144 THE ORCHID REVIEW. 
LECTURE ON ORCHID COLLECTING. 
A LecturE, entitled “ Orchids; their Habitat, Manner of Collecting, and 
Cultivation,” was given by Mr. Henry A. Siebrecht, at the meeting of the 
Torrey Botanical Club, New York, on February gth, 1897, handsomely 
illustrated with lantern slides by Mr. Cornelius Van Brunt, coloured by 
Mrs. Van Brunt, and is reported as follows in the Bulletin of the Club, 
p- 159. 
Mr. Siebrecht, in his paper, referred to the hardships undergone by the 
Orchid-collector, and paid a tribute to the energy displayed by three friends 
of the speaker—Carmiole, an Italian, who had come to New York when the 
Raine 
speaker was a boy; Férstermann, who died about two years ago, the victim, 
like most collectors, of disease contracted in that enterprise ; and Thieme, 
who had made three trips for Mr. Siebrecht, and who went last to Brazil in 
search of the Cattleya labiata, but was never heard from. . 
Mr. Siebrecht referred to three trips of his own in quest of Orchids, 
the West Indies, Venezuela, Brazil, and Central America. He then 
exhibited the lantern views, which were of remarkable beauty, and evoked 
frequent applause. They included numerous representatives of the chief 
genera cultivated; also with views of interiors, showing a house of Cattleyas 
in blossom, etc. Slides showing numerous species native to the Eastern 
United States followed. : 
Mr. Siebrecht then described the culture of Orchids, and classed their 
diseases as chiefly because too wet, when the “spot” closes the stomata, 
or too dry, when they collect insects. He referred to their insect enemies 
at home—the “ Jack Spaniard,” which eats the marrow from the bulb, and 
the Cattleya fly, now introduced into English houses. He mentioned 
the ravages of Cladosporium, and the great difficulty with which Orchids 
of the genus Phalaenopsis are preserved from fungal diseases. 
The subject was further discussed by the President (the Hon. Addison 
Brown), Dr. Britton, Mr. Samuel Henshaw, and Mr. Livingston, the latter 
referring to his recent experience as an Orchid collector. A slide was 
exhibited, made from a photograph taken by Mr. Livingston, showing his 
Orchids packed upon oxen, and so carried down from the mountains to 
Magdalena. 
Mr. Henshaw spoke of his visit to Mr. Siebrecht’s nursery in Trinidad, 
and of the growth made there by Crotons, as much in one year as here in 
four or five. In those gardens they divide their plants by rows 
and hedges of Crotons, which are sheared off as we would trim a privet 
hedge. Mr. Henshaw also paid a deserved tribute to Mrs. Van Brunt for 
the wonderful success of her colouring of the Orchid slides. 
OO 
