ra Ne oy: 
x JUN2 7 1952 
U. S. Department of Agriculture 
RYERSON EXPANSIBLE ORCHID FOLDER 
LET'S TALK ABOUT BARE ROOT SEEDLINGS 
"Why," you quite reasonably ask, "should I be interested’ in BARE ROOT seedlings?" 
If you sre interested in seedlings, you'll find there are several very good 
reasons for buying them "bare root". 
First, they are MUCH less expensive than seedlings IN flasks or IN community pots, 
unless you live so close to your source of supply that transportation costs mean 
nothing. Railway Express minimum is now $1.50. 
You don't have to be a mathematician to figure that expressage on your order of 
flasks or community pots will add approximately ten percent to the cost of them. 
If you want them to travel by AIR, the cost can go up to 50% or more. 
My BARE ROOT seedlings fly to you by AIR MAIL PREPAID. 
Then there's the factor of TOO MANY SEEDLINGS OF A SINGLE CROSS. One 250cc flask 
contains 100 or more = usually, quite a few MORE - seedlings, all the same cross. 
That means you would get five or more community pots from it. No matter how fine 
the cross, if yours is not a commercial collection, you might prefer to have each 
of the five community pots growing a DIFFERENT cross. 
Buying your OUT-OF-FLASK seedlings "bare root" enables you to have a wide variety 
of crosses = one community pot of each cross. 
"But, why not buy my seedlings already in community pots, ready for individual 
pots?" you ask. 
Fine, if there's plenty of money in your ORCHID BUDGET - not only to cover the 
higher cost of seedlings ready for individual pots, but to add on that above- 
mentioned expressage on pots, which run into weight fast! 
But just think of the money you can save by growing those community pots your- 
self, instead of buying communities that some one else has grown for you. Sure, 
it's the hardest stage of al11 to handle successfully. But it presents a chal- 
lenge that no real "green thumb" grower can ignore. If you love to grow Orchids, 
you're never going to be completely happy until you've succeeded in growing them 
all the way from flask to blooming size! 
If there are still doubts in your mind, you may ask: "But won't those tiny 
seedlings be all dried out after flying all the way here from South Florida?" 
They will look a little dry to you, yes. But after you have dunked them in a 
bowl of tepid water a few minutes, you'll find each seedling has become fresh and 
bright green again. The Potting Mixture also must be thoroughly wet. And, 
strangely enough, you'll find that these seedlings which have been "hardened" by 
their relatively dry trip by air, are much less apt to suffer from "damp-off" 
than seedlings taken right out of flasks and planted into community pots the 
same day. 
I provide the POTTING MIXTURE for your Bare Root seedlings out of flasks, as 
well as complete and easy-to-follow instructions on the planting and care of 
community pots. 
