New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1906-02-25

tHsss&z
a 5 old as the law Of supply and demand
~ itself is the motive that forces the
\ orchd-hunter into almost mpene-
rrable tropical forests where these gor-
geous floral parasites make the tree-tops
blaze and lure the hunter-scientist too
often TO his death The element of
gambling is IN il too for man may
say, receiving scrap OF Odontogossurn, whether
il VII turn out 10 be worth seVenty-ilVe cents or
q thousand dollars. But as long as a Rothschild
or a Chamberlain Is willing 10 put down fabulous
Sums for an odd bloom, the orchd-hunter viii
rl-A their lives IN the wilds OF New-Gunea or
B.rue1 or retblng Amazon sWamps.
Il does not require much research inquiry to
trace Tins fascinating scientific hobby OF the
rllh the quaint old cathedral CITY Of Saint Adams
NOT far from London. Il is here that one viii find
Frederick Sander, who maintains a large staff Of
collectors in some Of the widest regions Of the
world. including Madagascar, the lower slopes of
1ae Hlmalayas Ecuador, Central Brazil and the
interior OF Assam. Here too one fnds vast estab-
lsrncut under glass where shp-oads OF these most
curious plants are received, reared and interhred
or hy5~Idzed with results that seem almost incrcdi-
he. In one house by some beautiful little lakes
which goldfish darted fJlrtively, the thermometer
yam mp 10 eighty and even ninety. You must
Imagine YOU are in B0rneo now" Sander said
whereas IN the next house YOU viii find the TEN
Ierture only five degrees, because the orchids
there come from the highlands Of Mexico and the
passes OF the Andes"
And indeed these delicate and fantastic exotics
were being catered for in every particular Of their
o2igeut needs If they needed moss from almost
uutrodden rnorasses OF Sunatra and Java here
was II they fed only upon the air and threw out
feeling roots upward instead Of downward, that
air was impregnated with the fumes of tobacco in
order 10 reproduce other conditions Generally
speaking orchids are eTThytc-that is 10 say, they
hive the ar alone, while only few Of them
terrestrial and grow IN soil
Tn some of the widest and remote regions of the
earth Sander maintains fifteen or twenty travellers
many of whom have been graduated from the great
Horticultural Laboratory al Kew Gardens Their
richest fields are Mexico, Venezuela, Guatemala,
Honduras Nicaragua. Colombia Brazil, Burma.
Assam and the HInalayas generally, Peru, Borneo
NeV-lIulnea and the Dutch Indies. On the business
side the work is purely speculative. 4 successful
orclid-hunteT may cost his employer fifteen thou
sand a year and there Is absolutely no check upon
his work, no minimum number of plants which he
may send home. A man is not blamed If he does
mot send home single orchid in the twelve months
'' Last season remarked Sander to me, 4 lost
siEtv-lve hundred dollars on one man and four
thousand on another
The orchId-hunters work from a certain base.
A man about to collect the lower Himalay van
spurs VIII go direct Calcutta, where he will cash
is draft, purchase his outfit, engage servants and
rorters etc. When be reaches the primeval jungle
he puts up huts and builds kind Of rude bungalow
Lis orchids may be laid dried and prepared for
the journey.
For, difficult as il is 10 ind rare orchids at ALL