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plantation. Having resided ten years at that plantation, which was 

 established under my supervision, I am well acquainted with the 

 climatic conditions of the Blue Mountains of Jamaica. The tempera- 

 ture at the Cinchona plantation between 4,000 and 6,000 feet exactly 

 coincides with temperature at from 6,000 to 8,000 feet where 0. 

 crispum grows, (latitudo accounts for the difference of temperature 

 equivalent to 2,000 feet). The wet seasons and the dry seasons are 

 exactly similar on the Blue Mountains and on these Cordilleras. 



From the upper limit of Coffee cultivation in Jamaica, about 4,500 

 feet, up to 7,000 feet there is a very considerable extent of land under 

 forest — a region comparable in extent with the Pacho region. It is 

 impossible to conceive a more eligible tract for the naturalisation of this 

 ■orchid than is afforded between 4,500 and 7,000 feet in Jamaica. The 

 way in which this enterprise — the naturalisation of this orchid on the 

 Blue Mountains — could be best acomplished would be to establish 

 groups of the orchid at intervals of probably a mile in the forest. 

 Healthy plants tied to the trunks and branches of trees would require 

 no further care. The majority of the plants would flower in about a 

 year. After flowering seeds mature in a few months. Thus within 

 a couple of years myriads of seeds, by reason of their bouyancy would 

 be dispersed over the forest. And it may be confidently predicted that 

 in the course of ten years scores of thousands of plants would be n atu- 

 ralised and fit for export annually. 



This orchid thrives on the Cinchona trees, hence some hundreds of it 

 might be established at the Cinchona plantation. Wider scope is 

 afforded for cross fertilisation when a considerable number of plants 

 are under treatment, i. e., large groups embracing varied forms. It 

 would also prove advantageous to grow a small percentage of a few 

 closely allied species of Odontoglossum in order to induce hybridisation. 

 Thus the Cinchona plantation alone, on the trees and on the rocks, 

 would become a nucleus of production. 



It has been mentioned that some 25 per cent (sometimes far more) 

 of this orchid exported from Colombia perish in transit to Europe. The 

 plants are received from the peon collectors at a hight of 7,U00 feet 

 above the sea-level. The plants are then packed in cases, carried on 

 mules' or bullocks' backs two days over a loity, bleak and dreary ridge 

 of the Andes, 11,500 feet, then fifty miles partly in carts and partly in 

 short railways over the great savanna of Bogota, then four days on 

 mules to the river Magdalena, then about a week down that river to 

 Savanilla. Thus a severe ordeal by reason of the violent change of 

 temperature and the time occupied. There could be practically no loss 

 by exporting from Jamaica, and the expense attendant upon transit 

 from Jamaica would be comparatively light. 



It may not be amiss to refer to a notable example of naturalisation 

 furnished by Jamaica* by which that island has been enriched to the 

 extent of millions of money and this by spontaneous production, i. e. 

 Logwood. 



* The nun Orchid fPhaius grandifolius J is said to have been introduced by 

 Mr. Wiles, whilst in charge of the Botanic Garden at Gordon Town, and it is 

 now very abundant on the higher lands of the interior. — [Ed. Bulletin.] 



