﻿APBiii 1. 1920 



The Florists^ Review 



21 



ful progress. Frequent meetings are 

 held by the Boyal Horticultural Society, 

 when orchids of special merit may be 

 ibzhibited before a competent orchid 

 committee and, if deserving, given a 

 ■first-class certificate, award of merit, 

 or other cultural commendation. In 

 1915 the Eoyal Horticultural Society 

 published a full record of all orchid 



awards since 1859. Such awards, it is 

 needless to say, enhance greatly the 

 value of the plants receiving this dis- 

 tinction. 



In view of the increased cultivation 

 and hybridization of orchids in the 

 United States and the appreciation of 

 the finer varieties, there would appear 

 to be need of a society before which or- 



chidists could exhibit choice varieties 

 and new hybrids and have awards made 

 if found worthy, and where all inter- 

 ested in orchids could meet for discus- 

 sion and information. The need is now 

 all the greater in view of the unfortu- 

 nate and, as it appears to me, unwar- 

 ranted embargo on the importation of 

 orchids by the Federal Horticultural 

 Board. 



ORCHIDS IN AMERICA 



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HISTORY OF ORCHID OULTUIIE. 



In the United States. 



While dwelling on the history and de- 

 velopment of the culture of the first 

 orchids in America we should not forget 

 that long before the discovery and con- 

 quest of this continent the progressive 

 rulers of Mexico appreciated orchids to 

 a great extent. As the early historians 

 relate, choice flowers, and especially 

 orchids, were the daily tributes to the 

 rulers of Mexico, even some of the 

 names being mentioned, such as the fra- 

 grant Stanhopea tigrina. It is also 

 stated by the same historians that no 

 one was allowed in the presence of Mon- 

 tezuma or other high personages with- 

 out profuse gifts of choice flowers, 

 which were used for every public or re- 

 ligious ceremony. 



With the settlement of this country, 

 the growth of horticulture and its de- 

 velopment, orchid culture began in the 

 early eighties. We find a record that 

 some orchids were grown in the Harvard 

 Botanical Gardens, but it was not until 

 after the Civil war that orchids began 

 to be appreciated and grown in large 

 quantities like other plants. Orchids 

 were grown mostly in collections, as it 

 was the ambition of every orchid 

 grower, whether private or commercial, 

 to get as many varieties as possible, 

 making a representative collection of 

 these as well as other plants, while the 

 present trend is more to grow the showy 

 kinds in larger quantity. 



Many Pioneers. 



Among the pioneers in this country 

 we can note such names as Louis 

 Menand, of Albany, N. Y., a grand old 

 Frenchman, who loved his orchids as 

 much as his cacti; George Such, of Perth 

 Amboy, N. J.; Henry A. Siebrecht, of 

 New Eochelle, N. Y.; Mr. Bush, of Tre- 

 mont, N. Y., and Mr. Matthews, of Utica, 

 N. Y., who v/ere growing orchids com- 

 mercially. Among the private growers 

 we find in the early days such names, 

 well known to the horticultural world, 

 as Erastus Corning, of Albany, N, Y., 

 who had at one time the largest and 

 finest collection of orchids in cultiva- 

 tion, especially rich in phalsenopsis, in- 

 cluding the unique Phalsenopsis Cor- 

 ningii, besides a fine collection of odon- 

 toglossums, which were grown quite suc- 

 cessfully. F. L. Ames, of North Easton, 

 Mass., had an unsurpassed collection of 

 orchids, growing odontoglossums and 

 masdevallias to perfection. This collec- 

 tion contained a good many rare and 



The nddrpss of W. A. Manda, of South Orange, 

 \. J., at thfi conference of orchid growers at 

 Boston, March 26. on "The History of Orchid 

 Culture in the United States." 



unique specimens, which were always 

 seen at the flower shows of the Massa- 

 chusetts Horticultural Society. H. H. 

 Hunnewell, of Wellesley, Mass., had a 

 good representative collection of orchids 

 among his remarkable collection of 

 plants. D. S. Brown, of St. Louis, Mo., 

 during his life gathered one of the finest 

 collections of cypripediums, as well as 

 other orchids, later donated to the Mis- 

 souri Botanical Garden. 



Other amateurs in the early days were 

 Mrs. John Gardener, of Brookline, 

 Mass.; Robert C. Pratt, of Watertown, 

 Mass.; Mr. Payson, of Watertown, 

 Mass., and Mr. Gilmore, of North 

 Easton, Mass. The growers of these es- 

 tablishments, William Robinson, F. L. 

 Harris, David Allen, Robert Bottomley 

 and Thomas Greaves, were keen com- 

 petitors at all the shows of the Massa- 

 chusetts Horticultural Society, although, 

 the prizes then offered were not larger 

 than those offered for a head of lettuce 

 or an apple. Many of the specimens 

 then shown have never been excelled. 



Amateurs' Varieties Excellent. 



Other amateurs were De Witt Smith, 

 of Lee, Mass., who gathered a wonder- 

 ful collection of cypripediums; Miss 

 Morgan, of New York city; Mr. Smith, 

 of Troy, N. Y., who has grown some 

 wonderful cymbidiums and ccelogynes 

 outdoors during summer; Dr. Brigham, 

 of San Francisco, Cal; Mr. Dinsmore, of 

 Staatsburg, N. Y., and other collec- 

 tions of more or less magnitude. 



Miss Baldwin, of Philadelphia, Pa., 

 {:rew, for a number of years, a choice 

 collection of orchids in her greenhouses 

 and when in bloom displayed them in a 

 special conservatory facing Chestnut 

 street, where thousands of jnassers en- 

 .ioyed the beauty of them. am. George 

 Wilson, of Philadelphia, Pa., "had a fine 

 collection of cypripediums, while the 

 late Mr. Roebling, of Trenton, N. J., had 

 fi representative collection, which in- 

 cluded many choice varieties and hy- 

 brids. ^ 



Henry Graves, of Orange, N. J., had 

 a large collection of cypripediums and 

 other orchids. Other New Jersey col- 

 lections were those of J. W. James and 

 n. McKay Twomblv, both of Madison, 

 N. J. 



In the years 1880 to 1890, orchids had 

 n big impetus. Mr. De Forest, of Sum- 

 mit, N. J., imported large quantities of 

 orchids for cut flowers and was really 

 the pioneer in growing them for this 

 purpose. . Pitcher & Manda, of Short 

 Hills, N. J., had at that time the largest 

 collection of orchids in the world, with 

 a unique collection of cypripediums and 

 all the leading varieties of orchids by 

 the thousands, while every botanical 



orchid procurable was represented by 

 some specimens. 



MaJsing Orchids a Specialty. 



Since the dispersion of this enormous 

 quantity of orchids, a number of estab- 

 lishments have been opened which 

 either made orchids their specialty or 

 grew them along with other plants, so 

 that at present we have a large number 

 of establishments where orchids are 

 grown in large quantities. Commer- 

 cially, the largest quantity of orchids, 

 numbering over 100,000 plants, is grown 

 now by Thomas Young, Boundbrook, 

 N. J., who grows them especially for 

 cut flower purposes. In this establish- 

 ment a large number of seedlings are 

 being raised, both of natural species 

 and hybrids, mostly, however, of cat- 

 tleyas and allied genera, such as Iselia 

 and brassavola. 



Lager & Hurrell, of Summit, N. J.; 

 George Baldwin, of Mamaroneck, N. Y., 

 and L. Carrillo. of Mamaroneck, N. Y., 

 are orchid specialists and do not grow 

 any other plants. Other firms growing 

 orchids for sale either as plants or cut 

 flowers are T. Butterworth, of South 

 Framingham, Mass.; Frank Dolansky, 

 of Lynn, Mass.; Thomas Roland, of Na- 

 hant, Mass.; Joseph Manda Co., of West 

 Orange, N. J.; Thomas Jones, of Short 

 Hills, N. J.; Herman Komische, of Se- 

 caucua, N. J.; Fred Burki, of Pitts- 

 burgh, Pa.; .Joseph Heacock, of Phila- 

 delphia; Alphonse Pericat, of Colling- 

 dale. Pa.; Poehlmann Bros. Co., Chi- 

 cago; "J. A. Carbone, of Berkeley, Cal.; 

 Ferrari Bros, of San Francisco, Cal., 

 and in Canada, the Dale Estate, Bramp- 

 ton, Ont., is the chief orchid grower. 

 Besides these establishments, there are 

 thousands of commercial growers who 

 grow anywhere from 100 to 1,000 

 orchids in their establishments. 



The present-day private collections 

 are numerous, as there is hardly a pri- 

 vate establishment where a fair repre- 

 sentation of the orchid family is not 

 cultivated in small or large quantities, 

 especially those that are useful for cut 

 flower purposes. 



Modem Growers Popularizing It. 



The most representative collection of 

 today is that of A. C. Burrage, Bev- 

 erley Farms, Mass., which, although one 

 of the youngest, is the largest, espe- 

 cially in the number of plants. The 

 monthly display of orchids by this gen- 

 tleman has done wonders to popularize 

 this beautiful class of plants. E. B. 

 Dane, of Brookline, Mass., has an ex- 

 tensive collection of orchids and an 

 unrivaled collection of cypripediums. 

 Oaks Ames, of North Easton, Mass., and 

 Walter Hunnewell, of Wellesley, Mass., 



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