38 AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
remained unvisited. In 1905, however, the British govern- 
ment sent its famous military expedition to the Dalai Lama 
in the remote Potala at the sacred city of Lhasa. Among 
the officers of the expedition was an enthusiastic botanist, 
and one afternoon several thousand feet above sea level 
in one of the almost inaccessible Bhutan passes that lead 
into Thibet, he came upon the orchid which had been sought 
for forty-six years in every nook and cranny of the world. 
With gentle, but eager hands the military botanist gathered 
a number of the plants and dispatched them by special cour- 
ier to Calcutta, whence the glad news of the recovery of the 
dainty little “‘lady’s slipper” was cabled all over the world. 
It is the plant that has demonstrated how it can bloom, 
that costs dear. For the spotted O. crispum ‘Frederic San- 
der” Mr. Pitt of London after seeing the bloom paid 
$10,500. These are just public, not private prices, and 
were paid mainly because of the spots on the specimens—the 
signs of individuality. 
But there is little cause for surprise at such prices when 
such terrible dangers have to be faced in order to bring 
them to civilization. Some years ago a collector for an 
English firm was sent to New Guinea to look for a dendro- 
bium, then very rare. He went to the country, dwelt among 
the cannibals for months, and found about four hundred of 
the plants. He loaded a little schooner with them and put 
into a port in Dutch New Guinea, where the ship caught fire 
and was burned to the water’s edge. His firm ordered him 
to go back for more. He went. He discovered a magni- 
ficent collection of the huge crimson flowers growing among 
the exposed bones and skulls of a Papuan burying ground. 
Some were actually nodding gaily between the ribs of a 
skeleton. He was about to gather some of the orchids when 
the natives, resenting this disturbance of their dead, men- 
anced him with their knives, and it was only by the exercise 
of the utmost tact, supplemented with presents of beads, 
brass wire and calico that he was able to appease them and 
to gain their consent to his removal of the orchids from their 
ghastly retreat. In one or two cases he was compelled to 
carry away the skulls to which the precious specimens clung, 
and the Papuans insisted on his taking along a little idol to 
watch over the spirits of the departed. 
Talking of idols reminds me of Brown. An orchid hunter 
named Brown, in dark and mysterious Madagascar, while in 
pursuit of a rare specimen was unfortunate enough grossly 
to insult a much venerated idol. The enraged priests soaked 
him in parafin and burned him to a cinder. Another col- 
lector was known to wade up to his middle in mud for a 
fortnight looking for a specimen of which he had heard. 
January, 1911 
Two collectors seeking a single plant died one after the 
other of the fever. A collector detained at Panama went 
to look for an orchid and the Indians brought him back 
from the swamps to die. Many orchid hunters come back 
to the sea-coast from the interior stricken with jungle fever, 
or beriberi, or yellow fever, or some other of the terrible 
diseases which are the penalty of searching for riches in the 
tropical regions of the world. Often their hair and nails 
drop out and they are incapacitated for work for the rest 
of their lives. If they escape disease and the treachery of 
their guides they may fall a prey to the wild beasts of every 
kind that abound in the orchid country. There is a certain 
species of the plant, very popular in America, which is bell- 
shaped and collects dew, for which reason snakes lie in wait 
nearby and kill birds when they alight on the flowers. When 
the orchid hunter stretches out his hand to tear the treasure 
from its tree he is constantly exposed to the deadly bite of 
these snakes. But why, you will probably ask, can we not 
breed from the plants which are acquired at such awful cost, 
and thus in time make this foreign exploration unnecessary? 
For the simple reason that it takes from twelve to eighteen 
months for the seed to ripen, then three months for it to 
sprout, then from five to ten years for the plant to yield a 
flower. And when at last perhaps the hybrid does bloom it 
is something that is hardly worth looking at. The winds, 
the birds and the insects all in their several ways carrying 
the pollen from one specimen to another of different 
varieties combine to produce rare and expensive flowers in 
the orchid’s native habitat. 
When the plants arrive in New York there is little in 
their appearance to tell of the glories which they will later 
put forth. They are simply dried, shrivelled up looking 
things with possibly a few yellow green leaves attached to 
them. 
The quest of the orchid is not likely to diminish for many 
years to come, for there are probably several thousand 
varieties waiting to be found in remote corners of the world. 
A few varieties have been developed in hothouses in 
America by cross fertilization, but nothing like enough to 
begin to supply the inexorable demand of Fashion, and so 
the death-dealing pursuit of the wild specimens must go on. 
But it is probable that if the debutante who accepts with a 
murmur of thanks the tribute of orchids could realize the 
many dangers they had involved, she would invest the 
delicate flowers with additional romance, while it is pretty 
safe to assume that if the gilded youths who pay for the 
orchids had to gather them, there would be a wonderful 
increase in the demand for American Beauty roses. 
Springtime in Winter 
By S. Leonard Bastin 
KO THE gardener, the cold months of the 
year must always mean a cessation in the 
active work of plant culture. Any scheme 
which will enable the enthusiast to pursue 
his pastime during the winter is sure of a 
welcome. The new method of bringing 
the branches of trees and of shrubs into 
flower at this time, is one which promises to make a valu- 
able addition to the resources of the indoor gardener. Its 
very simplicity must appeal to everyone, while the decora- 
tive possibilities of the system cannot fail to attract all 
flower admirers. 
In order to understand the purpose of the treatment, 
the consideration of a few natural science points may not be 
out of place. It is well known to botanists that all decidu- 
ous trees and shrubs bring their next season’s growth to a 
very advanced stage during the fall. Indeed all the leaves 
and flowers are quite ready for the spring, folded up on a 
very small scale beneath the protecting bud cases. Now the 
resumption of growth, when it does take place, is largely 
due to the fact that the plant starts to draw water from the 
soil, and the fluid rising to the buds swells out the undevel- 
oped tissue and the tree comes into foliage and blossom. 
The purpose of the ‘present method is to imitate as nearly as 
possible this natural process in mid-winter, at which time 
the fresh growth will have a special value. 
Nowadays when flowering trees and shrubs are so com- 
mon in our gardens there will be no difficulty in finding sub- 
jects for the treatment. All the ornamental plums, apples, 
cherries and currants to mention only four kinds, are perfectly 
adapted, whilst the wild species of these fruits which are 
to be found in the hedgerows may be made equally useful. 
Bright green foliage is always very acceptable, and branches 
of trees with large buds, such as chestnuts and sycamores, 
may be included in the collection. . 
The season of the year when the system may be most 
