March 5, 1885. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
185 
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6 
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Royal Society at 4.30 P.M. Linnean Society at 8 P.M. 
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3rd Sunday in Lent. 
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Royal Geographical Society at 8.30 P.M. 
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Society of Arts at 8 P.M. 
OECHIDS IN 1885. 
UCCESS in an unexpected degree attended the 
efforts of the Eoyal Horticultural Society to 
inaugurate a series of novel exhibitions devoted 
to special subjects, as in the case of the Apple 
Congress in the autumn of 1883, and the 
Daffodil Conference in the spring of 1884, and 
hopes were reasonably entertained that such 
satisfactory results would lead to further ex¬ 
periments of a similar nature. The report of 
the Council, recently issued, has realised these expectations 
in the announcement of an Orchid Conference, to be held in 
May of the present year. For many years there has been 
an increasing desire that London should have a thoroughly 
representative show of the wonderful and beautiful plants 
which have deservedly won so much popular favour, but 
difficulties have constantly presented themselves which 
apparently were considered insurmountable until some 
additional energy was brought to bear upon the matter. 
At Manchester the Whitsuntide Exhibition annually pre¬ 
sents a display of Orchids such as hitherto has never been 
equalled in Britain. At the Eoyal Botanic Society’s Sum¬ 
mer Shows charming banks of Orchids are also usually pro¬ 
vided, while at the Eoyal Horticultural Shows of a few years 
since numbers of handsome specimens have been arranged. 
These, together with innumerable smaller groups or collec¬ 
tions at provincial exhibitions, have conclusively proved 
what magnificent displays can be produced by these plants, 
and how great an attraction they are to the plant-loving 
public.?' In accordance, however, with the idea which found 
expression at the Apple Congress, it has been determined 
that the exhibition to which Orchid growers are now looking 
forward with considerable interest shall not be of a com¬ 
petitive character, but that the possessors of these valuable 
plants shall be invited to contribute their treasures and 
mutually assist in obtaining a representative display free 
at least from the feelings too often engendered by the 
hankering after prizes occasioned by the ordinary mode of 
exhibiting. It is admittedly a utilitarian age, but the love 
of horticulture is not so dulled that its votaries require mere 
pecuniary compensation for all their labours in its behalf, 
and something can yet be done for honour and the pleasure 
derived from advancing its interests. 
The time selected for the scheme is an exceptionally 
favourable one in all respects. The election of one of the 
most distinguished amateur orchidists, Sir Trevor Lawrence, 
Bart., M.P., as President of the Eoyal Horticultural Society, 
would alone be sufficient to give an impetus to the cultiva¬ 
tion of these plants such as they have never previously had, 
and would naturally suggest the desirability of commencing 
his season of office with an exhibition of his favourites. 
That in beauty and peculiarity of floral structure Orchids 
possess ample claims to the popular favour they have gained 
cannot be doubted, but in respect of their commercial 
value, they have assumed an importance which no family 
of plants hitherto reached. There have been manias of 
No. 245 .—Vol. X., Third Series. 
various kinds more or less widely spread, and in their results 
correspondingly injurious, such as the notorious Tulip craze 
of long past years. Several genera of plants have also from 
time to time come to the front, and then after their brief 
day of popularity have relapsed into comparative and often 
unmerited obscurity, of which we find instances in the 
Heaths and hardwooded plants. Others, again, have ad¬ 
vanced more steadily, and obtained a firm unvarying hold 
upon the people’s favour, and of these we have the best 
examples in the Eose and the Chrysanthemum. 
None of those named have, however, become of a com¬ 
mercial importance equal to the Orchids as regards their 
actual monetary value. The amount of capital invested in 
Orchids is enormous and incalculable ; both nurserymen and 
amateurs have expended large fortunes in their purchase and 
cultivation, and the present value of the London trade 
collections alone would be astonishing. As with every species 
of commodity, this value varies considerably, depending upon 
the scarcity or superior beauty of certain forms, but it is 
only the case with the extreme prices, and there is a 
standard value below which the plants seldom fall. For 
varieties of acknowledged beauty the highest prices are still 
obtained, as was instanced in a London sale room last week, 
when a specimen of Coelogyne cristata alba with seven 
flower spikes was sold for £131, and other plants of that 
variety have realised still higher prices. If by any lucky 
chance a person should become possessed of a few hundred 
plants of this white Coelogyne the value would fall con¬ 
siderably, but it would for many years continue to realise 
high prices. 
A well-known example of this is Cypripedium Spiceri- 
anum, which, when only a few specimens were known to be 
in this country, realised fabulous amounts, but a large im¬ 
portation speedily reduced its value, which is again steadily 
rising as the supplies from its native home appear to be 
exhausted. The least variable of the high-priced Orchids 
are the hybrids, or varieties obtained by cultivators in this 
country, as frequently these are very difficult to propagate, 
and consequently many years elapse before there are suffi¬ 
cient plants in the country to affect the price. Dendrobium 
nobile nobilius, for example, is worth much more than its 
weight in gold, as the smallest growth obtainable is valued 
at ten guineas, while many Cattleyas and Cypripediums take 
a similarly high position, though the last-named are gene¬ 
rally more readily increased than the others. After the 
treasures which command from 50 to 100 guineas come the 
more abundant species, which range from Odontoglossums 
worth a few shillings to any number of pounds, but the total 
amount, were it possible to ascertain it, even if taken at a 
moderate estimate, would most indubitably indicate that the 
position occupied by Orchids at the present time is one of 
great importance, rendering them amply worthy of the atten¬ 
tion they will this season receive. 
It is interesting to glance at the advance Orchids have 
made during the present century. Before the year 1800 
very few species were known beyond our native Orchids and 
a few from North America and the Cape of Good Hope, but 
early in the present century their numbers began to increase 
rapidly, and within the past fifty years collections have 
advanced at a surprising rate. The East Indies and neigh¬ 
bouring regions have yielded great numbers of beautiful 
species, tropical South America has been diligently searched 
for its magnificent Cattleyas—all the tropics of the earth 
have, indeed, been explored for orchidic beauties or rarities. 
Scores of collectors have faced untold dangers in their search 
for Orchid gold mines, the metropolitan and provincial sale 
rooms having afforded good evidence of the success of their 
labours. Hundreds of thousands of plants have been annually 
imported, and some firms estimate their importations by the 
ton, so that it is not surprising if, with all this energy, the 
number of species in cultivation has rapidly advanced. 
Some evidence of the growing popularity of Orchids is als o 
No. 1901 .—Voe. LXXII., 3ld Series. 
