xii THE HISTORY OF THE BOTANICAL MAGAZINE 
it has been gradually ascertained that there is a plenty of 
hardy kinds. 
Coming to indoor gardening, orchids now occupy the 
foremost position, and their cultivation has _ well-nigh 
reached perfection in many gardens. The introduction 
of new species from all parts of the world, and the artificial 
raising of new varieties, is an industry that has increased 
enormously; and the number of species now known 
probably exceeds that of any other family, except the 
Composite. It came as a surprise to the writer, when 
compiling the statistics of the Flora of British India, 
about twenty years ago, to find that orchids were more 
numerous than any other family, and since then many 
additions have beenrmade. It is the same in Brazil, where, 
in a flora of about 20,000 known species, they number 
close on 1,500. <A very satisfactory thing in connection 
with orchid-growing is the ever-increasing number raised 
from seed, both of direct and hybrid parentage, as there 
is less drain on the wild sources. The prices fetched by 
many of the artificially raised orchids are very high, so 
that raisers can afford to wait. A hundred guineas is 
not an uncommon figure, and sometimes 500 have been 
reached. At a recent sale 1,150 guineas was given for a 
variety of Odontoglossum erispum, and 122 plants of various 
kinds of orchids averaged over forty guineas each. 
Botanical exploration has been actively prosecuted in 
all parts of the world, but the interior of tropical Africa 
and the mountainous regions of Central and Western China 
have yielded the largest harvests. The most important 
discoveries in Africa include plants affording rubber, oil, 
or fibre, whereas the acquisitions from China are largely 
of an ornamental character, and hardy in the United 
Kingdom. Many novelties were expected from Western 
China, but nobody realized the immense wealth of the 
flora. Each of the mighty valleys and ridges visited has 
its peculiar species and sometimes genera. The parts 
partially explored are as nothing to the great unknown, 
yet thousands of new species have been described during 
the last twenty years, and many of the most showy plants 
introduced have been figured in the Magazine. To give an 
idea of the richness of the flora, it may be mentioned that 
140 species each of Rhododendron and Senecio are recorded 
from China; 130 of Pedicularis ; upwards of 100 species 
each of Rubus, Saussurea, and Gentiana; upwards of 
80 species each of Primula and Lonicera; and 60 species 
of Viburnum. 
