The Washington herald., 1914-04-12

flower. The flower. perhaps, will be ar
albino: departure from Its type. snd
in that event the r,Aat may bring al
most any price you ask.
Let us follow an orchid from II,
habitat in South America" Mr.. BriggI
went on to say. 'Debuck. the Belgian
hunter. who now lives in this country
has found 1t. we will suppose. He went
UP the Orinoco River. In Venezuela. by
steamship. changing boats several times
as the water became shallow. Then
hundreds OF miles, from the seacoast, he
journeyed into the mountains, accom-
panied by Indian guides and tree climb
ers.
"T'rom his camp which was frequently
moved. the Indians have gone into the
forests for, a mile or two every morning.
The search began when they turned back
toward the camp. Each tree was closely
examined. When an orchid was secl. an
Indian went up into the tree and. slip
ping a dull knife under the mass OF
roots. removed the plant from the bark.
AT the camp other Indians were max
ing rough boxes from lumber sawed by
hand in the forest. Returned, the hunt
ers spread their orchids in the sun to
dry. Were the orchids packed while
damp, they might rot or start to grow
before reaching the markets of London,
Boston, Philadelphia or New York.
Week by week the hunt went on.
Finally the packed boxes were brought
out OF the forest to the bank of the river.
They were loaded on a raft and fioated
to the Atlantic Ocean. a tedious, hot and
dangerous undertaking. Once Debuck,
reaching the oronoco after a hard day
in the tropical sun, took a bath in the
river, though the natives tried to stop
him. The next morning he was Ill Of
fever. Before he recovered, his harvest
of orchids. through the neglect Of the
Indians, had been ruined.
'on another occasion he heard of q
who had been deserted in the
forests by his guides. Leaving his or
chids on the bank of the river, Debuck
turned back in search Of the Frenchman.
He saved a human life. It is true, but he
lost $4,000 worth OF property. Such were
two of his many experiences.
A Sorry Looking Traveller.
THE orchid. whose travels we are fol-
lowing" Mr.. Briggs continued. reached
New York after a long sea voyage. It
was not a promising-looking plant when
unpacked. being very dry at the roots,
while its leaves were a yellowish green
II. with forty other orchids, was placed
In a box and. let us say. in order to help
along the story. that the box was shipped
10 my greenhouses. person unfamiliar
with the orchid business would have
looked at It and said II was worthless.
But II was put on wooden stats. roots
iown, and in the warm, moist air slowly
began to revive. This process is called
plumping. New roots appeared and
Dreathed in the water contained in the
moist air. 1t was resaining its visor,
you see, for a long, productive life under
glass many thousands OF miles from its
wild home in the forest OF the south
There are several ways of transplant
ing orchids. My own are either put in
earthen pots. having large round holes
in the sides, or in square wooden frames
which look like toy log cabins. Occa-
sionally l fasten one to the rough bark
of a cork tree. Dried moss and small
jumps Of charcoal but nothing else. are
placed in the pots and frames. The
Kept perpendicular with wire. So they