting and most important fields for collectors 

 are, undoubtedly, Colombia, first; second, Venezuela; and third, 

 Brazil. 



I place Colombia first because I believe its flora has no equal in 

 the world, and taking the orchids especially I doubt very much if 

 another region can be found where such great numbers of species 

 occur. 



