IMPORTED PLANTS 



5 



That is a weakness of all collectors, but it is not 

 generally a wise or judicious thing to give a large price 

 for imported plants, although they may be judged to be 

 extremely rare, because some collector may, in a short 

 time, bring or send home a very large quantity of the 

 same plant, so that a plant which to-day is purchased 

 at £$ or £ l ° mav t> e on h worth about as many 

 shillings in a very short time. 



One thing may justly be said in favour of imported 

 plants. Although they are usually considerably weakened 

 by the severe ordeal through which they have had to 

 pass, from the time they are collected until they arrive 

 in this country, they are of healthy constitution, and 

 are, in consequence, generally easy to establish. 



To those who may be commencing to interest them- 

 selves in the cultivation of these plants, a few hints on 

 the management of imported Orchids may be of some 

 value. It is advisable that beginners obtaining newly 

 imported plants should ascertain, if possible, not only 

 the country from which they come, but also the elevation 

 at which they were found growing. Differences in 

 elevation very materially affect the treatment to which 

 the plants should be subjected, those coming from a 

 high elevation requiring much less warmth than those 

 from the low lands. One must also consider well the 

 trials which the plants have gone through since grow- 

 ing in their native habitat. Firstly, they are torn from 

 whatever supported them, their roots, and sometimes 

 even, as with Odontoglossums, their leaves being cut off. 

 Then they are subjected to a drying process to deprive 

 them of a certain amount of sap, which, if retained, 

 might cause decay during the journey. They are 

 finally packed with some dry material in cases to make 

 therein the long journey home. It is especially trying 

 to those kinds which have to be brought from their 

 high mountain homes through hot tropical countries 



