THE PROGRESS OF ORCHID CULTURE IN AMERICA. 125 



wealth of bloom popularly supposed to be their chief characteristic. 

 Perched high in air, and shaded by the foliage of the tree 

 upon which it grows, the Orchid finds its home ; and the peril- 

 ous experiences of collectors in their attempts to find the location 

 of some new and rare species, of which little had previouslj- been 

 known, would fill many volumes. Instances are not uncommon of 

 expert collectors having been sent thousands of miles across the 

 ocean, to some reiriote portion of South America, India, or the 

 Malaj-au archipelago, to secure some special orchid, of which a 

 specimen or two may have been previously gathered and brought 

 home. Most of these expeditions have proved successful, while 

 others have failed, and many valuable lives have been sacrificed in 

 the unhealthj'^ climates of the tropics. In addition to these perils, 

 millions, I may say, of plants have been lost in the effort to bring 

 them from the far distant interiors to the sea-coasts, and thence to 

 their destination. Many localities in South America, and other 

 countries, have been so thoroughly stripped of choice species and 

 varieties of orchids, that few of them are now to be found iu those 

 particular places ; though it must not be inferred that the supi)ly of 

 other species from other localities is exhausted. Orchids in their 

 home fortunately form vast quantities of seed; and these 

 germinate freely and form the basis of a new supply, if the process 

 of collection is not carried on too closely year after year in the 

 same localities. 



It is worth while in this connection to refer to the fact that, in 

 some portions of South America, an export tax is hereafter to be 

 levied upon all shipments of orchids ; and it remains to be deter- 

 mined whether this will in any way affect their indiscriminate de- 

 struction, or increase their value. The process of raising seed in 

 our own glass houses is too uncertain and tedious, and requires too 

 great skill and patience, to warrant the belief that any large sup- 

 ply will result from this source. 



I ma}- depart, for a moment, from my subject, to show what pa- 

 tience is required to raise orchids from seed under glass, even sup- 

 posing the skill attained that is requisite to hybridize the orchid 

 flowers, and to sow and raise the seed, which is a very delicate pro- 

 cess, orchid seed being as fine as dust. Dendrobiums have been 

 flowered iu from three to four years from the date of sowing the 

 seed, and the ripening of the seed consumed an additional year; 

 which is about the shortest period of germination and growth 



