The Washington herald., 1914-04-12

demand The persons wanting to pur.
chase them seldom realize, however. thar
tney are limited in number and can only
De obtained during certain seasons.
spoke Of the highly prosperous fam
ily OF cattleyas," Mr.. Briggs went ON to
say. Now, let me speak about the
odontoglossums. They are the plants of
romance and adventure. Hunters have
lost their lives in searching for them.
Collectors have spent fortunes for uncom-
mon types The blooms will last for ten
days in water II put in a cool place at
night. A single flower makes q beautiful
boutonniere. A spike, full of blooms.
ought to delight the eye Of any woman,
and also her pride, IL worn across her
bosom. Some of the spikes, however,
would be too long for that purpose I
have seen them five feet in length. There
are numerous varieties OF this orchid and
many hybrids.
They grow along the Pacific Coast
from Mexico to Peru. Strikingiy beauti-
full odontoglossums are found in Colon,-
bia- The plants only thrive in regions
ranging from 5000 feet to 1900 feet above
sea level and in a temperature that va
ries from 80 degrees at noon to 10 degrees
at night The best specimens are taken
from cinchona, walnut. and oak trees.
They are torn OF by hunters, dried until
they look like rubbish. and shipped all
over the world.
How Orchids Are Named.
Orchids, as / have shown. are named
after men. II one keeps that fact In
mind the names lose their terror. IL not
their grotesqueness. Mr.. Boxall, in 1857,
brought the cypripedium out of Burmah.
Robert II. Schomburgk, a German, came
to the United States and worked as a
clerk in Boston and Philadelphia He was
financially ruined in Richmond. where
his tobacco factory burned down. Then.
although he was not a surveyor. he went
to South America and made maps. His
reports caused the Geographical Society
Of London to finance his explorations Of
New Guiana. He is the man who discov-
cred the orchid known as the schom-
burgkia- He also took TO England the
water lily. afterward and still called the
victoria regia-
THE cattleya skinnerii gets its name
from George MacSkinner, a Scotch bota-
mist, who was a merchant in Guatemala
The hybrids. especially. are commonly
named for the men who originated them.
Cross-breeding. by the way. began In
sively in this country. Darwin wrote .
book on what he called the various con-
trivances by which orchids are fertilized
by insects
Insect fertilization is an old story
now. Man has taken the place Of insects
in orchid greenhouses. He works to .
purpose. Insects. however, do the work
of fertilization unconsciously and with
better results. Yet horticulturists have
produced some wonderfully beautiful
flowers by cross-breeding and their ex-
perimentations are still going on.
Il will say to those. who as amateurs.
are interested in orchid culture that a
fair collection of the common varieties
may be obtained for about 81 900. There
are no secrets in the business Of culti-
waiting these strange and interesting
plants. There are probably 100000 or
chids in commercial greenhouses contigu-
Gus to Boston. New York. and Philadel-
phia. but prices of the cut flowers do not
come down.
"Orchid-growing might be an attrac-
tive and profitable business for persons
who like to work with nature and who
have patience and perseverance There
is money in orchids-to the grower.
50 cents a bloom. but it is a
night and day job. as ! have said. and
a never-ending battle with Insects
(Copyright. 1874. BY JEnss B. MOrrovt